Nursing Homes Need Social Media Policies

Shannon Hartsfield Salimone is a Partner in Holland & Knight's Tallahassee office

On August 5, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a memorandum indicating that survey teams will begin requesting and reviewing nursing home policies and procedures regarding photographing residents in a manner that would demean or humiliate them. The memo comes after a number of media reports of nursing home staff taking and distributing embarrassing photos and videos of long-term care residents via social media. The memo notes that nursing home residents have the right to personal privacy, which prohibits unauthorized photographs of the resident. The memo states that even photos that do not identify the resident, or images of the resident's room and furnishings, could violate the resident's right to privacy and confidentiality.