The main goal of the hospital policy on social media and smartphones usage is to give guidelines that explain how smartphones and social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are supposed to be used in the healthcare organization. Therefore a good hospital policy concerning social media and smartphones usage should include some of the following information.
First, a hospital policy should give directives on how to enhance confidentiality. Therefore, it will be necessary for every attached student and healthcare giver to avoid giving confidential data concerning the health organization and maintain confidential patient information (Gille, 2017). The policy should provide how any personal data should be shared in case of need to disclose it. Secondly, hospital policy should require any person communicating through social media about health matters to be professional, transparent, and accurate should also maintain integrity in any communication passed to the public through social media. This will help to keep professionalism in the health sector. Thirdly, Hospital policy on smartphone and social media usage should contain information about ethical and legal responsibilities connected to the misuse of smartphones and social media by healthcare givers. For example, if a healthcare giver or any person gives any data concerning the health organizations, they will be required to connect to the health organization. This will help ensure that social media users are in line with the hospital’s quality levels of professional behavior. Lastly, the health workers and other employees should not use the health organization’s logo, official name or make any official communication about any health organization in their social media walls unless permitted by the management involved in the concerned health organization.
Conclusively, hospital policy concerning social media and smartphone usage provides guidelines to enhance the healthcare workers’ good and quality use of social media. Some of the primary data that should be contained in the hospital policy are guidelines that enhance professionalism, integrity, patient confidentiality, and liability of the healthcare providers.
Usually, some healthcare providers engage themselves in medical malpractices related to social media and smartphones. For example, some healthcare workers might post unprofessional information on their social media accounts to disclose confidential information about a patient. The Naval Hospital case is a good example of medical malpractices related to using social media and smartphones. Naval Hospital case involved a hospital healthcare provider who posted a video showing an infant being assaulted on a social media account. The case contains some legal and ethical obligations.
One of the ethical and legal liabilities is vicarious liability. Any professional healthcare working in the health organizations will risk the department being held liable for any unprofessional behavior of the staff member who posts unethical and unprofessional videos or pictures on their social media account (Goodman, 2015). Secondly, corporate liability is necessary for the health organization. Corporate liability will require every health organization to enhance practices or actions that maintain patient confidentiality and activities that promote good quality standards. Therefore Naval Hospital violated this obligation. Lastly, the health facilities and healthcare providers are liable for breaching patient information. HIPAA requires healthcare providers to take every necessary intervention to protect patient’s data from unauthorized persons. Therefore, the staff member who uploaded the video was posted without the authorization of the infant’s parents.
Social media has been linked to many challenges in the health sector. For example, a healthcare worker uploads unprofessional data on their social media walls that breach patient’s confidentiality. A good example is the Naval Hospital staff which posted a video of a young infant being assaulted. Some of these medical malpractices have various legal and ethical liabilities.
Part 2
Social Media Accounts Legal Rights
Smartphones and social media are turning into a basic need in the modern world. Social media, for instance, have created a good platform for different social and economic activities for the individuals who use them. Social media have made an excellent chance for friends and families to interact, share, and get informed on things that are happening instantly and any necessary event. Other people are using social media for commercial purposes. For example, institutions like higher learning institutions and employers are using social media data to hire someone based on the data uploaded by the candidate. This has contributed to a discussion on whether institutions and employers have or do not have the right to access a candidate’s social media account to decide. Research has proved that most colleges and employers use this method of accessing applicants’ social media accounts to know the characters and quality of the candidate.
No law prohibits colleges and employers from accessing candidates’ social media accounts before hiring. Some states permit employers to ask for social media passwords and usernames from their employees (Schmidt & O’Connor, 2016). The most significant intersections between employment and social media are the hiring process. Social media have substantial risks and rewards. Research conducted in 2013 showed that 77 percent of organizations use social media sites to hire candidates. Employers use social media to get detailed background data that an interview can reveal. Employers may learn things that reason not to hire and might discover things that favor hiring the candidate. Research indicates that colleges require more than just a student who has good grades and someone with character.
Social media is becoming a necessity in the modern world. Social media have created a good platform for different economic activities for the users. Social media have made an excellent connection where friends and family share, interact and pass information to one another. Employers and institutions like high learning institutions and uses social media for commercial purpose. No legal law prohibits employers and colleges from accessing employees’ and candidates’ social media accounts. Colleges do not require just good grade students but also need students who have good character.
Use of Social Media by Employers and Universities in Decision Making
Learning institutions and employers use social media to recruit candidates. However, many employers and universities do not train managers to screen candidates using social media walls legally and ethically. Hiring managers and recruiters pry and poke into uploads that the candidates posted for their friends. According to the research conducted by CareerBuilder survey, above half of the recruiters and managers found data that made them not hire an applicant. However, most of the reasons for not hiring the applicant were not connected to the job applied.
Most people believe that accessing social media to screen an applicant is unethical. This is because employers may get access to personal information such as age, sex, religion, disabilities, and national origin, which may disadvantage the candidate (Kluemper et al., 2016). Also, someone might have hacked a candidate’s social media account and post erroneous data that can risk the opportunity. Pictures and information can also be misunderstood. For instance, if the candidate has uploaded a photo holding up a glass of wine, an employer or a manager may assume that the applicant has a drinking problem.
In conclusion, employers and universities do not train recruiters and managers on using applicants’ social media accounts. About half of the managers find information that disadvantages the candidates. Some of the data posted by the applicant can be misinterpreted and used against the candidate. Someone can also hack the applicant’s social media account and post wrong information to risk the applicant’s opportunity.
Part 3
Relationship between Accreditation Decisions, Reimbursement, Quality of care, and Informatics
Providing quality healthcare services is a critical part of the health system. A patient accessing healthcare services is not enough. A patient who visits any health facility needs to be assured that they will get excellent, effective, consistent, and safe services. This is specifically necessary for health facilities where patients are severely and acutely sick. The concerns on hospital quality and levels have been there for decades. Health facilities differ in their level and ability to giving good quality care to the patients. The national plan for improving healthcare has been accreditation. Accreditation decisions make health organizations reliable and more robust and guide them in giving high-quality services to the patients. It helps health organizations to adhere to the health legal and ethical guidelines and regulations. Accredited health facilities have grand plans of giving and sustaining high standards and excellent services. Excellent services and quality care are necessary for improving the status of the patients. Good services help the patient heal faster from their sicknesses. In giving high-quality care, the healthcare givers ensure that they have background medical information of the patient through the help of informatics and follow up on the progress of the treatment.
Informatics has helped make the work more accessible in the health facilities where feeding the information into the health data system is faster and more efficient (Veinot et al. 2018). Informatics also influences correct diagnoses and reduces the possibility of errors. Informatics and accreditation decisions mainly help in providing quality health care services. Reimbursement helps in ensuring good healthcare facilities with excellent health services are accessible to many patients. In some circumstances, the financial level of patients prevents them from accessing the health services they need. However, programs like Medicaid and Medicare have provided support to ensure that the high population gets access to excellent healthcare services. Medicare is a program owned by the federal government that caters to the medical bills for individuals aged 65 and above.
On the other hand, Medicaid is a healthcare program founded and funded by both state and federal government that helps individuals that are below the poverty level (Selden et al., 2017). When Medicare and Medicaid programs were introduced, the death rates in the US reduced significantly. These Programs are reimbursements ensuring that the state and the federal government pay such persons’ medical bills.
Conclusively, getting healthcare services is not enough; patients need assurance that they will receive quality health services. Accreditation decisions, quality of care, reimbursement, and informatics contribute to upgrading the well-being of patients. Accreditation decisions ensure that the health facility meets the health legal and ethical requirements and laws and maintains patients’ health information history that helps in providing quality healthcare.
