What Every Practice Needs To Know About The Impact of Social Media On Security And Employee Productivity

If you are a Physician or practice manager that is concerned about employees wasting time online using non-work-related web sites like Facebook or Twitter – OR WORSE, using company resources to access pornography, gambling sites, hate groups or more – then read on. Social media is taken for granted for two reasons. One, is that you want to trust your employees and the people you hire, and two, you don’t have time to babysit your employees. Still, is social media going to hurt you?

Why You Should Be Concerned

While it’s not uncommon for employees to waste a bit of work time on relatively harmless activities, such as shopping or visiting a favorite sports site, times have changed; employers are learning the hard way that employee use or abuse of a company’s Internet system can lead to significant liability and time wasted if not monitored.

For example, one practice owner (who will remain nameless) shared that they received a panicked phone call from the office while traveling. The police had shown up and arrested one of their staff for soliciting a minor online. Since he was doing this during work hours from the office, that’s where the police showed up to arrest him – clearly a PR nightmare. And stories like this are happening EVERYWHERE.

Then there’s the wasted time. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are addictive. If your employees are constantly “plugged in” to those sites, they won’t be nearly as productive at work as they should be.

How To Solve This Problem

Protecting your practice requires two simple steps at a minimum. The first is to have a written company policy that details what employees can and can’t do with company resources or during company hours. Next, you’ll want to have a content filtering system in place that will enforce your policy by automatically “policing” your company e-mail and Internet usage, blocking sites and content you don’t want your employees to access without hindering their ability to work online. If you would like an assessment on your network, please contact Tier3MD to schedule your free network assessment.