By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    bowl of vegetable salad
    Raw Foods: benefits and harms
    November 9, 2021
    pros and cons of the keto diet
    Read This Before You Follow the Keto Diet
    May 18, 2022
    spinal cord injuries
    4 Potential Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries (and How to Seek Compensation)
    May 25, 2022
    Latest News
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    July 31, 2025
    Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
    July 20, 2025
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Effective Healthcare Requires a Social Approach
    June 15, 2015
    CCBHCs
    2016 Excellence in Behavioral Health Program Design
    February 23, 2016
    conducting Clinical Trial
    5 Tips for Conducting a Clinical Trial
    April 21, 2024
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Doctors in Australia Will Please Maintain Silence on Social Media.
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Social Media > Doctors in Australia Will Please Maintain Silence on Social Media.
Social Media

Doctors in Australia Will Please Maintain Silence on Social Media.

drneelesh
drneelesh
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

The Americans never got it right in healthcare anyways. The Canadians have a beautified version of the same. The Europeans have their hearts in the right place and are still working on theirs. Now its Australia’s turn.

The Americans never got it right in healthcare anyways. The Canadians have a beautified version of the same. The Europeans have their hearts in the right place and are still working on theirs. Now its Australia’s turn.

Healthcare social media is definitely the elephant in the room and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) has geared up to fulfill its mandate of “maintaining public safety at its heart”. They recently released their preliminary consultation paper on social media policy for healthcare practitioners:

A draft of the social media policy has been released as a preliminary consultation paper to targeted stakeholders for initial feedback, ahead of a wider public release….The policy reflects the National Boards’ role as regulatory bodies with respect to social media and does not provide more general professional advice.

 
The preliminary consultation process aims to ‘road test’ the initial draft to weigh operational impact, issues or initial concerns. As expected, Australian doctors have been forced into fighting for their rights! True to its name ‘practitioner regulation agency’, AHPRA has come out with its set of recommended ‘must-nots’ and penalties. This particular draft  is so ‘advertising’ centric, AHPRA misses out on their wider role to “develop or approve standards, codes and guidelines for the health profession”. Advertising in Social Media is only the tip of the iceberg.
 
As @edwinkruys hints in the comments here, some of the policy statements are plain dumb. While questioning the very need for the document’s existence in the present format, some very relevant positions have been outlined on this Crikey health blog. The scope and expectations of the community this document hopes to regulate will hopefully be taken into serious consideration, even it means reversing some old policies.

 

In its zeal to regulate what they call advertising, the current draft borders on violating right to speech and the freedom of expression. The wordpress blogger Carolyndv says it eloquently “What use are we as healthcare workers if we cannot engage with our community about their health and wellbeing?”. If “Disclosing personal information on social media to current or former patients may breach professional boundaries”, they are effectively trying to silence doctors on social media. As a regulating body for developing/approving standards and guidelines, what APHRA also needs to do is define protected health information and state the patient parameters/details which should not be revealed in Social media. It is these sort of definitive guidelines the document lacks while gleefully throttling health information rights of the consumer.
 
The AHPRA is taking in suggestions till 14th September after which they will hopefully come out with a more rounded and practical draft of social media regulatory guidelines for physicians. Later, the National Boards in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (National Scheme) will release a consultation paper on social media policy in October/November 2012.

More Read

Image
How Do We Search For Health Information?
Merck In Germany Fighting Merck in the US Over Facebook Page
How Online Forums Can Help Patient-Centered Drug Development
Health Links for Senior Citizens
White House’s Obamacare Support Tweet Attracts Haters
   

TAGGED:Australia
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
Health
July 31, 2025
holistic dental
Holistic Dentist Services Are Natural and Safe
Dental health Specialties
July 28, 2025
botox certification
Help Improve People’s Skin Health Via Botox Certification
Skin Specialties
July 22, 2025
Telemedicine Apps
Why Custom Telemedicine Apps Outperform Off‑the‑Shelf Solutions
Health
July 20, 2025

You Might also Like

Book Review: Social Media in HealthCare by Christina Thielst

January 27, 2012

How Healthcare Marketers Can Maximize Twitter’s New Features

February 17, 2015
Social-Media-Listening-healthcare-marketing-digital-marketing.jpg
Social Media

Capture Patient and Market Insights with Social Media Listening Programs

January 14, 2016

How to Deal With Online Patient Complaints

March 19, 2012
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?