Mar 4
2014
FairWarning Privacy Excellence Awards Honor Leading Providers for Commitment to Patient Privacy
FairWarning, the inventor and KLAS category leader in patient privacy monitoring, announced the winners of its inaugural Privacy Excellence Awards at HIMSS14. The awards recognize healthcare organizations that are leading the way in protecting patient privacy.
According to Christian Merhy, FairWarning’s vice president of marketing, winners were selected by an independent panel of privacy experts from around the world, though FairWarning officials and staff oversaw the process to ensure its integrity.
The Privacy Excellence Awards showcase six healthcare organizations from around the world that remain are committed to delivering the best quality of care and “creating a culture of privacy and compliance through courage, innovation, and dedication,” according the news release on the announcement.
The overall achievement award winner – the organization with the highest score worldwide — was St . Dominic ’s from Jackson, Miss.
Visionary of the year went to UPMC in Pittsburgh, Penn. The “organization exemplifies how an imaginative and enterprising spirit and custom privacy program results in a strong culture of patient privacy,” according to FairWarning, the Clearwater, Fla.-based software firm.
The visionary of the year award was designed to highlight those organizations whose technical and cultural innovations and industry “firsts” have been instrumental in shaping the industry through contributions of knowledge and best practices.
The overall 2014 winners include:
- Best Large Healthcare Provider, Eastern United States: UPMC in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Best Medium – Small Healthcare Provider, Eastern United States: St.Dominic’s in Jackson, Mississippi
- Best Large Healthcare Provider, Western United States: Banner Health in Phoenix, Arizona
- Best Medium – Small Healthcare Provider, Western United States: The Everett Clinic in Everett, Washington
- Best Healthcare Provider, Canada: Health Information Technology Services–Nova Scotia in Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Best Healthcare Provider, United Kingdom & Europe: NHS Lothian in Edinburgh, Scotland
Also recognized for outstanding contributions to privacy were:
- Bronson Healthcare Group in Kalamazoo, Michigan
- Columbus Regional Hospital in Columbus, Indiana
- Cookeville Regional Health Systems, Inc. in Cookeville, Tennessee
- Palomar Health in San Diego, California
- Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York
“This year’s Privacy Excellence Award winners are the best of the best, and it has been a sincere honor to work with them over the years,” said Kurt Long in a statement, FairWarning’s founder and CEO. “FairWarning and its customers are leaving a lasting impression on healthcare, so that patients can share their most sensitive information confidently in order to receive the best care possible.”
Peer Judging
The Privacy Excellence Award submissions were reviewed and assessed by a panel of hand- selected judges from government and industry who demonstrate a commitment to privacy as an ideal.
The judges included:
- Dr. Daniel Beaumont, information assurance and governance lead, NHS Scotland
- Dr. Ann Cavoukian, information and privacy commissioner, Ontario, Canada
- John Pritchard, director of information security at St. Charles Health System in Bend, Oregon
- David Sheidlower, chief information security officer at Health Quest in Poughkeepsie, New York
Winners are recognized for a full calendar year and will be featured in FairWarning webinars and industry events across the country. The Privacy Excellence Awards program also offers professional video profile of the winning privacy teams, speaking engagements, the use of electronic signage, and print award emblems for use in perpetuity.
FairWarning will host a webinar, “Winners: How Privacy is Impacting Patient Care,” on March 18, 2014 at 2 p.m. EST. More info can be found here: http://goo.gl/djFVeu.