b'|COVER STORYOur online activity is always there to be seen and tracked. But by whom and how often?By Joe DarrahP rivacy tends to be important to mosttheir activity occurs during business hours of us. We place do not enter signs onand/or in a capacity that could affect their our backyard fences and garage doors.employment. We lock up our houses at night and buy cars equipped with electronic alarms. We possessONLINE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENTlockboxes for our most valuable items and relyWhen we add to our digital footprints path on password protection for almost all businesswhile using a system or network owned we conduct online by safeguarding everythingby our employers, our footprint can be from credit card numbers and bank accountfollowed in some way by anyone with the statements to email messages, not to mentionappropriate access to monitor and record the computers, laptops, and mobile phonesthe online actions generated through the that we purchase to house all of that informa- use of that system or network. Generally tion. Ask yourself, when was the last time youspeaking, that isnt doing many people a can remember sitting down in front of a screenlot of favors, even among those who work and not needing to enter at least one passcodein the healthcare industry, according to to access the information you are looking forLawrence F. Kobak, Esq. Most people today online? However, when it comes to the use ofare probably conducting risky behavior the internet itself, how careful are we of ensur- when it comes to leaving a digital footprint ing that our online presence remains secureon computers that they access through once we are there? Better yet, at what point dotheir employers, said Kobak, an attorney we allow ourselves to accept that what hap- on staff at Frier Levitt, a practice based in pens online is essentially available for anyonePine Brook, NJ, that specializes in pharmacy to see? Its true that the more that our dailylaw and healthcare law. Many healthcare lives revolve around online activity, the moreproviders are sloppy in their choice of we continue to reveal of ourselveswhetherwords. Often, they will access information we want others to be aware or not. Its whatout of curiosity as opposed to a legitimate is known as our digital footprint, the trailmedical purpose. Texts, emails, and [online] of data that we leave behind every time we goposts are rife with inappropriate employee online. The websites we visit. The emails weand professional behavior.send. The social media posts we upload. TheWhether risky or straightforward, online various files that we download. The onlinebehavior is tracked in different capacities forms that we submit. These are the usualat the moment of logging in, which at that suspects of our digital footprint. Ones digi- point tells the system that anyone with the tal footprint might as well be tracks throughproper password for the device has access the snow along the information superhigh- to anything gathered during the use of that way. Nurses and other healthcare profession- device. The actual gathering of information als should be cognizant of the direction inhas become increasingly easier for employers which their online travels lead them, whichwho provide equipment and server access to today may predominately include mobile texttheir employees. According to Roger Shindell, messaging and social media, especially whenCHPS, CISA, CIPM, employers tend to utilize www.elitecme.com |2019| HEAlTHCARE CAREERS 5'