Page 29 - Part 1 Navigating Electronic Media in a Healthcare Setting

SVMIC Navigating Electronic Media in a Healthcare Setting

who is also a patient. In an effort to address this potential problem,
the American Medical Association created a policy on the use of

social media, AMA Opinion 9.124: “Professionalism in the Use of

Social Media.” This policy warns against an inappropriate online
physician-patient relationship. It also warns physicians who

discover posted content by other physicians, which appears
unprofessional, to notify the individual and provide an opportunity

for them to take appropriate action. If the behavior significantly
violates professional norms, and the individual does not take

appropriate action to resolve the situation, the physician should

report the matter to appropriate authorities.

As patients have moved online, so have healthcare providers.

Several online tools exist to facilitate fast and far-reaching
communication and information exchange. One such means for

online interaction and communication is through the use of social

networking sites, which allow registered users to create an
electronic profile that includes personal information and to

exchange messages and digital content (e.g. pictures and videos).

Individual users can use privacy controls to limit who is able to
view the content on their personal pages; Facebook is an example.

A second means of online communication is through a web log,
otherwise known as a blog. A blog is the most basic form of digital

media and can be defined as a non-interactive web-based journal

in which individuals post opinions regarding any topic. Microblogs,
such as Twitter, are similar to blogs except that users are limited to

a certain number of characters per communication. Media-sharing
sites (e.g., for music, Napster and LimeWire; for video, YouTube

and Google Video; for photos, Snapfish) are another type of online
tool that enables users to exchange digital files, that are uploaded

to the site by the user. Users then have access to the media that

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