An increasing problem is caused when medical personnel post details about patients on their social media websites. From Daily News:
Providence Holy Cross Medical Center officials are investigating an employee who allegedly posted a patient’s medical information on his Facebook page, apparently to make fun of the woman and her medical condition.
According to a printout of the Facebook page obtained by the Daily News, the employee displayed a photo of a medical record listing the woman’s name and the date she was admitted, and posted the comment: “Funny but this patient came in to cure her VD and get birth control.”
Providence officials said the employee was provided by a staffing agency.
An interesting fact in this article is that most healthcare institutions lack policies for employee use of social media:
Only about a third of all hospitals are believed to have specific policies in place regarding patient information and social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, according to published reports.
I expect this to change in the next few years.
Hat Tip: Pogo Was Right
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This post was authored by Professor Daniel J. Solove, who through TeachPrivacy develops computer-based privacy training, data security training, HIPAA training, and many other forms of awareness training on privacy and security topics. Professor Solove also posts at his blog at LinkedIn. His blog has more than 1 million followers.
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