Social Media Policy
This page outlines Bloom Psychology’s office policies related to use of social media. Please read it to understand how we conduct ourselves on the Internet as mental health professionals and how you can expect us to respond to various interactions that may occur on the Internet.
If you have any questions about this policy, we encourage you to bring them up during your next appointment. As new technology develops and the Internet changes, there may be times when this policy is updated. If so, you will be notified in writing of any policy changes and provided with a copy of the updated policy.
CONTACTING YOUR PROVIDER
If you need to contact your provider between sessions, the best way to do so is by telephone. Please do not use SMS (mobile phone text messaging) or messaging on social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to contact your provider. These sites are not secure and your messages may not be read in a timely fashion. Do not use “wall” postings in Facebook, @replies in Twitter, or other means of engaging with your provider in public online if a client/therapist relationship has already been established. Engaging in this way could compromise your confidentiality. It may also create the possibility that these exchanges become a part of your legal medical record and will need to be documented and archived in your chart.
Bloom Psychology prefers using email only to arrange or modify appointments. Please do not email content related to your therapy sessions, as email is not completely secure or confidential. If you choose to communicate by email, be aware that all email messages are retained in the logs of your Internet service providers as well as ours. While it is unlikely that someone will look at these logs, they are, in theory, available to be read by the system administrator(s) of the Internet service provider. You should also know that any email messages received from you and any responses sent to you become a part of your legal record. Sending an email message from your own mail service will not be encrypted. However, Bloom Psychology uses a secure, HIPAA-compliant email service provided by LuxSci to send and receive emails.
USE OF SEARCH ENGINES
It is not a regular part of Bloom Psychology’s providers’ practice to search for patients on Google or Facebook or other search engines. In rare exceptions, an Internet search may be made during times of crisis. If your provider has a reason to suspect that you or your child is in danger and you have not been in touch via usual means (coming to appointments, phone, or email), there might be an instance in which using a search engine (to find you, find someone close to you, or to check on your recent status updates) becomes necessary as part of ensuring your welfare. These are unusual situations and if such means are resorted to, it will be fully documented and discussed with you during your next appointment.
“FRIENDING” ON FACEBOOK & SIMILAR SITES
Providers at Bloom Psychology do not accept “friend” requests from current or former clients, or family members of clients, on Facebook or other similar social networking sites. We believe that adding clients as friends or contacts on these sites can compromise confidentiality and our respective privacy. It may also blur the boundaries of the therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please bring them up with your provider.
LOCATION-BASED SERVICES
If you or your child uses location-based services on a mobile phone, you may wish to be aware of the privacy issues related to using these services. Bloom Psychology has not been placed as a check-in location on various sites such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, etc. However, if you have GPS tracking enabled on your device, it is possible that others may surmise that you are a therapy client due to regular appointments. Please be aware of this risk if you are intentionally “checking in” from Bloom Psychology’s office or if you have a passive LBS app enabled on your phone.
GOOGLE READER
Providers at Bloom Psychology do not follow current or former clients on Google Reader, and we do not use Google Reader to share articles. If there are things you or your child want to share with your psychologist that you feel are relevant to your treatment, whether they are news items or things you have created, please bring these items of interest to your appointments.
BUSINESS REVIEW SITES
You may find Bloom Psychology on sites such as Yelp, Healthgrades, Yahoo Local, Bing, or other places which list businesses. Some of these sites include forums in which users rate their providers and add reviews. Many of these sites comb search engines for business listings and automatically add listings regardless of whether the business has added itself to the site. If you should find Bloom Psychology’s listing on any of these sites, please know that this listing is NOT a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from you as a client. Of course, you have a right to express yourself on any site you wish. But due to confidentiality, providers at Bloom Psychology cannot respond to any review on any of these sites whether it is positive or negative. We urge you to take your own privacy as seriously as we take our commitment of confidentiality to you.
You should also be aware that if you are using these sites to communicate indirectly with your provider about your feelings about therapy, there is a good possibility that your provider may never see it. If you do choose to write something on a business review site, please keep in mind that you may be sharing personally revealing information in a public forum. We urge you to create a pseudonym that is not linked to your regular email address or friend networks for your own privacy and protection.
If you feel a provider at Bloom Psychology has done something harmful or unethical and you do not feel comfortable discussing it in person, you can contact the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, and they will review the services provided to you.
Indiana Professional Licensing Agency
402 W Washington Street, Rm W072
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317.234.8800
CONCLUSION
Thank you for taking the time to review Bloom Psychology’s Social Media Policy. If you have questions or concerns about any of these policies and procedures or regarding our potential interactions on the Internet, please bring them to your provider’s attention so that you can discuss them.