04 • Social media


SoundBite editor Sameera Teli explores the pitfalls of dentists using social media


ONLINE DENTIST


THE S


OCIAL media is part and parcel of our daily lives, serving as a useful source of information and entertainment as well as a means of global communication for millions. Dentists are no exception to this trend and sites such as Facebook and Twitter have become valuable platforms for sharing tips, ideas and innovations. But our duty to maintain professional standards


– both online and offline – means there are added risks to consider before logging on.


Social commentary Gone are the days when the only form of online communication was the humble email. In addition to the two big ones mentioned above, there are now countless networking sites available including Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest, not to mention various other blogs and forums. I think the majority of us, especially younger dentists, would admit to having accounts on at least two or more of these. In November 2014 the British Dental Journal published the findings of a US study into social media usage amongst dental students which revealed a massive 91 per cent used Facebook. And one of the greatest barriers to usage cited by respondents was privacy concerns. Social sites are effective avenues for communicating professionally and personally, however it has become a much more exposed place where information is instantly available for all to see. It is easy to make an impulsive negative comment that we may later regret (or not actually believe at all). While spoken words can be quickly forgotten, the same does not apply online where it is much more difficult to entirely erase written comments. They often linger in a search history cache or may even have been captured in a screenshot. A good example of the potential risks is shown in the case of a dental nurse who in July 2015 posted a Facebook message that indirectly supported an act of sectarian violence. The comment made no mention of her job but resulted in a complaint to the General Dental Council (GDC). She was called before the Professional Conduct Committee (PCC), who decided that her post violated the GDC standard 9.1.3: “You should not publish anything that could affect patients’ and the public’s confidence in you, or the dental profession, in any public media”. The nurse’s fitness to practise was found to be impaired and she was given a reprimand. The latest GDC guidance on using social media (tinyurl.com/jpgjvzr), published in June 2016, echoes this stance, advising that “you should not post any information, including personal views, or photographs and videos, which could damage public confidence in you as a dental professional.” Some social sites, including Facebook and Instagram, do allow users


to modify privacy settings around who can see your posts or uploads. However this does not eliminate risks entirely. Posts will still be accessible to your existing contacts and, as already mentioned, it only needs one person to take a screenshot for that information to spread


more widely. Likewise, posting anonymously or under an assumed name is also no guarantee of protection. A recommended approach is to assume that everything we post could


potentially be viewed by anyone – including patients, colleagues, patients, employers and regulators. So if you wouldn’t say it to them directly, then don’t say it online.


Confidentiality Online forums have become a popular means for professionals to discuss best current practice and clinical cases. This generally takes place within private login-only sites that require some kind of dental credentials. But despite the supposed private nature of such sites, information may still fall into the wrong hands. Clinicians should take great care regarding patient confidentiality and only share anonymised information unless the patient has given their explicit consent otherwise. This would apply to the likes of clinical records, radiographs, photographs, video and audio recordings. The GDC advises: “If you are sharing anonymised patient information,


you must also take all possible precautions to make sure that the patient cannot be identified. Although individual pieces of information may not breach a patient’s confidentiality on their own, a number of pieces of patient information published online could be enough to identify them or someone close to them.” Before considering publishing identifiable information, familiarise yourself with the GDC’s Standards guidance on confidentiality (Standard


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16