For this assessment, you will prepare a two-page interprofessional staff update on HIPAA and
appropriate social media use in health care. Before you complete the detailed instructions in the
courseroom, first select one of the settings below that will become the focus of your
interprofessional staff update.
After you have selected one of the two settings below, return to the courseroom to review the
assessment instructions and grading rubric prior to completing your assessment.
• Outpatient Settings:
o Context: Outpatient settings, also known as ambulatory care settings, are
medical facilities where patients receive care without being admitted to the
hospital. This includes clinics, physician’s offices, and urgent care centers. Given
the high patient turnover and the diverse range of conditions treated, it’s crucial
for staff to maintain patient privacy. With the rise of telemedicine consultations,
there’s an increased risk of HIPAA violations, especially if conversations are
overheard or screens are visible to others.
o Social Media Concern: Sharing any patient information, photos, or even
seemingly harmless anecdotes from a day’s work can lead to unintentional
HIPAA violations.
• Pediatrics (Newborns – age 16):
o Context: Pediatric settings cater to the medical needs of children from birth to
age 16. Given the vulnerable nature of this population, there’s a heightened need
for privacy and discretion. Parents and guardians are deeply involved in the care
process, and any breach of information can be particularly distressing.
o Social Media Concern: Sharing photos of cute moments, milestones, or
celebrations without consent can be a major breach. Even if names are not
mentioned, identifiable features or context can lead to violations.
In this assessment, imagine you are a nurse in one of the health care settings described in the following resource:
Before your shift begins, you scroll through Facebook and notice that a coworker has posted a photo of herself and a patient on Facebook and described how happy she is that her patient is making great progress. You have recently completed your annual continuing education requirements at work and realize this is a breach of your organization’s social media policy. Your organization requires employees to immediately report such breaches to the privacy officer to ensure the post is removed immediately and that the nurse responsible receives appropriate corrective action.
You follow appropriate organizational protocols and report the breach to the privacy officer. The privacy officer takes swift action to remove the post. Due to the severity of the breach, the organization terminates the nurse.
Based on this incident’s severity, your organization has established a task force with two main goals:
Educate staff on HIPAA and appropriate social media use in health care.
Prevent confidentiality, security, and privacy breaches.
The task force has been charged with creating a series of interprofessional staff updates on the following topics:
Social media best practices.
What not to do: Social media.
Social media risks to patient information.
Steps to take if a breach occurs.
This assessment is not a traditional essay. It is a staff educational update about PHI. Consider creating a flyer, pamphlet, or one PowerPoint slide (not an entire presentation). Remember it should not be more than two pages (excluding a title and a reference page).
The task force has asked team members assigned to the topics to include the following content in their updates in addition to content on their selected topics:
What is protected health information (PHI)?
Be sure to include essential HIPAA information.
What are privacy, security, and confidentiality?
Define and provide examples of privacy, security, and confidentiality concerns related to the use of technology in health care.
Explain the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to safeguard sensitive electronic health information.
What evidence relating to social media usage and PHI do interprofessional team members need to be aware of? For example:
What are some examples of nurses being terminated for inappropriate social media use in the United States?
What types of sanctions have health care organizations imposed on interdisciplinary team members who have violated social media policies?
What have been the financial penalties assessed against health care organizations for inappropriate social media use?
What evidence-based strategies have health care organizations employed to prevent or reduce confidentiality, privacy, and security breaches, particularly related to social media usage?
Notes
Your staff update is limited to two double-spaced content pages. Be selective about the content you choose to include in your update so you can meet the page length requirement. Include need-to-know information. Omit nice-to-know information.
Many times people do not read staff updates, do not read them carefully, or do not read them to