Computerworld - Recently, Computerworld published a great article about the issues of mixing social media and healthcare.
As hospitals and clinics formulate social networking policies, there are three broad considerations:
1. Given privacy and breach rules, how can you best prevent the disclosure of protected healthcare information on insecure social media sites?
2. Given the distraction factor and productivity loss that can occur with social media, how can you best align the benefits of groupware communication while minimizing the negatives?
3. How can you reduce the security risks of malware embedded in games and other applications that are downloaded from social networking sites?
To date, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has focused on issue No. 1, ensuring that our employees do not post data to social networking sites in violation of state and federal laws.
We've not yet completed a policy covering No. 2, although several hospital sites and departments are discussing the issue. Highlights of the policy that is emerging include:
"Please understand that all social media tools are public and that anything written or posted by you or others can be viewed by anyone with access to the site. We suggest you keep this in mind and use caution when posting information about personal medical matters. Also, please note:
"Postings must be relative to BIDMC. Postings that advertise events, products or services that BIDMC perceives as not relevant will be removed.
"Please refrain from obscene, abusive or profane language. Any post deemed inappropriate by the communications department will be removed.
"Personal attacks are not allowed. Any posting that Communications perceives is a personal attack on a member of the BIDMC community or on any person will be removed.
"Postings that offer medical advice, especially those from a non-medical professional, may be harmful and thus will also be removed.
"Other than a violation of these rules, BIDMC does not censor posts, but encourages open discussion and the resolution of issues. We look forward to hearing from you about health issues that concern you and your family and about your feelings/experiences here at BIDMC."
We're developing a pilot for issue No. 3, including blocks on selected websites, Facebook add-on applications and personal email.
Ensuring we have a suite of social media policies is one of our internal audit focuses for 2012. To formalize our polices, procedures, and guidelines, we're collecting best practices for healthcare institutions throughout the country and assembling a multidisciplinary group including Corporate Communications, Legal and IT.
Social networking can foster collaboration and improve communication. Companies nationwide can no longer take a "don't ask, don't tell" approach to social networking policy, and I look forward to sharing experiences as we all work to balance the risks and benefits.
John D. Halamka is CIO at CareGroup Healthcare System, CIO and associate dean for educational technology at Harvard Medical School, chairman of the New England Health Electronic Data Interchange Network, chairman of the national Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel and a practicing emergency physician. You can contact him at jhalamka@caregroup.harvard.edu.
Read more about Management in Computerworld's Management Topic Center.
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