Social networking 101 for physicians

Massachusetts Medical Law Report’s Social networking 101 for physicians is a great summary for physicians who are looking to get into social networking or have already been participating for some time.

It’s got some great tips that sound obvious but should be heeded carefully:

• Be mindful of patient confidentiality.
• Remember that your patients are not your ‘friends.’
• Monitor your web presence regularly.
• Take advice from online doctors’ forums with a grain of salt.
• Be aware that you’re never truly anonymous on the web.

It may seem like the article is scaring you into not using social media to improve your medical practice or is providing techniques that limits social media’s effectiveness but in actually it’s just common sense advice for one of the world’s most litigated professions. It’s well worth reading.

Thanks to Engadget and KevinMD for the pointers to this article.