PROVIDENCE – What happens if a patient sees their physician partying on Facebook? Can a physician date a patient after seeing her on an online dating service? Can medical students post Youtube videos of medical procedures involving real patients?
Sticky questions likes these are behind a new set of guidelines issued last week by the R.I. Department of Health on the use of social media by physicians. The new rules address the use of Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media sites by doctors in both their private and professional lives and were developed by the R.I. Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline, which oversees physician conduct in Rhode Island.
While social media can help doctors better and more easily communicate with their patients about valid medial concerns, new technology avenues must be used appropriately, Dr. Michael Fine, director of the department, said in a statement.
“We want to help physicians avoid unintentional professional misconduct while using social media,” he said.
To that end, the guidelines recommend that doctors never use their personal social network or media sites for communicating with patients, and to realize at all times that a patient’s right to privacy exists online just as it does in the physician’s office. To see the new guidelines, visit www.health.ri.gov.
Why would any health professional COMMUNICSATE with his or her patient on social media ….. Ethics are ethics .. privacy is privacy … confidentiality is confidentiality — especially in medicine!!!