Publication
Health Law Checkup – December 2010
The American Medical Association (AMA) recently issued a new policy for physicians and medical students on Professionalism in the Use of Social Media. The policy addresses how patient privacy and confidentiality standards should be applied when using social media. The policy acknowledges that social media “can support physicians’ personal expression, enable individual physicians to have a professional presence online, foster collegiality and camaraderie within the profession, [and] provide opportunity to widely disseminate public health messages and other health communication,” but also cautions physicians and medical students to carefully weigh a number of considerations when using social media. Set forth below are summaries of the policy’s tenets and a discussion of them.
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Founded in 1938, Snell & Wilmer is a full-service business law firm with more than 500 attorneys practicing in 16 locations throughout the United States and in Mexico, including Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, California; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; Washington, D.C.; Boise, Idaho; Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Portland, Oregon; Dallas, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Seattle, Washington; and Los Cabos, Mexico. The firm represents clients ranging from large, publicly traded corporations to small businesses, individuals and entrepreneurs. For more information, visit swlaw.com.
