1. DCC Workshop 2015 @ University of Salzburg 26-27th November 2015
PANEL 8: ETHICS: RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
Exploring the Professional and
Ethical Standards of Using Social
Media as a Tool in Medicine
Mark A.M. Kramer (Doctoral Candidate)
University of Salzburg

2. Communication is intricately part and parcel of medicine and health-care delivery. Physicians
interact with their patients in order to understand their ailments and in turn patients share their
health-related issues with physicians in order to seek relief or remedy. Medical researchers also
communicate with each other in part through digital networks, harnessing “new media” in order to
conduct, discuss, and distribute / publish their medical findings. It can be observed that the modes
of “communication” within medicine (and health-care delivery) are increasingly shifting to digital
means. Patients are increasingly expecting to receive medical consultation through social-media,
and medical researchers are increasingly utilizing social media to “self-publish” research and
interact with colleagues. The increased use of social media and a communications “tool” within
medicine reveals many existing and emerging professional and ethical issues. This paper proposes
to explore the professional and ethical standards of using social-media within the context of
medicine and health-care delivery. Furthermore, this paper will examine which stakeholders are
involved in establishing, implementing and ultimately monitoring the professional and ethical
standards of social-media usage within medicine and health-care delivery.
Abstract

3. Socio-techno Workplaces

4. Professional Experiences

5. Personal Reflections

6. “
“Digital communications and social
media use continue to increase in
popularity among the public and the
medical profession,”
-Phyllis Guze, MD, FACP

7. Disruptive Tendencies

8. Pervasive access to ICTs

9. Emerging Standards

10. Pervasive access to ICTs

11. Ethical Standards

12. Ethical Standards

13. Pervasive access to ICTs

14. Pervasive access to ICTs

15. Pervasive access to ICTs

16. Pervasive access to ICTs

17. Initial Research
Ethnographic....Social-media...Inquiry

18. It [social-media] could be a great
communication tool and a great
educational tool.
But, because of HiPPA rules it is
not used very well or very much.

19. Open ended questions to explore the topic
What role can "social media"
play as a tool in Medicine?

20. Responses

21. Responses

22. Responses

23. I use it a lot for patient education -
especially to share answers to
questions I often get, to dispel myths,
to hook people up with resources, to
spread the word about advocacy work
I am doing and [to] ask for volunteers.

24. But I think it's expanding to include access
to providers, directly observed therapy via
FaceTime and Skype, apps that coach you
into collective behavior change, connect
you to health workers, or give you access
to your doctor's schedule to book your own
appointment. This is a line that we must
tread with care, but it has great potential.

25. Open ended questions to explore the topic
[Health Care Providers] Do
you communicate with your
patients using social media?

26. “
“No”

27. “
“No, our hospital has strict guidelines
against communicating with patients
through social media channels

28. Open ended questions to explore the topic
[Patients] Do you communicate
with your Health-care Provider
using social media?

29. “
“No”

30. Conclusio

31. Techno-dependency

32. Techno-dependency

33. Technology Acceptance

34. Technology Acceptance

35. Techno-redundancy

36. Pervasive Connectivity

37. Pervasive Connectivity

38. Responses

39. ABSTRACT Social media is prevalent and increasing in usage in healthcare. Whilst
guidelines have been developed to cover the issues concerning this topic, few have been
based on an ethical framework. The purpose of this work was to undertake a review of the
literature pertaining to social media use in health care and physiotherapy in particular. The
results of the review identified five key themes, these were: privacy/confidentiality breaches;
student use and the need for student guidance; the patient therapist relationship and
boundary blurring; integrity and reputation of the profession; and a lack of institutional
guidelines. Cases from the New Zealand Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal and
Health and Disability Commissioner relevant to the topic were used to explore the themes
identified. As a result of the review it is recommended that these cases be used as
educational tools in ethical decision making. The findings of this review recommend the
implementation of American Medical Association (AMA) guideline into New Zealand
practice. However, it would need to be contextualized to ensure relevant local ethical,
cultural and legal obligations are covered. Before professional bodies establish their own
guidelines, it would be useful to survey health practitioners as to their current views,
attitudes and awareness of social media use in a health care setting. Basevi R, Reid D,
Godbold R (2014) Ethical guidelines and the use of social media and text messaging in
health care: a review of literature New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy 42(2): 68-80. Key
words: Social media, ethical guidelines, ethical boundaries