Social Media In Health Care Essay

Creating communities is one of the most public possibilities offered by social media for hospitals. This possibility creates a circle together with patients and community members. This provides a social media group, where people can connect with others to share experiences and hospitals are able to receive feedback. Hospitals can also provide reliable education and guidelines for patients and community. Many seek health advice and information through social media. Health care providers are using social media for care. Patients are able to connect and ask questions or request refills. With building communities with social media, the exposure can improve education of the general public. Many providers are creating a community to provide healthcare

There are many concerns about privacy policies and confidentiality on social media. “Social media pose many risks for health care organizations that could potentially affect the safety and security of patient information, patient consent, employment practices, physician credentialing and licensure, the violation of patient boundaries and other ethical issues” (NCBI, year). The use of social media has to keep HIPAA in mind so that there are no violations done. Doing so will result in the avoidance of legal action against the health care provider and organization. If there is any social media that links to a patient it must have all personal identifying information removed. There could be also improper descriptions or discussion of a patient on social media that could potentially violate privacy policies. Patient’s consent is a crucial part of social medial and that a patient’s permission is needed to comply with HIPPA. Another pitfall is that hospitals can not control and manage conservations and the negative comments made. The organization is opened to criticism due to social media. A patient can write about a negative experience or encounter in a blog or post on the organization’s social media. There must be a rise of highlighting the positives to outweigh the