Margie Barkley: Healthcare Social Media Policy: Examples and Free Template

Where are the examples of healthcare social media policies?

There are many examples of social media policies for the retail, marketing, and finance industries. However, healthcare organizations have a much harder time finding information.

Healthcare organizations must take extra care when managing their social media presence. A comprehensive healthcare social media strategy is essential, especially with the sensitive data of patients and the ever-growing regulatory and compliance requirements.

This guide includes examples and templates that will help you to create your own healthcare social media policy.

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Why create a social media policy for healthcare employees?

Healthcare organizations using social media face unique challenges, particularly when protecting patient privacy and adhering to regulatory requirements. Federal laws like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) offer some direction, but compliance alone often isn’t enough to keep healthcare organizations safe online.

Here are some key reasons healthcare organizations should create a social media policy.

Defining expectations

Clear expectations around social media activity will help protect your organization and staff. A healthcare social media policy helps to define acceptable behavior that reflects positively on supervisors, colleagues, patients, and the organization as a whole.

Brand representation

Brand safety is especially important in healthcare, as a misplaced post or poorly handled comment can cause significant reputation damage. A social media policy can help ensure that posts associated with your organization represent the values of the organization and its mission. It can also create guidelines around personal posts by staff who may be seen as brand ambassadors, even when they aren’t at work.

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Good oral hygiene can help prevent tooth decay and keep your entire body healthy.

Not sure where to begin? Here are our top oral health health tips: https://t.co/BlSftVAj0j pic.twitter.com/PzhyGFr5Gc

— Vancouver Coastal Health (@VCHhealthcare) April 6, 2023

Information vetting

Accurate or misleading information about health can have many harmful effects for healthcare organizations. These include a loss of public trust and direct harm to patients’ health.

A healthcare social media strategy can define guidelines to verify the accuracy of information posted on social media. Double-checking, fact-checking, and verifying claims of health with clinical experts can be part of this.

Dr. Moore has released the 2022 Annual report of Ontario’s CMOH.

The report calls on Ontario to learn from past pandemics and outbreaks such as H1N1 or SARS in order to be prepared for future pandemics and outbreaks.

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Ontario Ministry of Health @ONThealth March 7, 2023

Standards for licensing

A social media policy can help healthcare workers ensure that the content they release complies with all licensing standards established by their governing body.

It is important to ensure that the content posted meets all applicable laws and regulations, including those pertaining to advertising, endorsements, or HIPAA.

Patient privacy

Well-defined policies on social media can help protect patient privacy. You can use your policy to ensure that no personally identifiable information, such as patient names or photographs, is shared or posted.

Crisis Management

Healthcare organizations can use a social media policy in the event of a negative comment or crisis to respond appropriately and timely.

The policy should include protocols for handling customer complaints, dealing with potential PR issues and offering support to patients, other stakeholders and others.

The following is a list of the most effective ways to reduce your risk.

A healthcare social media policy can help organizations to enforce their expectations, and protect them from legal liability. A healthcare social media policy should include disciplinary actions for violations of the policy, such as warnings and termination of employment.

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Petlhi shared this post. pomaOK kipoTEma (@alokpatelmd)

Healthcare social media policy examples

Are you looking for examples of healthcare social media policies to help shape your own? Here are some examples from well-known health care organizations.

1. John Hopkins Medicine

Johns Hopkins Medicine has social media channels in all six of its hospitals. In its healthcare policy on social media, the organization emphasizes the importance of social media being a “front door” into the organization while also being able to connect with patients and the community.

Johns Hopkins Medical’s social media policy is built on a number of core principles.

Respect for people and organizations that they serveTransparency in informationPatient privacyKindness when communicating with othersAccountability for your actions

All notes on policy are based upon Johns Hopkins core values: Diversity & Inclusion and Respect & Collegiality.

Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine

Johns Hopkins has also compiled its top-level notes in a simple and effective animated video, which can be easily shared with staff members and healthcare leaders.

This is an excellent example of how interactive social media policies that are designed with the employee in mind can inspire employees to participate while helping companies remain compliant.

Visit the Johns Hopkins Healthcare social media policy to learn more. You can also find a FAQ and key points page.

2. Vancouver Coastal Health

Each healthcare organization, no matter how big or small it is, should have a policy on social media. Vancouver Coastal Health, an organization that provides services to more than a million people in British Columbia and beyond is not the exception.

VCH’s Privacy, Confidentiality, & Social Media Policy outlines the guidelines for staff, volunteers, doctors, and other external partners to use social media.

The policy includes topics such as:

Respectful communication.Use of official VCH accounts.Proper use of photos and videos.Confidentiality, privacy, & security considerations.Appropriate comments and posts.Unacceptable or illegal activities.

VCH developed an interactive digital training module to help staff understand common situations and provide guidance on how they should be handled.

This module contains multiple-choice questions such as the one below.

Healthcare social media policy example: Vancouver Coastal Health's guidelines regarding sharing information online

Source: Vancouver Coastal Health

The site provides detailed explanations of each answer to help put policy violations in a wider context.

Healthcare social media policy example: Vancouver Coastal Health's guidelines regarding sharing information online continued

Source: Vancouver Coastal Health

VCH:

“To deliver high-quality care in fast-paced environments, various modes of communication, access-to-information, and digital tools are important. You may come across confidential information about patients, staff, or business, regardless of your role. It is your responsibility to use and share this information securely. Ask yourself, “Do I need to know?”

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Vancouver Coastal Health shared a post on Twitter (@vchhealthcare).

3. The University of Texas Medical Branch

You don’t need to be a pioneer to develop a social media policy that is effective for healthcare workers.

The University of Texas Medical Branch’s (UTMB) social media policy for healthcare is a simple online PDF document that outlines the following:

Best practices for communication and posting. How to protect your personal and professional reputation online. Who to contact if there are questions about appropriate usage.

Source: University of Texas Medical Branch

This document won’t win any design prizes. It does provide clear and practical advice about how healthcare providers should use social media responsibly.

UTMB can protect itself from potential legal and reputational risks by establishing clear guidelines on the use of social media for employees.

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A post shared by UTMB Health.

4. Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System’s social media guidelines are a simple, branded beauty that lies somewhere between Johns Hopkins University and UTMB. This digital PDF is visually appealing, but also contains a wealth of information.

How to use Facebook and Twitter. Detailed notes on the acceptable and unacceptable uses of professional and private social channels. Contact information for the Social Media Department.

This document provides a template that can be used to define a social media marketing strategy. The document includes a table that outlines goals, KPIs and references to competitors.

This healthcare social media policies is an excellent example of how companies can set corporate rules while also encouraging positive use of social media.

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Mount Sinai Health System shared a post (@mountsinainyc).

5. World Health Organization

Healthcare social media policies will become increasingly complex for organizations that operate globally.

World Health Organization (WHO), which has an audience of six million, operates eleven social media channels. The WHO Strategic Communications Framework for Social Media is a comprehensive social media policy for global healthcare organizations.

Healthcare social media policy example: WHO Strategic Communications Framework

Source: World Health Organization

This document contains specific guidelines for:

Naming conventions for corporate accounts.Design specifications for animations and quotes.A style guide for crafting Tweets.What to do if WHO accounts are compromised.In-depth training on responding to outside media.Crisis communication policies.Multilingual communication guidelines.Policies on disseminating credible information.#DidYouKnow?

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Practice safe listening. #HealthForAll #WHO75 pic.twitter.com/vsXZle7nPp Practice safe listening.#HealthForAll #WHO75 pic.twitter.com/vsXZle7nPp

— WHO Ghana (@WHOGhana) April 12, 2023

What should be included in a social media policy for healthcare?

You should include the following in your healthcare social media policy.

Employee access: Define who is allowed to access the company’s social media accounts and who can post on behalf of the organization.Licensing and regulations: Outline any licensing and regulations that apply to healthcare employees when working with social media, such as HIPAA compliance.Information verification: Stress that employees must appropriately vet any information they share on social media and use appropriate disclaimers to protect the organization’s interests.Posting standards: Healthcare organizations should include guidance on appropriate content, comments and language for posts. This can include content on official channels as well as recommendations for us of personal accounts.Platform-specific rules: Organizations should provide specific guidelines for the types of platforms they will use and the purpose or goals of each. For example, Twitter may be used to broadcast announcements, while Facebook encourages more interactive engagement with community members.Confidentiality: Healthcare organizations should also include guidelines in their policies related to protecting confidential information, as well as protecting patient privacy.Patient communication: In addition to protecting patient privacy, healthcare social media policies should provide guidance around employee interaction with patients. It is important to encourage patients to use official and secure channels to communicate with them instead of using social media sites.

This is only a start. You know your organization’s needs the best. Customize, add to, or subtract from this list, as needed.

Download a free healthcare social media policy template

The templates for healthcare social media policies can be used to quickly and easily create a policy that is comprehensive and compliant.

This template can be used to create a social media policy in healthcare for your organization.

Bonus: Download a customizable, free social media policy template specifically designed for healthcare institutions. Create guidelines quickly and easily for your team.

How to implement social media policies for healthcare workers

Implementing your policy is the next step. Here are five tips to ensure successful policy implementation.

Monitor compliance: Monitor employee activity on social networks to ensure that the policy is followed. Take action if necessary: If you find someone not following the policies, then take the appropriate disciplinary actions.

Be aware that new social media channels are constantly being created. Stay informed and make sure you adjust your policy if necessary.

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