A physician in Rhode Island is being fined $500 after posting patient information on Facebook that "inadvertently violated confidentiality," according to a consent order given by the State of Rhode Island Department of Health Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline.

The board has found Alexandra Thran, MD, a 48 year-old Emergency Medicine physician, guilty of "unprofessional conduct" by "revealing personal identifiable information to third parties."

[See also: Five social media tips for docs worried about HIPAA.]

The Westerly Hospital, reported to the board that it "terminated [Thran's] clinical privileges at the hospital because she had used her Facebook account inappropriately to communicate a few of her clinical experiences in the hospital's Emergency Department."

Thran did not identify patient names in her posting, but according to the board "the nature of one person's injury was such that the patient was identified by unauthorized third parties."

Thran has since deleted her Facebook account and will attend a CME course chosen by the board to "deal with patient-physician confidentiality issues."

This case is sure to give physicians who are already wary of using social media one more reason to stay away. But while HIPAA concerns are real, there is a simple rule of thumb that doctors can follow, says Susan Giurleo, a psychologist, business consultant and marketer for healthcare professionals who want to diversify their income streams and utilize online tools to provide services and market their practices.

"You use the same ethics and confidentiality online that you use in real life," says Giurleo.

She calls it the "coffee shop test."

"If you wouldn't talk about it with a colleague in a coffee shop," Giurleo says, then it's not appropriate to talk about it online. And there is never a need to talk about patients, she adds.

[Read more of Giurleo's social media tips: Making social media simple for docs.]

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