ONC appoints new privacy chief

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology announced Tuesday that Lucia Savage, formerly a lawyer with insurer UnitedHealthcare, will become the office's new chief privacy officer. She will join the agency Oct. 20.

As senior associate general counsel at UnitedHealthcare, Savage helped the firm with “large data transactions” related to health information exchanges and data transparency projects, a statement announcing her new position said. She also served on the CMS's multi-player claims database governance board.

Savage “has been emphasizing the importance of cost and quality transparency in healthcare, and has been working on the complex issues of maintaining patient privacy while working to fully realize the potential of health information exchange,” the statement said.

Savage also worked as general counsel with the non-profit Pacific Business Group on Health, and as Stanford University's benefits compliance officer.

Savage replaces Kathryn Marchesini, acting chief privacy officer at ONC. The last and only other permanent chief privacy officer was Joy Pritts, who stepped down in July.

Pritts served in the role for 4 ½ years and said during that time she felt she saw a “change in the tone of the discussion around privacy and security. I think that it has long been voiced that it is a priority,” but now regulators are “putting our muscle behind it.”

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