This document provides guidance for managers on Akron Children's Hospital's social media use policy. It encourages employees to access social media channels to deepen engagement and increase morale. It discusses the benefits of social media use including building trust, improving employee retention and recruitment, boosting communication and productivity. The document then provides Akron Children's goals for social media use and addresses common questions managers have around monitoring employees' social media use, connecting with patients/families, discussing former employees, and allowing personal social media use at work.

1. Social Media Use Policy
Manager Training

2. Why?
Employees are our best brand ambassadors, and encouraging them to
access our social media channels deepens employee engagement and
increases morale.

3. Other Benefits of Social Media
Access Include:
• It builds trust.
• It increases employee retention and recruitment.
• It improves communication.
• It promotes our culture of collaboration and
innovation.
• It boosts productivity.

4. It’s Good Business
Social media is an important part of our
strategic plan. It’s an essential piece for
our future growth and ensuring our
market position.

10. Akron Children’s Goals
for Social Media
• Build brand awareness and preferencebrand awareness and preference
• Help our patient families and employees staystay
connectedconnected with Akron Children’s
• Improve patient satisfactionpatient satisfaction
• Enhance rrecruitment and retentionecruitment and retention
• Boost fundraising effortsfundraising efforts
• EducateEducate patient families and staff

12. Other Post Comments
“My son had 2 surgeries there. Earlier this year, he
had to have tubes put in and his ENT practiced at
Nationwide. While we love his ENT, we were less
than pleased or impressed with the rest of the staff of
the hospital. We learned quickly there is nowhere
around like Akron!”
“My grandson has been in the NICU at
Akron Children’s for 2 weeks. Thank you
to all of the staff for helping him get
better!”
“Love Akron Children’s. I’m actually
sitting in the outpatient recovery at the
moment. Everyone has been wonderful
and this new space is amazing!!”
“They really are awesome! My son had
tubes twice and both were wonderful
experiences! The ER department is also
fantastic!”
“Hands down, best hospital ever!”

14. Answers to
Common Questions

15. How will managers be able to monitor what
our staff is posting online throughout the
day?
Managers will not be able to monitor what staff is posting online
throughout the day, unless the manager and employee are connected on
social networks. However, managers should not ask to connect with staff
on social networks just to monitor their activities.
If managers learn of social media activities that adversely affect an
employee’s ability to perform his or her job, a co-worker’s ability to
perform his or her job, or otherwise negatively affect Children’s interests,
they may consult with their HR business partner to determine disciplinary
action, if any.

16. What if we’re not currently connected with
our staff via social media?
It’s OK if managers are not currently connected with their staff on social
media. In fact, we discourage managers from asking their staff to connect
with them on social media.
However, if a staff member asks to connect with a manager, it is up to
the discretion of the manager as to whether he/she wants to accept. Just
know that as a manager, if you decide to accept a connection from one
staff member, you should accept requests from all other staff members.
Managers need to be consistent in their stance when it comes to
connecting with their staff.

17. Is it ok for staff to connect with our patient
families on their social media networks?
The policy discourages, but does not prohibit “friending” patient
families. Consider it like this:
Being a friend on social media with a patient or his/her family is
extending a relationship beyond the clinic and is equivalent to inviting
them into your home.
If staff decides to accept a friend request from one patient family, he/she
should accept requests from all patient families. Staff need to be
consistent in their stance when it comes to connecting with our patient
families.

18. I don’t use social media. What does this
mean
for me?
It’s OK if you’re not active on social media.

19. How does this impact HIPAA?
Disclosures of a patient’s protected health information (PHI) without
obtaining a written, HIPAA-compliant authorization form is a violation
under the law
• must be reported to the family affected by the breach
• must be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services/Office for Civil
rights
We want you to “like” or “share” stories about our patients but don’t
add more information based upon your familiarity with a case.
It’s easy to accidentally disclose PHI when you’re commenting to others’
posts.

20. De-Identifying Protected Health Information
Under HIPAA it’s only considered de-identified if it doesn’t contain:
•Names
•Street address, city, county, precinct, zip code, and their equivalent geocodes
•All elements of dates (except year) for dates directly related to an individual, including birth date, admission date,
discharge date, date of death; and all ages over 89 and all elements of dates (including year) indicative of such age, except
that such ages and elements may be aggregated into a single category of age 90 or older
•Phone numbers
•Fax numbers
•Email addresses
•Social Security numbers
•Medical record numbers
•Health plan beneficiary numbers
•Account numbers
•Certificate/license numbers
•Vehicle identifiers and serial numbers, including license plate numbers
•Device identifiers and serial numbers
•Web Universal Resource Locators (URLs)
•Internet Protocol (IP) address numbers; Biometric identifiers, including finger and voice prints
•Full face photographic images and any comparable images; and
•Any and all other unique identifying number, characteristic, or code - this
includes past, present and future diagnostic, treatment and demographic
information

21. Can staff take selfies at work?
Yes, as long as they are mindful of their surroundings. A computer screen
with a patient chart or any other identifiable patient information should
not be in the photo, even if it’s in the background.
Employees should also make sure no patient families are in the
background.
We know staff are proud of where they work and what they do, and we
want them to share that enthusiasm.

22. Oftentimes parents want to take a picture
of our staff with their child when they are
going home after a long hospital stay. Is
this ok?
It depends. If they just want to take a photo of you posing with the
patient, then it should be ok as long as it doesn’t violate these rules in our
Photography/Videography policy (admin policy #1078):
“Personal photography/videography shall be defined as images
taken by parents/legal guardians. These images must be of their
child and/or family, with care to ensure that these images do not
include other patients or families unless permission is individually
granted. Capturing images or recordings of medical procedures or
employees performing procedures is not permitted.”

23. What if a patient family tags me in a photo?
Is it OK if it appears on my timeline?
It’s OK if a patient family posts a photo and tags you. You just need to be
careful that you don’t add any information that could potentially violate
HIPAA.

24. Is it OK to “Like” photos with patients in
them, or is this a HIPAA violation?
It’s OK to “Like” photos with patients in them. In fact, we encourage you
to Like and/or Share them from the Akron Children’s Facebook page. Just
make sure you don’t add information to the post that could potentially
violate patient privacy.

25. Is it OK to look up potential job candidates
on social media?
A hiring manager will work with their recruiter on all aspects of the hiring
process.
If the manager is active on social media, we want them to share the job
opportunity with professional and social networks by providing a link to
the online job posting and application.
The hiring manager should not engage in a dialogue with potential
candidates on social media without talking to thier recruiter first.
The hiring manager is not to use social media as a screening tool to make
a decision regarding interviewing or hiring a candidate.

26. Are managers allowed to comment on
former employees or provide
“recommendations”
on LinkedIn?
All job references are to be handled by HR.

27. Are managers responsible for an employee’s
actions on social media?
Managers are not responsible for an employee’s actions on their personal
social media accounts. However, the manager is responsible for making
sure their work is getting done, on time and to the quality standards
expected of the employee.

28. How do managers monitor whether an
employee is on social media for hospital
purposes or for personal use?
The use of social media at work is no different than personal phone calls
and emails, and managers are not expected to monitor their employees’
social media activities. Managers are expected to ensure their employees
are performing their jobs, completing tasks and meeting expectations.

29. Do we give a bad impression to visitors
when/if they see an employee on social
media?
Patient experience is our No. 1 priority, and we never want to be
perceived as if we are ignoring our patients and families. Computers and
mobile devices are essential to how the hospital operates and we provide
care. But we should never allow technology to get in the way of
providing the best customer service.

30. Are we allowed to tell our staff that they
are NOT allowed to use social media at
work even though they have access?
Managers need to be consistent with the expectations for staff, including
social media, personal phone calls and personal emails.
Respecting our employees is good for business. Part of that means
trusting our employees to use their time well and not let social media
distract from their responsibilities. Employees who feel they’re treated
with respect have greater job satisfaction and enjoyment, are more
focused and better able to prioritize, and more engaged overall.
There is a growing body of research that shows taking short, periodic
breaks during the day helps people achieve higher levels of productivity.

31. Is there a report available to monitor how
much time employees are spending on social
media?
No, there is not a report on how much time employees spend on social
media, similar to how reports are not provided on employee personal
phone calls, emails and Internet use.
Managers can monitor whether employees are completing their work, on
time and to the quality standards expected of them.

32. Is the use of social media on hospital
computers going to cause slower
Internet access?
The IT department does not expect it to cause any issues or delays.

33. How does opening up social media impact
IT security and phishing?
The same security principles and criteria apply:
DO NOT CLICK ON ANY LINKS OR ATTACHMENTS IF:
•Request for personal information (ex: username and password)
•It makes threats/ offers rewards
•It is from a sender you are not familiar with
•It is about an unusual subject
•The content doesn’t match the sender
•It has lots of typos/errors, incorrect grammar/ spelling
•The email signature isn’t branded (ex: no logo, or contact information)
•Are the URLs legitimate? (tip: hover your cursor over it to reveal the location)
Contact the Service Desk at ext. 34839 regarding suspicious attachments, emails
or messages.

34. Who to Contact For Help
• Department Manager/ Director
Regarding any questions or initial concerns about the
social media policy changes
• Marketing/Public Relations
Regarding questions about social media content and
permission for institutional social media sites
• Human Resources
Regarding questions about performance and inappropriate
social media use
• HIPAA/Compliance
Regarding questions about concerns related to PHI