Privacy and Security: Social Media
Technology has allowed other facets of interacting and communicating with others. One such way is social media, also known as social networking. Today, social media has expanded to include most industries, including healthcare which continues to change. This new way of communicating provides a relationship between health organizations and individuals or from one health provider to another. Most uses for social media, in healthcare, is to broadcast medical information or significant events. With increasing use, how safe is patient’s medical information? The aim of this paper is to point out the significant role of social media in the healthcare industry, advantages and disadvantages, what health information …show more content…
One advantage allows more individuals to be reached regardless of their location. Another advantage is that it reduces health costs associated with normal medical office tasks such as phone calls and correspondences (Increasing Importance of Social Media in Healthcare, 2011). In addition, individuals that interact online are also able to benefit through costs. According to KPMG’s website, patients can reap a 62 to 95 percent cost savings on regular physician and emergency room visits (Increasing Importance of Social Media in Healthcare, 2011). It also allows people to screen themselves, interact with other individuals with similar conditions, and access to provider information (Increasing Importance of Social Media in Healthcare, 2011). Additionally, social media is essential to organizations wanting to build closer relationships with patients. In contrast to the advantages, disadvantages include the possibility of breach of patient information. Protected medical information can be publicized, leading to a violation of HIPAA laws. More importantly, due to the massive amount of existing health information, there is the possibility of providing inaccurate information (Increasing Importance of Social Media in Healthcare, …show more content…
This way of communicating is being used more by the healthcare industry to connect with patients to provide valuable health information. Progressions in technology has allowed for a faster way of providing that information to others. With increased use, protection is needed to protect the privacy and security of the patient and prevent medical information from being released illegally. Social media, as with any other web-based service used to communicate, raises many concerns and questions about how private and secure health information really is. Employing the key policies and procedures, will contribute significantly in reducing these
Technology has allowed other facets of interacting and communicating with others. One such way is social media, also known as social networking. Today, social media has expanded to include most industries, including healthcare which continues to change. This new way of communicating provides a relationship between health organizations and individuals or from one health provider to another. Most uses for social media, in healthcare, is to broadcast medical information or significant events. With increasing use, how safe is patient’s medical information? The aim of this paper is to point out the significant role of social media in the healthcare industry, advantages and disadvantages, what health information …show more content…
One advantage allows more individuals to be reached regardless of their location. Another advantage is that it reduces health costs associated with normal medical office tasks such as phone calls and correspondences (Increasing Importance of Social Media in Healthcare, 2011). In addition, individuals that interact online are also able to benefit through costs. According to KPMG’s website, patients can reap a 62 to 95 percent cost savings on regular physician and emergency room visits (Increasing Importance of Social Media in Healthcare, 2011). It also allows people to screen themselves, interact with other individuals with similar conditions, and access to provider information (Increasing Importance of Social Media in Healthcare, 2011). Additionally, social media is essential to organizations wanting to build closer relationships with patients. In contrast to the advantages, disadvantages include the possibility of breach of patient information. Protected medical information can be publicized, leading to a violation of HIPAA laws. More importantly, due to the massive amount of existing health information, there is the possibility of providing inaccurate information (Increasing Importance of Social Media in Healthcare, …show more content…
This way of communicating is being used more by the healthcare industry to connect with patients to provide valuable health information. Progressions in technology has allowed for a faster way of providing that information to others. With increased use, protection is needed to protect the privacy and security of the patient and prevent medical information from being released illegally. Social media, as with any other web-based service used to communicate, raises many concerns and questions about how private and secure health information really is. Employing the key policies and procedures, will contribute significantly in reducing these