Smartphones and Social Media: we can but do we dare? Information systems in healthcare The cliché “Big as life” is what smartphones have become in today's society because they occupy our lives, work, school, entertainment and the way we which we communicate. Your smartphone is one of many technological necessities that make it easier and faster to connect with family and friends near and far. Since there are many opportunities and challenges related to the use of smartphones in healthcare, not all of them are beneficial. The lost benefits will outweigh the gains when the well-being and livelihoods of patients and caregivers are compromised. Although smartphones have some advantages and disadvantages, it is still unclear whether the advantages of smartphones outweigh the disadvantages in healthcare and social media. Especially when smartphones are abused and misused at work to the detriment of patient privacy. For example, a 23-year-old model was admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago last June for excessive alcohol consumption. An emergency room doctor allegedly took photos of her in which she appears anxious and disheveled. In another example, an off-duty employee at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Michigan, photographed an attractive emergency room patient and posted the image to Facebook, with the mildly perverse caption “I like what I like.” He and several colleagues implicated in the misconduct are now free to seek employment opportunities elsewhere (Kinsey 2014). In these incidents there was a violation of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), federal privacy and security regulations having… middle of paper… personal items. I think Ben Franklin summed it up well: “Bad gains are real losses. References: Distraction: An Evaluation of Smartphone Use in Healthcare Work Settings Preetinder S Gill, Ashwini Kamath, Tejkaran S Gill Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2012; 5:105–114. Published online August 27, 2012. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S34813PMCID: PMC3437811http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3437811/http://www.healthmgttech.com/articles/201302/challenges - and-benefits-in-a-mobile-medical-world.phphttp://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/01/doctors_on_social_media_share_embarrassing_photos_details_of_patients.htmlSetting Limits on Smartphone Use in Hospitalsby RACHEL J. KATZ, MD on DECEMBER 24, 2013 http://blogs.einstein.yu.edu/setting-boundaries-on-smartphone-use-in-hospitals/