Doctors should not accept Facebook requests from current and former patients and should consider using “conservative privacy settings” wherever possible, the British Medical Association has said.

Doctors should not accept Facebook
requests from current and former patients and should consider using
“conservative privacy settings” wherever possible, the British Medical
Association has said. In new guidelines titled ‘Using social media: practical
and ethical guidance for doctors and medical students’, the BMA explains that
problems can arise if the boundaries of the doctor-patient relationship become
blurred.

The BMA said that social
media like Facebook, Twitter, blogs and internet forums could compromise their
privacy and damage their professionalism. Dr Tony Calland, chairman of the
BMA’s medical ethics committee, said: “Medical professionals should be wary of
who could access their personal material online, how widely it could be shared
and how it could be perceived by their patients and colleagues.” It would be
“wholly inappropriate” for doctors to disclose information about their patients
online, Calland added. ~ Guardian, Jul 14

Doctors told not to connect with patients on Facebook
Jared Yee
doctor-patient relationship
Facebook
privacy