Hello,
Welcome to the third month of the year, and I trust you are doing great. In this month’s episode of the newsletter, I will discuss ways in which you can stay safe on social media as a healthcare professional.
What is Social Media?
The term "social media" refers to a group of online tools and sites that let people build, share, and interact with one another in online communities and networks. Regardless of where they are in the world, social media enables users to interact, exchange updates, communicate, and work together in real-time. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube are a few of the well-known social media sites.
Social media has pervaded our lives as some persons can literally not stay a few minutes without constantly looking for updates from various social media sites or following up with latest news and trends.
Use of Social Media in Healthcare.
Healthcare has found a great use of social media and some of them include:
Health education and promotion
Healthcare marketing
Patient engagement and communication
Research.
Community building.
Dangers of social media in healthcare
Despite some of the benefits of social media, there are also some downsides that we have to be really careful about. Some of them are but not limited to:
Violation of patient privacy
Spread of false information especially health information
Harassment and cyberbullying
Ethical concerns around patient consent and professional boundaries
Legal concerns
It is no longer news that some healthcare professionals use social media platforms without any regard for patient privacy or confidentiality. We have persons who tweet for ‘clout’ without regard for laws and regulations of their associated professional bodies. Social media, according to some persons are a direct extension of our personalities, and hence can make or mar your career.
How to stay safe on social media.
Healthcare workers are humans first before professionals, but it does not allow irrational use of social media. Here are some few tips to stay safe on social media:
Keep patient information private: Even if it has been de-identified, healthcare professionals should never post any patient information on social media. Patient safety may be jeopardized and laws governing patient privacy may be broken.
Be professional: Healthcare professionals should conduct themselves professionally on social media by avoiding content that is controversial or offensive and conversing with others in a polite manner.
Respect employer policies: Healthcare professionals should become acquainted with and abide by any employer's social media policies and guidelines.
Accepting friend invites from patients on social media platforms should be done with caution because it can muddy the lines between personal and professional relationships and jeopardize patient privacy.
If you run a healthcare facility, ensure that you have a social media policy in place which all staff are familiar with.
Before posting anything on social media, healthcare professionals should closely consider how it may be viewed by clients, coworkers, and employers.
Healthcare professionals should exercise caution when disclosing confidential information online because doing so leaves them open to identity theft, cyberbullying, and other forms of abuse.
Maintaining current with best practises: Healthcare professionals should continually assess the advantages and disadvantages of using social media in the healthcare industry.
Key Health Days in March 2023
The key dates in March 2023 are:
World Birth Defects Day: March 3rd
World Hearing Day: March 3rd
World Obesity Day: March 4th
World Dentist’s Day: March 6th
International Women Day: March 8th
World Kidney Day: March 9th
World Sleep Day: March 17th
World Oral Health Day: March 20th
World Water Day: March 22nd
World Tuberculosis Day: March 24th
World Optometry Day: March 23rd
What you can do as an organization or individual.
Here are a few ideas:
Create social media posts.
Facilitate a Webinar
Host a Twitter Space
Do a Livestream.
Write a Newsletter.
Record a Podcast
YouTube Channel Update
Over the past month, I have been also busy making videos that you will find useful especially those who are strongly considering pivoting into health tech or other non- clinical roles.
Here are my top four and you can watch them on my YouTube Channel for FREE.
Till I write you again,
Have a March full of Blessings.
Cheers,
Dr. Ron
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel as I post new videos every Friday by 8pm (WAT). Let me know what you think in the comment section. If there are topics you would love me to address or guests you would like to see on the show, please email me at dr.ikpe@yahoo.com
Behind The Scenes in Health with Dr.Ron is being managed by MRI Medic Consulting, a healthcare consulting and creative digital agency.
Our goal is to help healthcare brands become better with their social media presence, and we do this through training webinar sessions with clients, health content creation, social media management.
Would you like us to hold a training webinar for your staff? Please send an email to info@mrimedic.com or ronald@mrimedic.com
Here is our linktree. Feel free to explore our pages.