Reacting to their findings that most young physicians surveyed in France have a Facebook profile, U.S. medical ethics researchers said social networking may compromise physicians' relationships with patients, according to a study on the Journal of Medical Ethics.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School, noting that most physicians on Facebook do not deploy sufficient privacy settings, said social network relationships create "an ethically problematic situation because it is unrelated to direct patient care."
The authors' survey of physicians training at Rouen University in France found that 74 percent had a Facebook profile. Of those:
* Eight out of 10 had been on the Facebook site for at least a year and 24 percent logged on several times a day.
* Virtually all of them displayed enough personal information to be identified, including their real name and their birth dates.
* Almost half said the physician-patient relationship would be changed if patients discovered their physician had a Facebook account.
* While 85 percent said they would automatically refuse a friend request from a patient, 15 percent said they would decide on a case-by-case basis.
* Only 6 percent had received a friend request from a patient and four of them accepted it. Reasons for friending patients included feeling an affinity with them and fear of embarrassing or losing the patients if they declined.
Read the Journal of Medical Ethics abstract of the study on patient relationships.
Read a report of the study by UK Press Association Oct 16 2010.
Read more on use of Facebook and other social media:
-More Hospitals Hire Social Media Managers To Train Physicians On Proper Use
-7 Best Practices For Hospitals and Social Media
-3 Ways to Get the Most Out of Generation Y
Researchers at Harvard Medical School, noting that most physicians on Facebook do not deploy sufficient privacy settings, said social network relationships create "an ethically problematic situation because it is unrelated to direct patient care."
The authors' survey of physicians training at Rouen University in France found that 74 percent had a Facebook profile. Of those:
* Eight out of 10 had been on the Facebook site for at least a year and 24 percent logged on several times a day.
* Virtually all of them displayed enough personal information to be identified, including their real name and their birth dates.
* Almost half said the physician-patient relationship would be changed if patients discovered their physician had a Facebook account.
* While 85 percent said they would automatically refuse a friend request from a patient, 15 percent said they would decide on a case-by-case basis.
* Only 6 percent had received a friend request from a patient and four of them accepted it. Reasons for friending patients included feeling an affinity with them and fear of embarrassing or losing the patients if they declined.
Read the Journal of Medical Ethics abstract of the study on patient relationships.
Read a report of the study by UK Press Association Oct 16 2010.
Read more on use of Facebook and other social media:
-More Hospitals Hire Social Media Managers To Train Physicians On Proper Use
-7 Best Practices For Hospitals and Social Media
-3 Ways to Get the Most Out of Generation Y