Information Privacy in the Evolving Healthcare Environment by Linda Koontz

Information Privacy in the Evolving Healthcare Environment by Linda Koontz

Information Privacy in the Evolving Healthcare Environment is a critical book for health professionals and organizations interested in how the rapidly changing U.S. healthcare landscape will affect patient privacy. The ability to successfully leverage the potential of health IT depends to a large degree on the public trusting that their information will be kept private and secure. The book explores the meaning of privacy; the relationship between privacy and medical ethics; the synergy that exists between information privacy and security; and the complex legal landscape governing health information privacy.

The book also tackles the most significant privacy challenges faced by the healthcare community as it seeks to transform itself, and looks to the future, identifying current trends and providing a view of the changes we might expect to see as a consequence of these trends. Featuring contributions from leading health privacy experts, Information Privacy in the Evolving Healthcare Environment is written in a style that is easy to grasp for professionals across the healthcare spectrum, including physicians, health IT professionals, administrators, and policymakers.

Ms. Koontz is a senior principal for Privacy and Strategy and head of the Health Systems Engineering and Information Assurance Department at The MITRE Corporation. Drawing from her more than 30 years' experience in information systems management and technology, she advises senior-level staff at federal agencies on strategic approaches to building privacy into their organizations, processes, and systems. She has provided privacy advice and support to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the Department of Homeland Security, and is a former member of the Department's Data Protection and Integrity Advisory Committee (DPIAC). She is also the editor of the book, Information Privacy in the Evolving Healthcare Environment, published by HIMSS in March 2013.

Before joining MITRE, Ms. Koontz served as the director, information management for the U.S. Government Accountability Office. In that role, she directed a broad portfolio of Congressionally requested studies, producing numerous reports on privacy, information access and dissemination, information collection, and records management. Ms. Koontz also testified numerous times before Congressional committees as an expert witness on these issues.

She holds a BA in Accounting from Michigan State University and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional. She is also an Executive Coach and a graduate of Georgetown University's Leadership Coaching Program.