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 contains ethics and legal content, appropriate for E-CERPs approval. 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