Time to Check Dangers of Social Networking

The finality of disclosures on these types of Web sites is what makes it so dangerous, says Apgar.

"Once you put something out there, it's out there, and it's never coming back," he says.

Simply banning these Web sites from the hospital network is one strategy that many organizations use, Apgar says.

Spring Harbor Hospital, in Westbrook, ME, doesn't allow access to Web sites, such as Facebook, on facility computers, says Chris Simons, RHIS, who serves as the facility's director of HIMS and privacy officer.

"We also include it in orientation as a no-no," she says. "We have had some issues with staff on Facebook saying inappropriate things about their managers, and have addressed that."

Access to personal e-mail accounts is just as dangerous for many reasons, and organizations are beginning to ban this practice as well.

A physician who logs onto a personal Yahoo! Mail account to send himself or herself a list of patients to access at home is one example of inappropriate use, Apgar says.

That's a breach of a lot of information, says Apgar. The hospital network may be encrypted, but the information won't be on the other side once the physician opens the e-mail at home.

Freelancer Corey Goodman contributed to this report.