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Question

Patients Posting on Social

  • February 25, 2026
  • 4 replies
  • 64 views
J

Hi everyone,

We seem to be seeing more and more photos and videos pop up on social media (mostly on Facebook) from patients in our ER. These are concerning for us, but not a HIPPA violation since the posts are from other patients. There are also some scenarios where our providers are shown and it makes them uncomfortable. 

My question is twofold:

  1. Do you have a good listening tool to monitor public posts and groups on Facebook? We seem to have a blindspot in our social monitoring software.
  2. How do you all handle posts that come from patients that don’t respect other patient’s privacy, but also don’t necessarily violate Facebook’s community guidelines.

Any insight or solutions you have would be much appreciated!

    4 replies

    Max Pete
    Community Manager
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    • Max Pete
    • Community Manager
    • February 26, 2026

    Great questions ​@jason.reider! Tagging a few members here in this group who might have some insights here. 

    ​@madison.skipper, ​@robbie.schneider, ​@lisa.frame, and ​@thematthorne 

    Marketing Manager, Community Programs
    Anna Laura McGranahan
    Forum|alt.badge.img+6

    I was agency side working with healthcare clients for 7 years, so I’m sending you solidarity!

    Facebook has always been challenging to monitor, particularly in groups. What monitoring software are you currently using? Might be worth reaching out to your rep to ask for best practices and use cases for Facebook. If it’s a private community group, I wouldn’t be surprised if it can’t track mentions there.

    For your second question: there’s unfortunately not much you can do if a post is already live. HIPAA can be very “gray” when it comes to social, especially when it’s patients posting. You could always comment or DM them to say “Please be mindful of our physician and patients privacy when posting online,” but it would likely feel like a slap on the wrist.

    Would it feel appropriate to add signage in exam rooms and on reception areas with similar language?

      R
      Forum|alt.badge.img+4

      Would it feel appropriate to add signage in exam rooms and on reception areas with similar language?

       

      We have “no cameras/filming” signs at our entrances, however we know that in emotional moments people disregard them.

        R
        Forum|alt.badge.img+4
        1. Do you have a good listening tool to monitor public posts and groups on Facebook? We seem to have a blindspot in our social monitoring software.
        2. How do you all handle posts that come from patients that don’t respect other patient’s privacy, but also don’t necessarily violate Facebook’s community guidelines.

        Any insight or solutions you have would be much appreciated!

        We’ve found that APIs with Facebook keep us from getting a great handle on Facebook groups, even if they are public facing.  Sprout allows us to identify Facebook public pages to monitor (like media), but that captures posts and not the comments. Our team partners with the media relations team to try to capture conversations. They use Cision, and we share information back and forth. We’ve also joined local groups as individuals to monitor discussions real-time for listening purposes only (not community management, as we don’t join as a hospital).

         

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