It’s all about the Internet! Families today want to be connected to their network of families and friends. They use Internet-accessing devices and social media to share news, gather information and seek opinions. If this is where families are … can an IBCLC (or other healthcare provider) be there, too, without violating long-standing principles of privacy and professional ethics? Can healthcare providers engage in clinical discussion with someone on Facebook, Twitter, a chat room or a website? What about real-time webinars, or static websites, where parents type in their clinical questions? Is texting ever permissible? Can a clinician post a picture of a client, or ask colleagues on a private listserv about a tricky case? This session brings everyone into the 21st century! We’ll learn how the Internet is used by new families to seek and share information … and the professional risks and liabilities of “friendly” clinical care by the IBCLC or HCP who joins the conversation.

Note:
This session meets requirements for E-CERP approval, for material covering Ethical and Legal Issues, and Public Health and Advocacy, coming under Section VII. Clinical Skills of the IBLCE Detailed Content Outline. At the conclusion of the session the learner will be able to:

(1) Identify sections of the IBCLC’s practice-guiding documents governing client/patient privacy, and Internet-based means of sharing clinical information;

(2) Distinguish between clinical care of a patient/client, and education of interest to all, when communicating on the Internet

(3) Design a social media presence with boundaries that meet ethical requirements of the IBCLC profession

(4) Describe the necessary elements of consent for all uses of an image or video of a patient/client or the baby