A ‘constant evolution’: How health systems police employees’ social media use

As health systems continue to discipline employees for inflammatory social media posts, chief marketing officers told Becker’s it’s a constant struggle to inform and police staff about their online activities.

Over the past few years, health systems have fired employees or put out public statements after staffers’ controversial takes on platforms like X and Instagram. Marketing leaders continually refine their social media policies and tweak their crisis communications strategies in the event an employee posts something that doesn’t align with the organizations’ values.

“This will be a constant evolution because it just changes all the time and people have so much power in the palm of their hand with their smartphones,” said Timothy Brown, chief communications and marketing officer of Stony Brook (N.Y.) Medicine. “It’s kind of incredible — 20 years ago we wouldn’t have been having this conversation.”

While hospitals and health systems have taken disciplinary action against employees for social media comments about a variety of sensitive topics, healthcare marketing leaders told Becker’s they try to be proactive so things don’t escalate to that point.

“Sharp HealthCare has a policy to address employee social media use as it relates to or is on behalf of Sharp, and which offers guidance on maintaining separation between personal social media use and work,” said Paula Berberick, vice president of marketing and communications for the seven-hospital system based in San Diego.

The marketing and communications team at Brewer, Maine-based Northern Light Health works with the nine-hospital system’s compliance staff to create and update social media guidelines for its own accounts, said Suzanne Spruce, senior vice president and chief marketing and communications officer.

Her department also monitors those accounts and responds to messages about employees’ social media posts, referring the inquiries to the appropriate department if there are potential violations.

“Social media is a vehicle for people to share their viewpoints and express their opinions, and that includes employees,” Ms. Spruce said. “What is important is that employees do not represent themselves as speaking on behalf of Northern Light Health when they are expressing their own opinions.”

At Stony Brook Medicine, the marketing team led the creation of a policy advising employees on social media usage during — and after — work. “We are all ambassadors of our health system, especially when we take photos in our scrubs, white coats, etc. and/or list Stony Brook as our employer on our social profiles,” the policy reads. “Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that we use social media responsibly and uphold the values of our institution.”

The four-hospital system has disciplined employees and made public statements following social media controversies. Stony Brook also has crisis communications plans in place in the event a staffer creates an inflammatory-enough post to warrant a public response.

Still, it’s a delicate balance, Mr. Brown said, as the academic health system doesn’t want to suppress free speech. It would also be an “impossible task” to monitor thousands of employees’ social media accounts, he said. 

“Occasionally, we will get an email from a member of the public who saw something on somebody’s social media account or website and they may be unhappy with a comment and they might point out to us: ‘Hey this is your employee. Do you condone this? Do you want this person to be on your team?’” Mr. Brown said. “In those situations, we will take a look. But if they’re not acting as a representative of Stony Brook Medicine, there’s not a lot we can really do nor would we want to.”

“It’s a challenging area. I’ve spoken with my counterparts at other health systems and other university spaces, and everybody’s struggling with this because it’s a really difficult area to come up with a definitive right or wrong,” he added. “I think it’s always going to be a struggle and a bit of a judgment call.”

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