to craft a standard professional response.The response could inform the patient/client that the physical therapist/physicaltherapist assistant does not answer onlinequestions/requests due to confidentialityand privacy issues, and that the patient/client may contact the practice to sched-ule an appointment regarding questionsabout care. If the practice has a socialnetworking site, suggest that he becomea "fan" of the practice.2.Avoid including informationgained from online social networkingregarding your patient as part of thepatient/client management process.3.Avoid including informationgained from online social networkingregarding students' performance duringclinical education. Check the FamilyEducation Rights and Privacy Act(FERPA) requirements if you are super-vising PT and PTA students duringtheir clinical education experiences."4.Use caution when posting anddisclosing personal information onsocial networking sites. Even thoughyou may have both a professionalsite and a social site, all your sites arepublic. Postings that indicate less thanprofessional behavior can reflect poorlyon you, your clinic or institution, andthe profession.5.Check the social networking site'sprivacy settings and control who canaccess your online profile. While thismay not prevent individuals from gain-ing access to your information, it maydecrease the risk. Also check settingsregarding who can see information "sta-tus"posts, or photos involving you thatotherspost. You may be careful, butother people might not.6. Avoid "venting" on blogs or socialnetworks. This includes angry postsabout salaries, employers or supervi-sors,payment, or what another healthcare provider did or said. Those postscould be noticed by and precipitateconsequences from peers, co-workers,the practice, the state licensure board,or the health care provider you spokeabout in the blog. Consider placing adisclaimer that these thoughts are your
