Social media has a ubiquitous influence in nearly all industries, including health care. With the near instant ability to connect with others, patients can provide their prospective in real time during the height of their reactionary emotional period of situations. The management of these reactions may feel like it’s all on the shoulders of the marketing and public relations departments. But in truth, it is essential to bring in your facilities risk management professionals into the conversation for support. It is not uncommon to experience many challenges regarding the identification, management, and mitigation of risky situations on social media. But there is a path that can lessen the risk that an organization subjects itself to and that path starts with collaboration.
Social Media- A Collaborative Effort?
As we know, social media has many pros and cons in its use in the healthcare industry. As healthcare marketing professionals we know social media gives us the ability to connect with specific target audiences about programs, service lines, or initiatives. We are also able to hear from our patients that choose to provide ratings, feedback, or reviews. With that, it also can give dissatisfied patients a platform to disclose their perception of specific experiences or situations. With rules, regulations, and the standards healthcare organizations are held to, it can feel nearly impossible to combat specific patient disclosures with a response or clarification in a social media setting. So, then what? Time to call in the risk team for additional support! This is a two- way street, however. It is important for risk professionals to gain an understanding of the platforms their organization is participating in and the limitations each platform provides as well as staff capabilities. Risk can gain this understanding through working directly with marketing professionals. Managing reviews on various platforms can be difficult based on the specific platform. Removal of potentially aspersed comments can have various roadblocks put into place by the platform itself. To make an impact on the organization, it is crucial for marketing and risk to work collaboratively to manage situations but more importantly to assess and mitigate risks for the future. Both marketing and risk professionals are probably thinking, ‘Is this collaboration worth the effort and time?’. To that, I say, absolutely!
It’s In the Numbers…
It is important to be aware of the sheer numbers of people that are actively participating in various social platforms. Research shows that in 2024, there are estimated to be 5.17 billion total social media users worldwide with the average person using 6.7 different social networks per month and spending 143 minutes per day devoted to it (Sprout Social). Marketing professionals get this, we know these stats. It is our job to assist risk professionals with understanding the gravitas of the social world. Collaboratively, risk and marketing can use this information and the information specifically about the organizations social activities, level of engagement and potentially the target audience to help assist in determining the appropriate risk mitigation strategy for the organization and level of emphasis that needs to be placed on these efforts.
Assess, Mitigate, Monitor, Repeat!
As with any risk assessment, social media is an area were the sources of potential risks need to be identified and assessed to properly address or mitigate for future potential issues. This effort will need a collaborative effort between risk and the public relations/ marketing department team members. Bringing an awareness to different social media risk mitigation strategies is a proactive approach. Some basic risk mitigation strategies can range anywhere from conducting the basic social media risk assessment to creating an effective social media monitoring tool or policy. Having your organization establish an official presence on social media which is determined by a preestablished social media policy is an excellent way to begin mitigation efforts. Creating ‘one voice’ for the organization with clearly defined messaging leaves less room for ambiguity and error. Some helpful tips for creating these policies would be to recognize that policies are not one-size- fit- all as they must be tailored to the culture, needs, and realities of your specific organization. Each healthcare organization has a different ‘appetite’ for different risks. Identifying potential risks and their anticipated outcomes gives us the ability to determine what the impact would be on the organization as well as the probability of it occurring. For example, a standard risk all healthcare organizations could experience is negative feedback from patients being posted on social media. The potential outcomes could include misrepresentation of the organization, service line, or providers capabilities. It could also cause a decrease in positive engagement from other patients, impact referrals, or cause a loss of productivity due to the staff addressing this specific situation. A negative post can cause a loss of costumers, potentially violate privacy, and impede on employees’ level of security and comfort in their workplace. In an effort to mitigate the severity of this risk, organizations can participate in scenario planning and crisis management exercises.
But its Gray…
Social media, risk, and the health care industry have a lot of gray area, but we have seen litigious activity. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights reported that they imposed a $50,000 civil money penalty to a dental practice because they impermissibly disclosed a patient’s PHI on a webpage in response to a negative online review (Data Guidance).
The learning moment for the industry is not to put your organization in this position. Assess, identify, analyze, evaluate, monitor, mitigate and be proactive for your organization. Be educated on your governing bodies rules and regulations and research ‘best practice’ options to best create the plan that will fit the needs of your organization. Interested in learning more? There is an upcoming webinar that can assist you! Join your colleagues for an insightful webinar titled: #Let'sGetSocial: What is the Risk of Social?, on Monday September 16th.
Resources:
50+ Must-Know Social Media Marketing Statistics for 2024 [Updated] | Sprout Social
HIPAA Social Media Rules - Updated 2023 (hipaajournal.com)
Four HIPAA Enforcement Actions Hold Healthcare Providers Accountable With Compliance | HHS.gov
USA: OCR issues $50,000 civil monetary penalty on dental practice for impermissible disclosure of patient information | News post | DataGuidance