By John Howser

Sondra Hornsey, MSEd, CHPC, Interim Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer for Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children’s Hospital, has been named as Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s new Chief Privacy Officer. She will join VUMC on Dec. 4.

Hornsey succeeds the Medical Center’s longtime chief privacy official, Gaye Smith, who retired earlier this year.

With more than 20 years leading privacy, regulatory and compliance operations for Stanford Health Care and other academic medical centers, Hornsey brings significant understanding to the role.

As Chief Privacy Officer and the institution’s designated Privacy Official and Data Protection Officer, Hornsey will report to John F. Manning Jr., PhD, MBA, Chief Operating Officer and Corporate Chief of Staff, and will be responsible for furthering VUMC’s comprehensive privacy program, ensuring its compliance with federal and state laws.

Hornsey will also be responsible for building and overseeing an international data privacy program compliant with applicable international laws, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.

“Maintaining the security and integrity of the data we collect and store is paramount to our organizational success. I am delighted to have someone of Sondra’s experience join our team and look forward to working with her to further strengthen our privacy programs,” Manning said.

Hornsey’s team will consist of members of the HIPAA Privacy Office, regional privacy officers serving at each of Vanderbilt Health’s community hospitals, and the staff for a newly created International Privacy Office that will help oversee regulatory compliance for VUMC’s international activities.

Hornsey served as Stanford Health Care’s Interim Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer and as Associate Privacy Officer for seven years and she was responsible for all compliance and privacy assurance activities across Stanford Medicine, Stanford University’s health system.

She was also with Washington University School of Medicine where she served as HIPAA Privacy Officer for five years and spent another seven years leading clinical operations compliance for the Department of Psychiatry.

At Washington University, she worked with the Faculty Practice Plan and was responsible for all activities related to development, maintenance and adherence to policies and procedures covering privacy of and access to patient health information for the School of Medicine’s faculty practice plan, 11 affiliated primary care practices, Student Health Services and Washington University’s self-funded health plan.

“I am both honored and humbled to join VUMC to serve as Chief Privacy Officer and lead such a well-established privacy program. The significance of patient privacy extends beyond the legal and regulatory requirements, as it forms the basis for establishing trust between healthcare providers and those under their care, and I am excited to support and advance the institution’s comprehensive privacy practices in furtherance of its mission, vision, and values,” Hornsey said.

Hornsey earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Southern Illinois University where she also earned a Master of Science in Educational Psychology. She is certified in Health Care Privacy Compliance (CHPC) and Healthcare Compliance (CHC).