Importance of the interdisciplinary collaboration in safeguarding sensitive electronic health information NURS-FPX4040 Assessment 2 Protected Health Information PHI

The issue of electronic health information and the protection of protected health information should be taken seriously by all interprofessional team members. It is worth noting that the US government takes inappropriate social media use by the healthcare team very seriously. It has legal complications ranging from license termination, individual fines, and even fines to the healthcare organization. When caught in social media misconduct, healthcare institutions also set consequences for the interdisciplinary team. A healthcare professional may be suspended from working in the institution or initiate legal action. The misconduct may also cause the institution to attract financial penalties or even affect its licensure.

Our institution’s evidence-based strategies to prevent and reduce confidentiality, privacy, and security breaches, especially related to social media use, include staff training, disciplinary action taken against the staff found breaching and taking legal action (Zhou et al., 2018). The institution has annual social media and information technology training for all staff members, whereby the staff is reminded of the safety issues of social media use. There are also set steps to report social media misconduct and breaches, and all the staff members are aware of the consequences.     

Professional Staff Update

Every member of staff should be careful when using social media so that we can maintain patient safety. We need to safeguard the patient’s privacy, confidentiality, and security to achieve desired patient outcomes and make our work safe.

Social Media Best Practices

• Healthcare professionals should have a clear distinction between social media and work.
• Care providers should not post content that may bring privacy and security concerns to the patient. 
• Care providers should not post patients’ personal information on social media platforms, especially personal identification information.
• Doctors and nurses should not post any diagnostic or medical history on social media without the patient’s consent.
• Avoid sharing any sensitive patient information on social media platforms.
• Social media misconduct should be reported to the disciplinary of the institution or the relevant authority. 

Social Media Risks to Patient Information

The profound use of social media in healthcare poses a significant risk to sensitive patient information (Terrase et al., 2019). Patient information that hackers access may have detrimental effects on the patient’s safety and security. Personal information can be used to contact the patient and the patient’s family in the name of the healthcare institution.

Some hackers can also use patient information to illegally access insurance reimbursements that cater to the patient’s treatment expenses. Also, healthcare professionals’ accounts can be hacked, and patient information can be shared by malicious hackers, thus attracting legal implications to the owner of the hacked accounts. Therefore, it is integral for all healthcare staff in the interdisciplinary team to maintain good social media use and avoid as much as sharing patient information on their accounts. 

 References

Keshta, I., & Odeh, A. (2021). Security and privacy of electronic health records: Concerns and challenges. Egyptian Informatics Journal, 22(2), 177-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eij.2020.07.003

Terrasse, M., Gorin, M., & Sisti, D. (2019). Social media, e‐health, and medical ethics. Hastings Center Report, 49(1), 24-33. https://doi.org/10.1002/hast.975