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- Title
Patient's Privacy Violation on Social Media in the Surgical Area.
- Authors
FANTI SILVA, DIEGO ADÃO; COLLEONI, RAMIRO; Fanti Silva, Diego Adão
- Abstract
In the new era of mobile technologies and social media, patient's privacy is at risk. Surgical patients have high visual appeal and may be vulnerable because a significant proportion of cases consist of emergency and trauma, in which patients are frequently unconscious. This study aims to identify the most vulnerable health providers to share patient's confidential data on social media in the surgical environment and their awareness of the confidentiality rules and laws. We surveyed medical graduates, surgical residents, and attending surgeons from a quaternary university hospital. Demographic data, usage and frequency of mobile apparatus, social media access, patient's data dissemination, and knowledge of laws and rules governing patient's privacy were recorded. One hundred fifty-six individuals (52 graduates, 51 residents, and 53 attending surgeons; mean age 24, 28, and 59 years, respectively) participated in the study. Patient's information was shared on social media by 53 per cent of the graduates, 86 per cent of the residents, and 32 per cent of the attending surgeons (P < 0.05). Confidentiality preservation policies were unknown to 69 per cent of graduates, 80 per cent of residents, and 62 per cent of attending surgeons (P = 0.124). Awareness of protocols to guide health-care professionals about safer use of social media was 0 per cent for graduates, 15 per cent for residents, and 22 per cent for attending surgeons (P = 0.002). Residents were the most vulnerable to share patient's information on social media compared with graduates and attending surgeons. Health institutions should promote continuing education in medical ethics, focussing on residents.
- Subjects
RIGHT of privacy; MEDICAL ethics laws; INTERNSHIP programs; MEDICAL protocols; JOB performance; OPERATIVE surgery; SOCIAL media; RELATIVE medical risk; SURGERY laws
- Publication
American Surgeon, 2018, Vol 84, Issue 12, p1900
- ISSN
0003-1348
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/000313481808401235