Elderly couple playing piano at mayo clinic

Social Media & Mobile Device Privacy and Security

Denise Fonzo, RHIT, Adjunct Instructor-St. Petersburg College

HIT program

The topic today will be Social Media and Mobile Device Privacy and Security. I am Denise Fonzo, Adjunct Instructor at St. Petersburg College with the Health Information Technology Program.

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Back in the 1800's if you wanted a private conversation, you walked out into the middle of a field-this guaranteed privacy. Over the years, as time went on, the ability to have private conversations changed, some would say, not necessarily for the better. Today we are going to explore the pros and cons of Social Media & Mobile Device Privacy and Security in Healthcare.

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Technologies of today

The Technologies of today include all these devices and more. The information that may be contained on these devices becomes the dilemma. How do we protect this information? What is considered Protected Health Information? Let us start first by determining what should be protected.

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Protected Health Information

Name Health plan beneficiary number

Address including street, county, zip code Any vehicle or other device serial number

Names of Relatives Medical Record number

Name of Employers Account number

Telephone numbers Internet protocol address (IP)

Email addresses Certificate/license number

Social Security numbers Any other unique identifying number,

Finger or Voice Prints characteristic or code

Photographic Images

This is a list of Protected Health Information, which may be included in a patient record. Photographic Images, especially those located on Face Book, Instagram, Twitter are restricted, except by written or expressed knowledge of the patient. Are there Pro’s and Cons for disclosing patient information? Should physicians use Face Book with their patients?

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WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?

Social media refers to Web-based tools that will allow individuals to communicate easily, quickly and very broadly.

Examples include:

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

You Tube

Blogs

What is Social Media? This past year has shown us that this list has grown. Instagram, Snapchat even Zoom and Microsoft Teams may be also considered for this list. More and more, quick result communication is key.

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Benefits of Social Media in Healthcare

70% of U.S. Healthcare organizations use social media with Facebook, Twitter and You Tube being the most popular

Quick dissemination of Medical Information

Healthcare access across vast distances

Physicians can stream surgical procedures via Internet and ask questions in real time

Telehealth/Telemedicine

Mechanism for Cost Control

Collaborative Nature of Social Media – health care providers network professionally at a pace that was never before possible

1-With so much bad medical information out there, healthcare organizations with their own marketing department ensure accuracy.

2-Healthcare organizations have the ability to post information that may be viewed around the world.

3-Marketing professionals understand the cost savings by the use of social media

4-Companies outside of healthcare are developing the social media networks that ultimately will be used by the healthcare providers.

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Face Book and Physicians

It is possible to see good reasons for Physicians to use Face Book:

In 2015 there were over 864 million active users online.

Cost effective way of advertising

Effective way to educate users

Ability to build credibility

It is also possible to see reasons this is not good for Physicians on Face Book:

Information, correct or not, cannot be controlled

Lack of patient privacy-quite possible for Protected Health Information to be disclosed.

Time consuming-it is not a one shot deal, constant monitoring must happen in order to be successful.

Don’t be ‘friends’ with patients on Face Book

As you can see, there are pros and cons to being connected to Face Book.

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Why Patients use Social Media

Social Media, in the form of Special Interest Groups, give patients the ability to connect with individuals with similar diagnoses. It develops a sense of community. Like with any community, there may be pitfalls—inaccurate information may proliferate.

Conversely, there are merits as well. Cancer survivors often times join social media groups and ultimately it has been shown that there is an increased benefit—more tests are being ordered—the mere act of sharing each other’s journey has encouraged individuals to get tested.

Other groups, such as Diabetes Support Groups on Facebook encourage emotional support, opportunities for proper nutrition, and unsolicited sharing of personal information.

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Social Media and Clinical Education

Provides increased access to academic libraries

Used as a means to recruit students

Creates virtual classrooms and extended faculty office hours

Connects students with patients for real time questions and answers

Students can view videos of clinical scenarios and tweet their observations of patients condition for instructor feedback

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Websites for Social Media

There are quite a few websites designed for patients to utilize Social Media- 2 examples are:

Hello Health—uses Social Medial and their electronic medical record interface along with HIPAA compliant tool for patients to communicate with their provider

PatientsLikeMe—website used by patients to log their daily signs and symptoms, lab results. There are more than 250,000 users of this website.

Social media will allow providers a way to educate patients and to encourage patients to trust their opinions. Over 60 % of physicians believe that social media improves the quality of care. It also gives them strong competitive advantage—they can immediately communicate with their physicians.

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Drawbacks to Social Media in Healthcare

Privacy Concerns

Lack of Training in Collaborative Technologies

Limits on Holistic Patient Information

Social Stigma

Content of information given on social media is discoverable in legal matters

1--Violating HIPAA privacy policies may result in costly fines, and potential prison time.

2—Many healthcare providers lack the ability to respond or use social media—Veterans to social media are willing and very able to teach newcomers.

3—Healthcare providers are hesitant to dispense medical information over the internet.

4—While many physicians are now online, there is a social stigma that may boarder on “is this from a real physician?”

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SOCIAL MEDIA OUTCOMES – BAD AND GOOD

Examples may include the frustrated employee who vents on their Facebook page about a particularly difficult patient. Her friend realizes that the patient is actually a family member.

The employee who takes a Selfie of themselves showing their “wonderful day” at work—the bad part, the computer screen behind them shows patient information, very clearly on their Facebook page.

Disgruntled employee posts unflattering messages on their facility’s own social media site.

In 2008 a woman and her Mother are leaving the Mayo Clinic-in the lobby an elderly couple are playing the piano. The woman asks them to play another song and video tapes them and places it on You Tube where 7.5 million people have viewed it-BEST advertising the Mayo Clinic could ever imagine.

Patients being discharged from hospitals who have survived COVID-19-

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IS THERE A POLICY FOR THIS?

The best way to manage Social Media is to have a Policy guiding you.

Ensure the access can be limited—Marketing staff

Ramifications for inappropriate use on the page

Responsibility of the staff to alert Administrators of inappropriate use.

Modify existing policies to include Social Media codes of conduct, disciplinary actions, handbooks, e-media use.

Ensure staff understands their statements are not the opinions of the facility when they post

Ensure staff is aware of Civil Liability for their misuse of social media.

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The Policy

Employee Training is key to understanding the appropriate use of Social Media. Include appropriate and inappropriate examples to drive home the point. Use real life examples as this helps employees to comply.

Organizations may monitor their social media sites, however the best monitor is their own staff.

Employers must be aware not to monitor their own employees social media sites-whatever may be found cannot be used against the employee.

Foster open communication for employees to discuss ideas, post news, share links.

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The Policy

Employers do have the right to ban all employees from computer activity in the work place. Software has been developed to ensure compliance.

Provides a clear platform for educating employees

Refers to confidentiality of employer trade secrets and private and confidential information.

Outlines disciplinary actions for policy violations by providing examples of misuse.

Offers administrative, physical and technical safeguards

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CONSIDER THE DATA

Many people are unaware of how accessible and durable their online information is

Once information is posted online, it is “out there”

Information on social networking sites may be made available to third-party companies and internet search engines who now ‘own the data’

Social media sites are wonderful ways for hackers to steal identities

Is your device adequately offering protection against malicious content to prevent infecting the device with a virus

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WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU

More than 40% of consumers say that information found via social media affects the way they deal with their health

18 to 24 year olds are more than 2x as likely than 45 to 54 year olds to use social media for health-related discussions

19% of smartphone owners have at least one health app on their phone. Exercise, diet, and weight apps are the most popular types

41% of people said social media would affect their choice of a specific doctor, hospital, or medical facility

26% of all hospitals in the US participate in social media

60% of doctors say social media improves the quality of care delivered to patients.

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QUESTIONS

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THANK YOU

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REFERENCES

https://getreferralmd.com/2013/09/healthcare-social-media-statistics

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4103576

http://www.himss.org/social-media-healthcare-privacy-security-considerations-white-paper

AHIMA. "Mobile Device Security (2012 update)" Journal of AHIMA 83, no.4 (April 2012): 50-55.

Barrett, Catherine. HealthcareProviders May Violate HIPAA by Using Mobile Devices to Communicate with Patients. October 2011, V8,2 https://www.americanbar.org/newsletter/publications/aba_health_esource