HHS Announces Members of Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced the 21 members of its Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force, representing myriad parts of the healthcare and public health sector, including hospitals, insurers, patient advocates, security researchers, health IT vendors and pharmaceutical companies.

Many of the members are Chief Information Security Officers or equivalent positions within their organizations, while others have expertise in clinical medicine, software development, information security, and related fields, the HHS said in a release.

The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 tasked HHS with the creation of the Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force to consist of subject matter experts within and outside government to examine the best ways organizations are keeping data and connected medical devices safe and secure.

The task force will hold four in-person meetings this year and will present a report their findings to Congress.

The task force membership includes Theresa Meadows, R.N., senior vice president and chief information officer at Cook Children’s Health Care System; Mark Jarrett, M.D., senior vice president and chief quality officer, Northwell Health; George DeCesare, senior vice president and chief technology risk officer, Kaiser Permanente Health Plan; Roy Mellinger, vice president and IT security and chief information security officer, Anthem, Inc.; Jacki Monson, chief privacy and information security officer, Sutter Health and Emery Csulak, chief information security officer at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

A complete list of all 21 task force members can be found here.