Social MediaEssay Preview: Social MediaReport this essaySOCIAL MEDIASocial media has revolutionized the way people communicate in the modern world today. Websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have become the chosen standard communication tool in the world. Other forms that also dominate the communication tools include blogs, Wikis, and podcasts. Many professionals have quickly adopted the new form of communication, but it has specific implications for physicians and related healthcare professionals. The communication is important, dependent on trust between the physician and the patient, the ability of the physician to effectively perform their job and the patient to respect the patients advice.
Due to technology, it has been estimated that 59% of adult Americans searched for medical advice online in a 12-month period. Reviews of physicians conduct and abilities is included in these searches (McKay, 2010). Medical professionals will need to take precautions to protect themselves both legally and ethically and to retain the trust of their patients is vital to the effective functioning of their job.
Maintaining a strict sense of professionalism is vital to the duties of physicians. Physicians that have lost the trust and respect of those they treat no longer perform their duties to the best of their abilities. It has been demonstrated that social media has the ability to create a rapid increase to perceived problems. In 2008, the group of doctors for Obama mobilized thousands of physicians on facebook to make their opinions and concerns about the new healthcare policy known, with the effect of having a demonstrable influence on the final legislation and an ongoing voice in President Obamas healthcare agenda (Jain, 2009).
A study conducted in 2008, focusing solely on the social networking site, Facebook, showed that of medical students and residents of a selected sample group 44.5% had a facebook account and two-thirds of them kept their account public with “a significant portion having subjectively inappropriate content” (Gorrindo, T, et al., 2008). Some examples drawn from the 2008 study include public facebook group created by medical students with titles such as PIMP (Party of Important Physicians), and Physicians looking for trophy wives in training (Gorrindo, T, et al., 2008). The public profiles selected by this study disclosed physicians home postal address (6.1% of the time), sexual orientation (52.4%), email address (83.3%), and field of study (79.6%). While the impact of this information was not followed up on, by the study it is easy to be ascertain how such personal and sensitive information could lead to trouble for a physician whose public social networking profile angered a patient.
In addition to the personal consequences at risk for a physician, unprofessional conduct on social networking sites could also have unintended professional and legal consequences as well. “Already the first lawsuits have been filed against physicians whom patients accused of violating the privacy of medical information acts, states, Robert Coffield, a West Virginia based specialist in health care compliance and regulatory law” (Hawn, C., 2009). For example, a doctor who blogged about their trials in dealing with a difficult patient, in a way that would make such a client identifiable, and forgot that either the patient or a family member or friend had been added to their social network would be inviting a litigation with possible monetary and professional penalties.
In practice, “Social networking sites for privacy and other important information” are often a form of social networking, which has its genesis in the internet age. Although the privacy of a Facebook page or the anonymity of a website can be extremely beneficial to our private lives, the most basic of social networks (such as a blog, forum and other online services) can also have serious risks for our privacy. For instance, individuals such as a patient or family member and some social network users can be subject to liability if they, for example, post inappropriate and malicious information or create dangerous social networking messages and/or posts regarding children, who will, with their own actions, be easily identified. Because of this, it is important that law, regulation, and professional responsibility are included in this chapter.
Under the most extreme example, a patient who post some sexually explicit images as part of a personal web or in a forum on her social networking page has an extremely high risk of civil lawsuit. This is also extremely rare in the public realm, because it is usually only a matter of time before a physician decides a medical action against her. But when this occurs, the law will have to wait and will have to be changed in the eyes of this very common law. This litigation, in the sense as discussed earlier, will require an extensive review and decision on every possible basis. Many health care professionals in practice are trained to provide specific guidance to their clients regarding the legal obligations for liability as well as their right to make such judgments, as seen in an instance cited by Dr. Paul E. Bechtold and Jeffrey G. Vickers. All of the experts mentioned in our guide have been trained to provide a legal opinion on this issue, and have worked directly with this patient to determine the appropriate level of legal responsibility. The following paragraphs will establish the following legal concepts from the context:
*In practice, there is a very low incidence of litigation, which is the result of the court’s understanding that a physician has a responsibility to protect patients and the health of patients. However, in the future, cases that result from these types of cases could become very important as they come to the attention of a medical professional or public law judge, and a medical practitioner who is required by law to be able to advise on these types of lawsuits.
*Legal liability will be created by the court’s determination that a non-discriminatory medical practice has taken place and is not inherently unlawful.
*One risk of liability arising from a medical practice is that plaintiff or patient will choose to sue for more financial or other financial gain than has been paid in legal services performed or that was provided. A majority have considered all the factors, and determined that there are a high number of legitimate and reasonable remedies as compared with a claim that would be brought and that defendants had a legitimate basis for being charged or accused. These are not the issues that arise in the legal arena, but will present significant questions to the doctor, court and government as to how to evaluate such claims. Thus, the risk of litigation in the non-discriminatory medical practice is high, especially when there are a number