This webinar covers entertaining issues of HIPAA and social media violations of its privacy requirements.  The basic provisions of privacy for protected health information are well known.  HIPAA has been around more than a dozen years. 

HIPAA privacy rules serve to protect health information of the patient from prying eyes, yet the rise of social media provides new avenues and ways for the unwary health care practitioner to violate HIPAA’s privacy requirements.  This can occur by untrained health care workers at all levels of employment as well as careless, licensed health care practitioners.

Health care practitioners and the facilities which employ them fear HIPAA violations consequences of their own via social media posted by those careless or untrained health care workers.
Examine the uncertainty about how health care facilities and employers may take action, and may be themselves liable, for HIPAA privacy violations in the uses of social media.  A violation can “go viral” and spiral out of control making the consequences even more disastrous.  Erase the uncertainty and doubt that exists when the health care practitioner is confronted with a possible HIPAA privacy violation in the use and abuse of social media. 

Find out in this informative webinar that provides you with a more complete knowledge of the HIPAA privacy mandates as enforced by state licensure boards and agencies and their own, unique pre-HIPAA confidentiality laws.  Not only can a health care worker be “fired by Facebook,” but a licensed health care practitioner may be subject to licensure discipline as well.  This webinar then devotes time to an analysis of state licensure and privacy laws that may spell doom for the hapless health care practitioner.

Course Objectives:

• The basics of HIPAA privacy requirements;
• The permitted use of social media by health care practitioners;
• Employer or health care facility rules governing employee uses of social media;
• State authority of licensure boards and agencies to regulate the confidentiality of Protected Health Information held by licensed health care practitioners;
• How social media violations may occur by health care practitioners;
• Examples of social media violations and HIPAA privacy mandates;
• Social media rankings and health care practitioner's enticed violations;
• Tips and techniques and a checklist for using social media in compliance with HIPAA.

Why Should You Attend:

This webinar provides an overview of core privacy requirements of HIPAA, the basics of which should be well-known and practiced by all health care practitioners.  Then, the subject moves to the social media activities of health care practitioners, which can include their own social media or the social media of others, such as a hospital or health care facility’s official social media.

This webinar thus provides a brief summary of those basic HIPAA privacy protections then goes into detail on the many ways a health care provider may run afoul of the privacy exceptions via the use of social media.   While not every kind of social media can be covered, the basic principles that words and photographs on any publicly accessible internet forum constitutes a social media danger subject to a breach.

This privacy breach may occur both when a heath care practitioner initiates a social media comment and when the practitioner responds to a social media statement.  It is common now for websites to rate health care practitioners and to allow the posting of individual reviews and even responses by the health care practitioner.  A common pitfall is where current or former patient rates doctors on health care practitioner rating websites thus engendering a response and practically inviting a HIPAA violation by making any response at all.

How does one respond and not violate the law?  Can the doctor’s informed consent or practice policy documentation with the patient cover this and prevent the patient from speaking out on social media about the doctor?  Is such a contract enforceable?  What about a patient’s freedom of speech?

This webinar will also cover examples of state laws that apply to licensed health care professionals that mandate confidentiality and will further examine how health care professionals’ licenses can be suspended or revoked for privacy violations in the course of using social media.  Finally, take a look at how employment rules of the health care facility may impact the use of social media by the health care practitioner.

Course Outline:

• HIPAA privacy;
• Social media uses that are permitted;
• Rules of the health care employer or facility governing social media use by employees;
• State licensure boards laws on patient confidentiality;
• Examples of social media violations;
• Social media rankings and health care practitioner’s websites;
• Tips and techniques for social media compliance.

What You Get:

• Training Materials
• Live Q&A Session with our Expert
• Participation Certificate
• Access to Signup Community (Optional)
• Reward Points

Who Will Benefit:

• Health care attorneys;
• Hospital directors;
• Public health officials;
• Emergency department workers;
• Directors of nursing;
• Corporate compliance officers in health care;
• Medical records staff of medical offices and health care entities;
• Hospital attorneys; Health care practitioners who are covered entities;
• Law enforcement officers in health care compliance;
• State boards and agencies with jurisdiction over state licenses to practice a health care profession