Executive Director

The organization

The Patient Privacy Rights Foundation (PPRF) was founded in 2004 by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Deborah C. Peel MD, who began to investigate the issue of health information privacy when she opened her practice. Her first patients asked “may I pay you in cash so that my health plan and my employer can’t see any records of my mental health treatment?” Concerned that the rapid digitalization of health information would ensure health information could easily be disclosed widely and deter people from seeking care, sharing sensitive information, or trusting health professionals, she and a group of civic leaders founded this 501c3 organization. Its stated mission:

“Patient Privacy Rights’ mission is to restore patient control over personal health information. To accomplish our mission, we educate and work collaboratively with patients and organizations to restore the ethical right to health information privacy, the foundation of the patient-physician relationship, in law, policy, and technology.”

PPRF believes that patients’ loss of trust and privacy leads to bad health outcomes, including:

• 586,000 Americans did not seek earlier cancer treatment (U.S. Dept. of HHS estimate)
• 2.07 million Americans did not seek treatment for mental illness (HHS estimate)
• 150,000 soldiers suffering from PTSD have not sought treatment because of privacy concerns (Rand Corp. finding)
• Lack of privacy protection has contributed to a high rate of suicide among active duty soldiers.
• PPRF believes that patient privacy is a fundamental right that is at increased risk as patient records are digitized and access is broadened, and that patients should not be required to sacrifice their right to privacy in order to obtain health care.

The challenge

Although the organization is recognized as the pre-eminent representative of patient privacy rights, both nationally and internationally, it does not have sufficient infrastructure and funding base to maintain its valued position and fulfill its mission. The Board of Directors has concluded that a full-time Executive Director should be engaged to take on the build-out and strengthening of the organization, providing support for Dr. Peel as PPRF’s highly-regarded expert on patient privacy rights to continue at the forefront of this important effort.

For further background information see www.patientprivacyrights.org.

Position summary

The Executive Director is PPRF’s chief staff officer, responsible for planning, resource development/fundraising, staff and programs, Board support, and external relationships.

Contact

Dorothy Drummer
(512) 320-9983
dorothy@dorothydrummer.com