Policy

What is social media

‘Social media’ is defined as online social networks used to disseminate information through online interaction. ‘Social media’ describes the online and mobile tools that people use to share opinions, information, experiences, images, and video or audio clips and includes websites and applications used for social networking. Common sources of social media include, but are not limited to, social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, blogs (personal, professional and those published anonymously), WOMO, True Local and microblogs such as Twitter, content-sharing websites such as YouTube and Instagram, and discussion forums and message boards. Crescent Head Medical Centre use Facebook only.

Obligations in relation to social media

In using social media, Crescent Head Medical Centre is aware of their obligations under the National Law, their Board’s Code of conduct, the Advertising guidelines and other relevant legislation, such as privacy legislation.

The Code of conduct contains guidance about the required standards of professional behaviour, which apply to registered health practitioners whether they are interacting in person or online. The Code of conduct also articulates standards of professional conduct in relation to privacy and confidentiality of patient information, including when using social media. For example, posting unauthorised photographs of patients in any medium is a breach of the patient’s privacy and confidentiality, including on a personal Facebook site or group even if the privacy settings are set at the highest setting (such as for a closed, ‘invisible’ group). Section 133 of the National Law imposes limits on how health services delivered by registered health practitioners can be advertised.

Crescent Head Medical Centre will be advertising on Facebook, only and these advertisements will be of a general nature. All social media activities will be managed by a dedicated person, who will be responsible for all aspects of the social media. All posts must be reviewed and approved by the management, prior going live.

• Person Responsible:       Customer Relations Manager / Practice Manager Assist

The following information outlines what practice staff are expected not to post on social media:

• Alludes to or is directly involved in anything unlawful, pornographic or explicit in nature, offense, threatening or defamatory.
• Divulges personal details or information reveals confidential information relating to both patients and non-patients of the practice, practice business information that has not been made public.
• Claiming a false identity.

The following policy guidelines outlining social media use, whether personal or business related, are applicable to all practice staff. Staff are legally responsible for their online content and may be held liable for any misconduct or breach of the policy.

Our practice has the right to enforce disciplinary action including termination of employment if found in breach. This social media policy applies to any staff who are under employment by Crescent Head Medical Centre. The policy does not include patients or people not employed by Crescent Head Medical Centre.

Procedure

Our practice has appointed Customer Relations Manager / Practice Manager Assist as our social media officer with designated responsibility to manage and monitor the practice’s social media accounts. All posts on the practice’s social media websites must be approved by this person.

When using the practice’s social media, all members of our practice team will not:

• Post any material that:
  • Is unlawful, threatening, defamatory, pornographic, inflammatory, menacing, or offensive
  • Infringes or breaches another person’s rights (including intellectual property rights) or privacy, or misuses the practice’s or another person’s confidential information (e.g. do not submit confidential information relating to our patients, personal information of staff, or information concerning the practice’s business operations that have not been made public)
  • Is materially damaging or could be materially damaging to the practice’s reputation or image, or another individual
  • Is in breach of any of the practice’s policies or procedures
• Use social media to send unsolicited commercial electronic messages, or solicit other users to buy or sell products or services or donate money
• Impersonate another person or entity (for example, by pretending to be someone else or another practice employee or other participant when you submit a contribution to social media) or by using another’s registration identifier without permission
• Tamper with, hinder the operation of, or make unauthorised changes to the social media sites
• Knowingly transmit any virus or other disabling feature to or via the practice’s social media account, or use in any email to a third party, or the social media site
• Attempt to do or permit another person to do any of these things:
  • Claim or imply that you are speaking on the practice’s behalf, unless you are authorised to do so
  • Disclose any information that is confidential or proprietary to the practice, or to any third party that has disclosed information to the practice
• Be defamatory, harassing, or in violation of any other applicable law
• Include confidential or copyrighted information (e.g. music, videos, text belonging to third parties), and
• Violate any other applicable policy of the practice.

All members of our practice team must obtain the relevant approval from our social media officer prior to posting any public representation of the practice on social media websites. The practice reserves the right to remove any content at its own discretion.

Any social media must be monitored in accordance with the practice’s current polices on the use of internet, email and computers.

Our practice complies with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) national law, and takes reasonable steps to remove testimonials that advertise our services (which may include comments about the practitioners themselves). Our practice is not responsible for removing (or trying to have removed) unsolicited testimonials published on a website or in social media over which we do not have control.

Any social media posts by members of our practice team on their personal social media platforms should:

• Include the following disclaimer example in a reasonably prominent place if they are identifying themselves as an employee of the practice on any posting: ‘The views expressed in this post are mine and do not reflect the views of the practice/business/committees/boards that I am a member of’, and
• Respect copyright, privacy, fair use, financial disclosure and other applicable laws when publishing on social media platforms.

Social media activities internally and externally of the practice must be in line with this policy.