Social Media Guidelines

We encourage a safe, welcoming and open environment on our social media sites. With that in mind:

• We WILL delete comments we see as abusive, when possible. To be specific, these types of comments are profane, obscene, offensive, sexually explicit, inappropriate, inflammatory, discriminatory, in violation of another person’s right to privacy or otherwise objectionable or inaccurate.
• We WON’T delete your comment simply because it is negative or critical of our operation; we’ll use that as an opportunity to learn how we can better serve you. But we hope you’ll give us a call first.

Here are a few other ways we protect our patients’ privacy on social media.

We will never:

• Ask you to share personal health information on social media.
• Offer detailed medical advice, diagnosis or treatment through social media channels or online, except through a specifically designated telehealth partner.
• Create a doctor-patient relationship through social media channels, or guarantee the privacy you can only expect in official communications. Social media communication should always be considered public communication.

We ask that you never:

• Share your personal health information, or that of a loved one, family member or friend. We reserve the right to delete or hide comments that do so.
• Expect us to respond to every comment; however, we will respond to direct messages to our social media platforms in a timely manner.
• Speak disrespectfully to other people using our social media channels.
• Post advertisements, spam or comments that have nothing to do with the topic at hand. We will delete or hide these comments.

Unfortunately, social media has become a source of incorrect information regarding COVID-19, its treatment and more. As a healthcare provider, our duty in this area is:

1. To provide accurate information about COVID-19, vaccines and treatment methods.
2. To prevent hostility and the dissemination of incorrect information through our channels.

To that end, we will delete comments that:

• Share information we know to be incorrect and potentially harmful to our community.
• Promote treatments that have not been approved through research, the FDA, CDC and NIH.
• Are openly hostile to other commenters regarding their personal opinions.
• Don't adhere to the topic of the post. Not everything we share is COVID-related, and comments that don't reflect the topic of the post will be deleted.

Those who repeatedly make comments that require deletion may be banned from our social media channels.

 We will not delete comments just because they express a personal opinion that diverges from our official stance, or a complaint about specific experiences a person may have had with our hospitals, medical providers and more.

We regularly respond to negative and positive comments on social media. Many of these responses look a lot alike, especially for negative comments.

Why do we use similar responses to every negative review and complaint?

Because of health privacy laws, we can't be specific on social media regarding anyone’s care and treatment. However, we want to talk with you confidentially about your concerns, so we use standard messaging to encourage you to give us a call.

We know these messages can feel robotic and uncaring, but your privacy is of the utmost importance to us. It is just as important to us that we get a chance to address your concerns, so we hope you will call us at the number provided in our social media reply.

Depending on your social media or online review feedback, you'll be encouraged to call either our guest services department or a specific practice manager. Our mission is to connect you with the person who can address your concerns most effectively. Regardless of who you are asked to call, we'll listen to you and do our best to help.

Sometimes, we’ll respond to positive comments as well. And if you post a picture of a newborn baby or a cancer bell-ringing celebration, don't be surprised if we offer a hearty "congratulations!"

Thank you for understanding!