Stop Potential Confidentiality Breaches by Employees on Social Networks

Social media networks, blogs, or other Internet sites are avenues for breaches of confidentiality when employees post pictures and/or descriptions of patients. Here are some examples of the repercussions: A local facility fired an emergency room nurse after she posted pictures of a stabbing victim on Facebook. A similar incident involving staff is being reviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a possible violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. In still another scenario, a physician received a reprimand from the state's licensing board and termination of hospital privileges for discussing a patient's clinical experiences on a social network site.

CAP recommends that its members add statements to their current confidentiality policy which address these issues. Consider the following recommendations which should apply to all physicians, employees, or workers in the practice:

• Mobile phones should remain in lockers, or with personal items, during the workday unless the staff member is on break;

• Personnel are prohibited from photographing any patient or visitor, or from posting any patient image in a public place. (This does not apply to photography for clinical reasons.);

• Patients' personal information, health information, experiences, descriptions, or comments may not be posted or discussed outside the office or on any website.

A breach of confidentiality in any of these ways may pose serious consequences for both the practice and the employee. The patient may have valid cause to bring a breach of confidentiality lawsuit against the practice.

In addition, under both state and federal laws, the medical office personnel can be fined, individually, for hundreds of thousands of dollars for a violation of a patient's privacy rights. They may also face jail time.

Take steps now to help avoid these situations.

Authored by
Waldene Drake, RN, MBA
Vice President, Risk Management & Patient Safety

 

Published comments of this information should not be considered legal advice applicable to a specific situation. Legal guidance for individual matters should be obtained from a retained attorney.