Social Media Policy Final April 2011

8/6/2019 Social Media Policy Final April 2011

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Social Media Policy

1. Definition

Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing

techniques. Social media use web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues

into social media dialogues. They support the democratization of knowledge and information and

transform people from content consumers to content producers. Businesses also refer to social media

as user-generated content (UGC). A common thread running through all definitions of social media is a

blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value. -- Wikipedia

Popular social networking sites include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and MySpace.

The Social Media Field Guide by Krista Neher lists these key points to understanding social media: It is

based on social interaction, connections and conversations. It is how more and more people connect

with others. It is about the combination of socialization and enabling technologies. Everyone has a voice

and everyone can be a publisher or content creator. Businesses are using social media to reach

consumers in many different ways.

The social part isnt new, Neher writes. We have been social people forever. The media part is the

variable in this equation. Now, social interactions are public and can reach large audiences.

Social media allows organizations to implement a number of business-related strategies, such as:

y building awareness,y building brand equity/positioning,y developing brand equity as experts,y attracting new patients and residents,y building opportunities for advocacy positions,y reaching out and attracting future business partners,y increasing search engine ranking,y establishing trust,y generating leads,y educating about services,y building relationships,y providing patient and resident service,y developing new product ideas,y increasing patient and resident satisfaction,


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y increasing patient and resident loyalty,y driving word-of-mouth recommendations,y providing information about your product or category,y soliciting feedback from patients and residents,y convening focus groups,y humanizing your brand,y gaining attention from industry analysts and press,y better communicating corporate news.With the above in mind, Catholic Health Partners and/or its subsidiary organizations will develop

social media strategies that contribute to achievement of Key Result Areas such as

y Human Potential Attracting, retaining and developing a first-rate diverse workforce tocarry out the Mission.

y Growth Helping the organization and/or its subsidiaries become best in market.y Stewardship Pro-active outreach and collaboration in each of our communities to sustain

and grow the mission for the future.

y Physician Engagement Supporting recruitment of and alignment with physicians.y Quality and Patient Safety -- Communicating about initiatives such as the partnership with

the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), Thomson Reuters clinical quality and

efficiency honors, and links to quality information on the external website

2. Policy

a. All official social media presences (such as Facebook and Twitter pages, YouTube channels or blogs)

created on behalf of Catholic Health Partners home office and/or its subsidiary organizations must beapproved by the appropriate organizations Communications or Marketing,Human Resources and

Information Technology departments. Requests must be made in writing, stating the (1) Business

Reason, (2) Target Audiences, (3) Proposed Content, (4) Measurement Strategy, and (5) other relevant

information.

The CHP Social Media Guidelines & Best Practices (Addendum 1) will serve as a primary training tool for

the organization. Human Resources will provide the CHP Social Media Policy and CHP Social Media

Guidelines & Best Practices at new employee orientation. The home office will carry out a plan for

communicating the policy to all home office employees. Regions will carry out plans for communicating

the policy to all employees in their regions.

Any sites or pages created without authorization by the appropriate CHP organizations Communications

(or Marketing)/HR and IT review team will be subject to review and may be amended or removed.

Content owners are responsible for monitoring and maintaining content to ensure:

y Content is current and accurate.


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y Content is in alignment with the CHP Social Media Guidelines & Best Practices insupport of the CHP Code of Conduct and respect copyrights and disclosures and that

proprietary, financial, intellectual property, patient care or similar sensitive or private

content may not be revealed.

y Express consent is obtained from all involved parties as appropriate for the right todistribute or publish such information as recordings, photos, images, video, text,

slideshow presentations, artwork and advertisements, whether those rights are

purchased or obtained without compensation.

y Posts and comments are regularly monitored on social media sites and posts that do notadhere to CHPs and/or its subsidiary organizations published policies are removed.

y Content is refreshed on a regular basis, preferably weekly, and more often whenpossible.

y Content owners agree to remain respectful at all times.b. Only functional areas with a business need will be granted access on CHP equipment to social

networking sites. These areas typically include communications, marketing, advocacy, foundation,

recruiting, IT, executive teams, physician relations and privacy officers. Other legitimate business needs

may be identified by other functional areas. The Communications/Marketing-HR-IT review team will

review such requests and grant them access based on evaluation and review. Those requesting pages

must agree to follow this policy and the attached guidelines and best practices.

c. Regions should consider providing social media access to residents and patients.

d. Employees must follow existing Information Technology and Internet usage policies, ethical

standards, rules and procedures while using social media. They should keep the organizations Mission

and Values in mind while posting updates on social networks. (See 3. Professional & Personal Use of

Internet & Social Media.)

3. Professional & Personal Use of Social Media

The Internet and social media platforms provide an opportunity for employees to engage in online

discussion and conversation for both professional and personal activities. These guidelines apply in

those situations where employees have identified themselves with CatholicHealth Partners home office

and/or its subsidiary organizations directly or indirectly, by using their CHP e-mail address as an

identifier or as a contact within the social media platform. These guidelines apply to all social media

platforms regardless if they are private or public.

y As a condition of employment, all CHP employees agree to abide by the Core Values in Action.That code applies to social networking, blogging, commenting, or any public opinion or

information sharing about CHP or subsidiary organization. Employees are reminded that they

have a duty of loyalty to CHP as their employer that prohibits disparaging the organization,

leadership or staff.


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y While engaging in social networking, employees must not share confidential information, suchas patient, operational and financial data, or post video/photographic images taken at work-

related functions, without appropriate legal resources.

y Employees using social media for professional purposes should comply with the policies outlinedabove including copyrights, trademarks and disclosures, and not reveal proprietary financial,intellectual property, patient care or similar sensitive or private content. Contact Legal Services

if you are not certain if information is copyrighted or otherwise protected.

y Whether using social media for professional or personal purposes whether at work or at home,employees are bound by theHealth Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). They

must not publish or comment on any patient-related information to ensure compliance with

HIPAA.

y If employees do identify themselves on non-CHP sponsored sites with CHPs home office and/ora subsidiary organization, they should be advised to add a disclaimer as follows: The postings on

this site are my own and do not represent positions,

strategies or opinions.

y Any offers to the employee for compensation to participate in an on-line forum or to blog onbehalf of a product, program or service could represent a conflict of interest and the employee

should evaluate if the offer is in conflict with CHPs policies before making a decision to

participate.

y Any inquiries to an employee from the media regarding comments, blog posts or other onlinepostings should be referred to the appropriate CHP organizations Communications department

for response.

y Employees who engage in communicating via social networking sites do so at their own legalrisk, and are legally responsible for their actions. The HITECH Act of 2009 establishes that people

are personally accountable of patient health information and may receive personal fines and/or

jail time if it is misused.

y Employees should remember that all content contributed to social media sites becomesimmediately searchable and can be immediately shared by other users. Once posted, content

immediately leaves the contributors control forever. Social media sites often have terms and

conditions that specify that any content post becomes the exclusive property of the hosting

sites.

y Nothing in this policy shall be construed to prohibit employees from discussing terms andconditions of employment or engaging in concerted protected behavior on non-work time in

non-patient care areas.


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y The organization reserves its right to monitor social networking sites prior to the hiring of anemployee or during employment. Information from this monitoring may be a factor in

employment-related decision making.

y Leadership is discouraged from friending other employees in their chain of control.y A violation of any of the above rules shall be handled within the organizations corrective action

policies.

(SocialMediaPolicy May 9, 2011)

Documents

Social Media Policy Final April 2011