Two recent incidents involving Facebook have resulted in the discipline of VCH employees. In one case a staff member commented about a patient’s death on Facebook and received a 4-shift unpaid suspension. In another incident 12 staff members were disciplined including one termination, one 3-month un-paid suspension, a 2-week unpaid suspension and 9 staff members received a 1-shift unpaid suspension.

What went wrong?

Some health professionals believe that as long as they don’t mention a client’s name, it’s OK to discuss the circumstances of that client on social media. This is very risky and could easily result in a breach of privacy. Social media is about the connections between users and between pieces of content. That’s great for socializing, but it’s not so great for keeping things private.

“In my experience investigating social media breaches it is the combination of several pieces of information that could lead to a breach,” said Christina Kirk, a privacy officer with VCH.

For example one staff member mentions VCH as their employer. Then a co-worker who comments on the post mentions their work site. Someone else comments about the unit that they all work on or the date that a patient was admitted or the room they were in.

“These little bits when pieced together may provide enough information to identify a patient and cause a privacy breach even without identifiers,” said Kirk.

Breaches are not limited to clients. One VCH staff member was disciplined for posting negative comments about a co-worker online and identifying the co-worker by name.

What you need to know

The VCH Social Media and Online Communication Policy (internal link) states “Staff must not disclose confidential patient or business-related information or reference any identifiers or information that could be used to identify individual patients, clients or residents receiving care at VCH, as well as fellow staff members or suppliers”.

Anything you write about a patient or staff member could lead to a privacy breach, even if you don’t state their name. So the best way to protect others and protect yourself is not to post or comment about clients, patients or other VCH employees on social media.

More information

• VCH Social Media and Online Communication policy
• Information Privacy Office
• Client Relations/Risk Mgmt.

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