IMS Health Hires Privacy Head

US healthcare market intelligence provider IMS Health has appointed Kimberly Gray as Chief Privacy Officer for the Americas, to direct all privacy-related activities for the US, Canada and Latin America.

Gray joins with more than a decade of experience in privacy and data protection, having previously worked as Chief Privacy Officer at health insurance firm Highmark. She has a JD from Penn State University's Dickinson School of Law, a BA in Psychology from Shippensburg University and certification as a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP).

In her new role, Gray will ensure compliance with all applicable privacy laws and work closely with the company's internal and external stakeholders, including employees, clients, suppliers and vendors, as well as legislators, government agencies, policy organizations and healthcare researchers.

In this position, she will represent IMS in determining responsible uses of the company's market information, maintaining a balance between privacy and transparency, enabling increased use of IMS information to improve healthcare outcomes, and ensuring appropriate safeguards are employed to secure sensitive information.

Last month, the Supreme Court refused requests for a review of a New Hampshire law that bans the use of prescriber-identifiable data for marketing purposes. The law is contested by IMS Health and SDI / Verispan, which say the block is unconstitutional. They are supported by the Council of American Survey Research Organisations and the Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Group, which say the legislation could have a devastating effect on all pharma market research firms.

'With federal policy rapidly moving toward greater healthcare transparency and the use of information to improve quality and treatment outcomes, it is imperative that patient privacy remains sacrosanct,' said Bill Nelligan, IMS President, Americas. 'Kim brings a wealth of experience to this role. We look forward to her leadership in upholding our tradition of maintaining the most rigorous privacy standards.'

Web site: www.imshealth.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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