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AMA Guidelines Aim to Help Physicians Navigate Potentially Choppy Social Media Waters

Recommendations stress professionalism, boundaries, and protection of patient information

Do you tweet? Do you or your institution have a Facebook or My Space page? The ubiquity of the wired and mobile Internet has enabled the popularity of social networking services to grow. Almost everybody has taken the social medial plunge. The British monarchy has a Facebook page and the Dalai Lama has a Twitter account. Although many have questioned the usefulness of social media services, they can play a positive role in your personal and professional life. Physicians use sites such as the Endovascular Forum, Ozmosis, and LinkedIn, to communicate socially and professionally with colleagues. In addition, services like Twitter and Facebook can help physicians increase their professional exposure and their “personal brand.” But physicians should use social media with caution, according to a policy recently adopted by the American Medical Association (AMA).

Although the Internet has powerful clinical and non-clinical uses, the AMA cites several ethical concerns associated with social media for individual physicians and the entire profession, including boundary issues in the patient-physician relationship, privacy and confidentiality, the implications about the type and amount of online information, and how you present yourself online. Thus, when engaging in social media services, remember to:

  • Refrain from posting identifiable patient information;
  • Use privacy settings to protect personal information and content, but realize that privacy settings are not foolproof; once content is posted on the Internet, consider it permanent. Periodically monitor your content to ensure that information about you is accurate and appropriate;
  • Maintain appropriate physician-patient boundaries as outlined in professional guidelines when you interact with patients on the Internet;
  • Consider separate personal and professional accounts to establish boundaries;
  • If you see content posted by colleagues that appears unprofessional, tell your colleague so that he or she can resolve the issue. If the behavior significantly violates professional norms, and your colleague does not resolve the issue, inform the appropriate authorities; and
  • Recognize that your online actions and content can negatively affect your reputation among patients and colleagues, as well as your medical career.

Source: AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs. 2010. Professionalism in the use of social media. Published on November 8, 2010 on the American Medical Association website.