Physicians are not your (Facebook) friends

When you're sick, hopefully the first person you call is your physician. In that sense, he or she IS your friend. But unless you've got a standing relationship with your physician outside the exam room, that's where the "friendship" should end, writes Nancy (Cawley) Jean, a senior media relations officer for Lifespan, in a Hospital Impact blog post.

But in today's socially connected world, physicians who are on Facebook with personal accounts may find themselves receiving "friend" requests from patients. While there are policies in the works from several agencies like the American Medical Association, nothing has yet to be formalized. There are several sources for guiding physicians, like this article from FiercePracticeManagement, many physicians are still left in a quandary. As a result, several of our physicians have asked us what they should do. We worked with our legal department to develop some guidelines for our doctors to consider if and when they receive these requests. --To learn more, read the full post at HospitalImpact