4. Would you ever…
Tweet Amal Mattu?
Send friend request to
nurse colleague?
Date a coworker?
Date a pt?
Give a pt your phone number?
Send a friend request to the
medical director?
Post a status update about your shift from hell?
Call a pt to make sure they are “still
alive” after an ED visit.
Vent about a shift from hell at the bar?
Tell your mother about the time you
heroically saved someone’s life?
Take a photo of interesting
physical exam finding?
7. “Publically posting a status update about a
specific patient to release frustrations or to
entertain others with a humorous anecdote
places a physician’s self interest above the
patient’s and may not be ethically justifiable
despite a lack of identifying details, even if there
was no intent to harm the patient.”
Chretien 2013
8. Recommendations for
Blogs or Practice Websites
• Avoid writing about specific pts
• Obtain permission and state explicitly
• De-identify or fictionalize encounters
• Respectful tone
• Disclose any financial compensation received
• Beware of making false/misleading medical
claims
• Avoid anonymity
• State credentials
• State who you are representing
9. Recommendations for
Social Networking
• Avoid writing about specific pts
• Opts for highest privacy settings
• All content is discoverable
• Avoid friend requests to pts
• Avoid anonymity
• State credentials
• State who you represent
• Avoid giving medical advice
10. Table 1. Recommendations if Directly
Communicating With
Patients Using Social Media
• Use secure closed systems with data encryption
• Avoid third-party open systems (eg, Facebook and Twitter)
• Inform patients of privacy protections in place
• Establish expectations of message response time, how
• emergencies should be handled, and issues that should be
handled online vs in-person
• Have patients agree to terms before use
11. ACEP believes that the use of recording devices,
including cell phone cameras, in the emergency
department for the purpose of capturing
photographic, video, or audio media poses significant
risks to the privacy and confidentiality of patients and
staff. April 2011
ACEP opposes the filming for public viewing of
emergency department patients or staff members
except when they can give fully informed consent
prior to their participation.
February 2009
