rules & regulations
9
Social Media and HIPAA
TIPS
to Stay
Compliant
By Brian A. Colao, Eric L. White and Jennifer R. Tauzel
Even though Facebook began barely over a decade ago, it and other forms of social media have become tremendously popular. In fact,
social media has become a favored tool of communication for personal, business and professional use. We now see the general public
using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and their competitors or successors to obtain their news, receive recommendations, maintain
their relationships and drive their business. Medical professionals who wish to gain broader access to patients and the general public
are looking for ways to utilize these tools for everything from marketing to patient education. However, in the medical context, these
tools are often misused and subject employers to liability for violation of HIPAA data privacy and security regulations.
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