Ethics and social media networking in Lebanon: A double-edged conception to healthcare professionals

Abstract

Abstract Since its inception, social media networking and communication has raised uncertainty and concern among healthcare professionals when treating patients remotely. This study assesses the behavior of physicians that make use of social media platforms, identifying their awareness and defining communication breaches where they occur. A cross-sectional study was conducted by means of an online, self-reported Knowledge-Attitude and Practice (KAP) questionnaire sent to registered physicians (from 80 different specialties) working in Lebanon. A customised web-analytic method was used to collect and analyse data, and a survey was sent to 12,398 physicians, of which 850 (6.8%) responded; of them, 74.4% identified as social media users. This presents ethical questions regarding principles of autonomy, loyalty and justice, while also bypassing safety measures in a manner that could impact negatively upon patients’ quality of life. Through better policies and practices, the negative consequences of using social media could be mitigated by addressing the present ethical issues. Physicians at academic institutions, for example, are recommended to set clear managerial strategies regarding appropriate, safe behavioural conduct for e-communication, and to integrate modernised ethics principles into their curricula that would serve as guidelines for their students.