Supporting the expanding role of the healthcare CISO in a time of greater responsibility

Jun 29, 2009

Frisco, TX – June 29, 2009 – The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) announced today the Leadership Roundtable to support the growing role of the healthcare chief information security officer (CISO), as corporate responsibility for the protection of electronic health information takes the public stage. The new forum is the first to bring together information security executives representing the diverse segments of the healthcare industry – from providers, health plans and pharmacies to distributors, health data exchanges and pharmaceutical manufacturers – and help advance their careers through networking, learning and driving industry direction.

The collaborative environment fosters the exploration of issues relating specifically to healthcare information security, privacy and risk management and rendering opinions that will not only influence security executives, but also shape the healthcare industry as a whole. The forum is organized into multiple committees: Career Development, Strategic Initiatives, Government Coordination, Threat Preparedness and Coordination, and Corporate Responsibility.

“Health organizations are required to address security and privacy risks to ever increasing levels. The protection of information can be significantly accelerated when embraced as part of an organization’s cultural DNA. The HITRUST Leadership Roundtable is helping define what information security leadership means to a healthcare organization as well as the industry at large and is an invaluable resource for information security leaders,” said Michael P. Wilson, Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer, McKesson Corporation.

The adoption of electronic health information technology holds great promise for improving quality, containing costs and streamlining processes. But it also requires reliable and efficient new security measures to ensure trust in the system. As a result, top-level executives and the industry as a whole are paying much greater attention to this issue, and the role of senior security executives within healthcare organizations is rapidly expanding and evolving. They are responsible for balancing this increased focus on information security with the unique challenges and requirements that surround the healthcare industry, spanning a variety of industry segments, business models, trading and business partner relationships, state and federal regulations and consumer privacy expectations.

“While many leadership forums exist to address the strategic and management issues of organizations, rarely does the agenda focus on these information security challenges specific to the healthcare industry. The HITRUST Leadership Roundtable ensures that the leaders of the industry define the path forward for the industry and also have a resource to aid them in performing their role as information security leaders,” said Daniel Nutkis, Chief Executive Officer, HITRUST.

“The Leadership Roundtable is becoming the venue to address complex issues that healthcare faces around information security. For example, one area that has already been identified as strategic by the roundtable is simplifying the way physicians’ login to the multiplicity of systems they touch on a regular basis. This solution addresses a common approach not only for a physician’s login at their practice or a hospital, but it is a common approach to be used across multiple organizations from a variety of healthcare sectors and for a wide range of purposes,” added Cliff Baker, Chief Strategy Officer, HITRUST.

Participation in the Leadership Roundtable is open only to information security executives and limited to 60 organizations representing healthcare and professional services, technology and information security companies. Participants will meet quarterly and benefit by gaining focus and sharing new approaches for their information security programs; better decision-making and heightened ability to anticipate trends and issues; and impacting the direction, strategy and roadmap for the healthcare industry, government initiatives and the HITRUST Common Security Framework (CSF). For more information on the Leadership Roundtable, visit https://www.hitrustalliance.net/programs/leadership_roundtable.php.

About HITRUST
The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) was born out of the belief that information security should be a core pillar of, rather than an obstacle to, the broad adoption and utilization of health information technologies and exchanges. This, in turn, is critical to realizing the related promise of quality improvement and cost containment in America’s healthcare system. HITRUST is collaborating with healthcare, business, technology, and information security leaders to establish a certifiable framework that can be used by any and all organizations that create, access, store or exchange personal health and financial information. Beyond the establishment of the first common security framework, HITRUST is also driving adoption and widespread confidence in the framework and sound risk management practices through awareness, education, advocacy and other outreach activities. For more information, visit https://www.HITRUSTalliance.net.

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