Sermo's mission is to provide physicians with a safe and secure environment to share information with one another. We love seeing our members work together to solve tough patient cases and share medical knowledge, but we need your attention to make sure we protect private information so our community can continue learning and growing.
The right to confidentiality in personal/health data exchanges must be guaranteed to all. Please take a few minutes to review the following rules as outlined in our Code of Conduct so we can remain compliant. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at support@sermo.com.
Tips for staying compliant:
The right to confidentiality in personal/health data exchanges must be guaranteed to all. Please take a few minutes to review the following rules as outlined in our Code of Conduct so we can remain compliant. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at support@sermo.com.
Tips for staying compliant:
- Upload only de-identified info about your clinical Patient Cases. Images, patient descriptions, and test results are very helpful when you are looking for input on your clinical patient case, but please make sure they are HIPAA/Data Privacy compliant and you have anonymized/redacted all identifying information before sharing them with the community. *Identifiable patient information can only be shared when you have the individual’s consent in writing.
- Report violations of the Code of Conduct, including in relation to Identifiable Patient Data. There are thousands of member interactions taking place on Sermo every day, and we count on community members to help us keep Sermo a place where you can freely discuss, learn, and vent with one another respectfully. If you come across content on Sermo that violates the Code of Conduct, please use the “Report” function (found on every comment and post) to alert your Sermo Team. These reports are monitored and individually reviewed, and Sermo Team will liaise with the author to edit or delete any material deemed to be in violation of our Code of Conduct, Privacy Policy, or Terms of Use.
- Don’t “out” another member. Exposing identifying information about other Sermo members may be a cause for immediate termination. Unless a member has entered information in his/her profile and/or discussed it in the current thread, you must never reveal any member’s personally identifiable information to another Sermo Member. This extends beyond Sermo’s boundaries to any other public outlets. If there is a safety concern, please contact the Sermo Team.
- Don’t share your private messages with others. The messages exchanged via the Private Messaging system on Sermo are expected to remain private. Publishing private message exchanges, whether in part or in full, is not permitted. If you feel that you are being harassed via Private Message, please use the Help Centre to report it to the Sermo Team.
Our Commitment to the Community
Our platform was custom built in-house to safeguard your freedom of expression while maintaining compliance in the following ways:
- The right to anonymity is a cornerstone of Sermo. You may choose at any time to not share your identity in your profile, enabling you to safely voice your opinions and seek clinical input from your peers without concern of repercussion.
- You also have the choice of anonymizing yourself on a post-by-post basis for extra sensitive topics. More details on our anonymity feature can be found here.
- Our community managers work around the clock to ensure our members are compliant. We flag and help members edit posts that are not in agreement with HIPAA, Health Information Exchange, and local privacy regulations as needed.
Thank you for your attention and dedication to this important topic. Now more than ever with COVID-19 impacting communities around the world, it is our privilege to offer this safe and secure space to support one another and help improve patient outcomes.