For many years now, health IT developers, consumer advocates, and representatives from U.S and international governments have converged on Washington D.C. each spring for Health Datapalooza. This national conference brings together the companies, startups, academics, government agencies, and individual innovators working on the newest and most effective uses of health data to improve patient outcomes. Over the years, as interest in the event and the exciting opportunities to leverage health information has grown, so has interest in ensuring appropriate privacy and security safeguards and enabling consumer access to their health information — not just in the United States but worldwide.

In response, the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and Office for Civil Rights (OCR) have collaborated with Health Datapalooza to add a post-conference day devoted to privacy and security this year, including both international and domestic perspectives. Affordable registration is available for this Healthcare Privacy and Security Summit, taking place on May 11, through the Health Datapalooza website.

Summit topics will include:

• Key challenges of operating globally, given differences in health privacy laws
• Meeting the challenges of protecting privacy and security in the United Kingdom and in Israel, and from the vantage point of U.S. trade negotiators
• Discussion between representatives from the Federal Trade Commission, Food and Drug Administration, and the Office for Civil Rights, designed to provide clarity for innovators, academics, and developers who may not be familiar with the United States’ complex health data regulatory environment
• The worldwide challenge of breach prevention and management involving leaders from the National Institute for Standards and Technology, the Federal Trade Commission, the Office for Civil Rights, and the U.K.’s Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• Interoperability and best practices in privacy and security for consumer health data tools
•  Privacy and big data in the health sector, particularly as it relates to research

We are very excited about the inaugural Healthcare Privacy and Security Summit and look forward to lively debate and discussion with some of the world’s top experts, regulators, and innovators. We hope you join us for this special event.