While social media may be used by healthcare practitioners as a tool to share helpful tips, if misused or abused, it could ruin the entire medical profession.
Based on a mini-survey conducted by the Healthxph, a site which shows how social media can impact the Philippines health landscape, it was reported that a majority of Filipino doctors own a social media account.
About 96 percent of these doctors have a Facebook account, the remaining four percent plans to open an account in the future and of the 96 percent, only eight percent of doctors use Facebook for healthcare.
Orthopedic surgeon and Healthxph medical blogger Dr. Remo-Tito Aguilar of St. Louis Hospital said that separating personal and professional presence online was already difficult for healthcare practitioners to do in itself.
“If you are a doctor then the people will interpret your actions online as that of a healthcare professional,” Dr. Aguilar said during day 2 of the seminar conducted by the Philippine College of Physicians on Tuesday.
He noted that there is no such thing as private space in social media because once a person posts a status update, comment or photo, it immediately goes to the public domain and may be found in searches by the public.
Consequences
Nowadays, healthcare practitioners would post on Facebook without thinking of the implication of their rants on patients, bashing on colleagues or even simply posting photos of them being like everyone else going crazy at the beach and partying while chugging down large amounts of liquor.
Doctor-lawyer Ivy Patdu-Calaquian of the Asian Hospital and Medical Center for her part said that the consequences of the misuse or abuse social media are both legal and ethical.
“There are some legal consequences such as copyright infringement, defamation or libel, cybercrime law but just because something is not illegal or can be punished by imprisonment doesn’t mean it’s allowed,” Atty. Calaquian said.
Health practitioners who purposely or accidentally post confidential information about their patients are immediately at risk of losing their job.
“Ethical violations especially for physicians in the Philippines can be the cause of administrative liability which could mean revocation of your (medical) license,” she added.
She said that to avoid situations like these from occurring, it would be best not to add patients as a friend on Facebook or using a separate account for personal matters.
For physicians who would like to discuss cases with fellow physicians, creating a private group could also come in good use.
‘Pause before you post’
Gastroenterologist Dr. Ivan Vicente of University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital meanwhile reminded healthcare practitioners to mind their own internet presence and monitor what it is they post.
Posting health advices for a specific patient may be taken generally and may even result to other Facebook users applying these advices for themselves when it is actually not applicable.
He also warned healthcare practitioners of the dangers of bashing co-workers or ranting about patients on social media as it could affect the profession as a whole.
“Medical professionalism has been ingrained in our heads since med school. But why are there still lapses online? Why do we still see doctors posting unprofessional content? Dr. Vicente said.
One factor, he stressed, is due to the fact that there are no policies or guidelines on social use publicly available in medical schools, societies or institutions unlike abroad.
Atty. Calaquin however said that being a healthcare practitioner meant having to face a higher form of responsibility.
Benefits
Despite the consequences to social media misuse and abuse, Dr. Aguilar said that it had just as many benefits to the health sector—one of which is patient education.
Dr. Aguilar cited the Facebook page of cardiologist known for his guestings in TV show, Salamat Dok, Dr. Willie Ong which is regularly updated with health tips posted by Dr. Ong himself.
He said that another common use of social media is to provide patient support groups since it facilitates conversation between patients.
One example is the Smiling Kidneys Club which provides moral, sometimes even financial support for kidney patients.
Social media also allows healthcare practitioners to increase awareness for the general public by posting health alerts. He noted that even the Department of Health (DOH) had its own Facebook and Twitter accounts.
For healthcare practitioners who are part of an institution, social media can be used to provide support services, to listen to the community and increase the brand awareness.
“Do not fear socialo media,” Dr. Aguilar said. “it is an amazing tool for healthcare professionals however you should learn to use it properly.” PNA
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