Social Media & Medical Practice

Sylvia,

I completely agree with you that we as current/future NPs need to listen to our patients and advocate for them. You mentioned using social media as a way for providers to support their patients. However, before you begin interacting with patients via social media, I would encourage you to first read a document recently released by the Federation of State Medical Boards titled: Model Policy Guidelines for the Appropriate Use of Social Media and Social Networking in Medical Practice (http://www.fsmb.org/pdf/pub-social-media-guidelines.pdf). There are a multitude of various issues to consider from legal and ethical standpoints and providers have had their licenses suspended and even revoked for things that took place on social media. Although this guideline basically discourages the use of social media in medical practice, there is an interesting editorial on the American Academy of Family Physician’s website in which one provider discusses her careful use of social media within her practice (http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/opinion/20120629editbrull.html). Although we have come leaps and bounds in terms of technology and our patients may often express a desire to communicate with us via various social media outlets, it is our professional responsibility to take appropriate precautions to protect both ourselves and our patients.

 

Becky