A position paper recently released by the American College of Physicians (ACP) and theFederation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) urges health-care providers to carefully consider their actions when using social media or other forms of electronic communication. From a post today on the news@JAMA blog:

To help physicians use social media and other digital communication tools in ways that are more beneficial and less likely to cause harm, the ACP and FSMB produced the current position paper. The paper emphasizes the importance of following the same ethical standards for maintaining the physician-patient relationship, confidentiality, patient privacy, and respect for individuals online or offline. It also recommended that physicians:

• Create separate personal and professional accounts for social media and other interactions online.
• Use e-mail only to communicate with patients with whom they have an established physician-patient relationship and only with proper patient consent.
• Manage their online reputation by periodically searching for their name and creating a profile page of information that will likely be the first item to come up in such a search.
• Be aware that online comments can have lasting effects on a career.

See on scopeblog.stanford.edu