What’s the Harm of Posting My Case Management Exam Passage and Other Accomplishments Online?

You have studied long and hard for that case management credentialing exam, and the day has finally arrived! You take the exam, finish, hit submit, and eagerly wait for your computer to show that glorious “PASS” symbol! You are elated when it appears and excited to share your great accomplishments everywhere. How do you do this while staying social media-savvy as a  Professional Case Manager? Without batting an eye, you snap a picture of the exam passage notification and post it on social media, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, or other sites! You get lots of nods, likes, and loves, with acknowledgments from peers and colleagues across social media groups. However, there’s one BIG catch!

In the excitement of the moment, you forgot one important fact. Your new certification (or licensure) number is considered electronic protected health information (ePHI) under HIPAA and is unique to you. Posting these numbers online draws the attention of online trolls who are looking to commit identity theft. Suddenly, you receive notification from your certification entity, regulatory board, or potentially an employer you don’t know. They informed you that someone had used your ePHI to apply for a new job, but it wasn’t you!

You want to safeguard your certification number and any other new credential identifiers at all costs. Even posting that shiny new employee ID for that long-awaited case management position can unintentionally lead to someone stealing your identity. The result is excess time, dollars, and heartache spent reconciling the damage to your good name, credit, and professional standing.

But Can I Post on Social Media That I Passed the Exam?

By all means, post those pics and screenshots of your accomplishments! You have every reason to be proud of any professional achievement. Besides, recruiters and potential employers must know you’ve attained these essential career milestones. But you must also Stay Smart and Post in a Social-Media Savvy Way!

• Post the picture or screenshot of that passi notice, BUT NOT your certification number:
• Redact the number (e.g., cover it with an opaque piece of paper or other items, use the markup function on your digital device or computer).
• Use a GIF or meme with a narrative about the achievement instead of posting a picture of the actual item, such as an exam passage notice or employee ID.
• Google yourself every few months to see what comes up. This can be an easy way to check that your information isn’t being used by a source you don’t expect.
• The CMSA Standards of Practice (Legal: D, Ethics: E) and CCMC Professional Code of Conduct guide HIPAA, Privacy, and Confidentiality, as do the NASW Code of Ethics and ANA’s Social Media Principles.
• Few case managers have practiced in a world without HIPAA, but they can forget how important it is to protect their professional credentials and other related ePHI. Curious what is considered ePHI? You can peek at that list of 18 items here.

Further guidance on safeguarding your professional identity on social media and other HIPAA do’s and don’ts is in Chapter 7: Ethics is What You Do While Everyone Watches; HIPAA and Information Technology, in The Ethical Case Manager: Tools and Tactics.

Dr. Ellen Fink-Samnick, DBH, MSW, LCSW, ACSW, CCM, CCTP, CRP, FCM, is an award-winning industry entrepreneur and The Ethical Compass of Case Management. She is a content developer, professional speaker, author, and educator with academic appointments at Cummings Graduate Institute of Behavioral Health Studies and George Mason University.

Dr. Fink-Samnick has authored 5 books on professional case management practice, including the upcoming Behavioral Health for Case Management, published by Blue Bayou Press. Further information on Dr. Fink-Samnick is available on her LinkedIn Bio or her website.