Pikachu and privacy: Policy reminder

There’s a lot of upside to the Pokemon Go experience, but it’s also leading to a social media phenomenon that serves as a teachable moment for health care employees. The phenomenon is the Pokemon Go screenshot.

If you’ve played Pokemon Go, you’ve likely taken a screenshot of a Pokemon staring back at you from the sidewalk, hiding in the bushes or flying in the air. And if you haven’t played Pokemon, you’ve likely seen screenshots just like this on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Since the Pokemon is the star of the photo, it’s easy to forget about everything else around it. This is why we’d like to take this opportunity to remind health care employees about the importance of following the UMHS Code of Conduct as it pertains to sharing photos on social media, particularly policies involving patient and patient family privacy, respect for coworkers and maintaining professional ethical guidelines in the workplace.

Photos that aren’t appropriate for sharing on social media would include:

1. Photos showing patients, patient families or visitors to the hospital, even when semi-blurry or taken from the side or behind
2. Photos displaying any identifiable patient or health care related information
3. Photos of coworkers or UMHS personnel who have not explicitly approved of their photos being used on social media

It’s also important to note that when playing Pokemon Go, please be alert at all times and stay aware of your surroundings.

When in doubt, refer to the UMHS Code of Conduct, which outlines in much greater deal the policies and practices all UMHS faculty, staff and students adhere to.