Privacy Specialist | Research

Position Summary
Interior Health is hiring a permanent full-time Privacy Specialist, Research who is passionate about making a difference in healthcare.

Location: This position is flexible within the British Columbia Region.

What we offer:
• An attractive remuneration package
• Excellent career prospects
• Employer paid training/education
• Employer paid vacation
• Employer paid insurance premiums
• Extended Health & Dental coverage
• Work-life balance
• May be eligible to contribute to MPP

Salary range for the position is $88,990 to $127,923. Interior Health establishes salaries within the minimum and maximum of the salary range based on consideration of the qualifications, experience of the applicant, and an internal equity review of the salaries of other employees.

Come join our team and see why we’re one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers! Explore our extensive benefits, career growth opportunities, and lifestyle in one of the most beautiful and diverse regions of Canada. Ready to love where you live and work? Join our team today!

How will you create an impact:
The Privacy Specialist, Research is a subject matter and risk evaluator in interpreting and applying privacy legislation, standards and principles in a complex hybrid electronic information and technical healthcare environment.

Collaborating with multiple partners operating in a complex healthcare environment, the Specialist is also responsible for leading components and assisting in the development, implementation, evaluation, and evolution of Interior Health’s (IH) Information Privacy and FOI Services Office with a focus on enabling and facilitating privacy-complaint research, evaluation, and innovation. This includes the development of corporate policies, procedures, and guidance tools to build accountable information stewardship and privacy conscious practices that enhance the delivery of quality patient care services and the conduct of health-related research and evaluation within a complex health system.

Reporting to the Director, Information Privacy and FOI Services the specialist prioritizes support for the Research Department and assists by providing leadership, guidance, innovative design and coordination in the development and implementation of strategic initiatives.

In alignment with IH’s Occupational Health & Safety Program, employees shall adhere to all Occupational Health and Safety policies and procedures at all times and attend all required training. Employees are responsible to report any identified hazards, unsafe conditions or incidents to your manager or supervisor immediately.

What will you work on:
• Provides interpretation and expert advice, both verbally and in writing, to internal staff, physicians and management on access and privacy legislation, international and eHealth information management standards, and principles, with a special emphasis on analyzing privacy risk and application of privacy conscious stewardship behaviors into research workflows.

• Using enterprise risk management principles facilitates and approves the completion of Privacy Impact Risk Assessment (PIA) processes, including risk assessment of information security assessments, supporting contracts, Information Sharing for research or other purposes or other agreements in compliance with legislation, regulatory and provincially mandated standards and IH policy.
• Develops, delivers, and evaluates the privacy education and training program and mechanisms targeted at enabling staff, physicians, clients, the research community, and external customers to understand and apply privacy rights, requirements, and information stewardship behaviors into practice.
• Develops, assesses, implements, and manages corporate and internal privacy and data management policies and standards related to research for the Health Authority in collaboration with the Manager and Director, Privacy and FOI Services.
• Assesses privacy risks and proposes privacy protective processes, as needed, for research studies submitted to IH’s Research Ethics Board at the request of the Research Department in accordance with specified timelines.
• Provides practical and timely compliance solutions to facilitate the conduct of health research by IH and IH-affiliated researchers in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
• Assists the Research Department in the development and implementation of their standard operating procedures, agreements forms or templates referencing privacy requirements for data access and disclosure and participates collaboratively in the provincial Strategy for Patient-Orientated Research to share best practice and educate other research parties in the province.
• Provides expert guidance to management, physicians and takes a lead role in ensuring information privacy is considered throughout the design or re-design of programs or services, research studies, projects and initiatives and supporting information systems.
• Initiates partnerships and effectively maintains critical external linkages and partnerships with provincial and federal government agency representatives, regulatory bodies, legal representatives, external private companies and partners, researchers, and the public to gather, provide, clarify, or manage information and privacy requirements.
• Initiates partnerships and effectively maintains critical internal linkages including with Digital Health, Professional Practice Office, Risk Management and Communications to develop a consultative approach to mutual problem solving, enhancing communication, proactively anticipating, and resolving issues, and supporting the implementation of required changes.
• Manages complex and cross-agency privacy breach and violation cases (primarily related to Research), including conducting risk analysis, electronic audits and on-going investigations using an enterprise risk approach. Leads, coordinates, and directs case management as well as developing relevant documentation with direction from the Manager and Director Privacy and FOI Services.
• Evaluates breach root causes, implements, and recommends resolution strategies, including disciplinary action, and practical quality improvement opportunities and risk controls targeted at strengthening organizational, operational, and technical controls. Prepares and delivers breach reports to relevant internal and external parties, including the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
• Researches, creates, compiles, and evaluates privacy performance metrics. Completes reports, including Briefing notes and statistical reports on specific subjects such as breach management score cards, progress of the corporate privacy and security educational program within IH. Prepares and delivers presentations to key partners and other interested parties, management, and staff.
• Monitors and interprets the implications of changes to provincial and federal legislation and international standards to determine impact on the information management policies and practices of IH.
• Maintains expert knowledge of current information legislation, standards, information management and privacy trends and issues, including new eHealth directions by the Ministry of Health and in other jurisdictions to effectively support privacy innovations in health care delivery.
• Effectively participates and represents the Health Authority on provincial and local committees or task groups. Represents the Manager or Director, Privacy and FOI as required.
• Oversees the work of assigned students, providing work direction, coaching and mentoring, and evaluating performance in collaboration with appropriate internal partners and peer staff. Fosters a positive working environment, seeks opportunities to reward and recognize team and individual contributions, listens to the team’s concerns, and enables decision-making.

• Reviews departmental practices and implements innovative redesigns to ensure currency, quality, and consistency in practice.
• Performs other related duties or initiatives as assigned.

Interior Health strives to create an environment where you enjoy the work you do, the place where you work, and the people around you. Together, we create great workplaces. Apply today!

Honouring Interior Health’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), and Pursuant to Section 42 of the BC Human Rights Code, preferential consideration and/or hiring will be given to qualified applicants who self-identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, or Inuit).

Qualfications
Education, Training and Experience
• A level of education, training, and experience equivalent to a Bachelor's degree in Health Information Science, Information Management, Health Administration, or related field with evidence of continuing professional development and/or certification in the area of information privacy and information management.
• Five (5) years' recent related experience in area of expertise including a minimum of three (3) years at a strategic privacy leadership level.
• Or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.

Skills and Abilities
• Advanced understanding of information access, privacy, governance and eHealth practices and trends, related legislation and requirements, provincial eHealth, and clinical information systems.
• Solid understanding of information security principles and controls, Good Clinical Practice Guidelines (ICH-GCP) and the TriCouncil Policy Statement 2 to support privacy risk identification in electronic systems.
• Comprehensive knowledge of audit and privacy concepts, tools, and methods.
• Comprehensive knowledge of confidentiality of information, privacy protection, data security, and other related information privacy and security issues important in a healthcare environment.
• Comprehensive knowledge of BC provincial and other provincial and federal privacy legislation and requirements.
• Ability to problem-solve with a global perspective in order to incorporate the organization's systems and strategies when developing viable solutions to problems.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships with a variety of partners while exercising maturity, tact, confidentiality, and discretion.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the capability of providing leadership to a diverse team and interacting comfortably with a variety of disciplines at all levels of the organization.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills coupled with the ability to write or edit high quality business documents.
• Knowledge of electronic information systems and information management processes.
• High degree of proficiency with standard MS Office suite and advanced features of office computer applications such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Sharepoint and Teamsites.
• Demonstrated project management experience and abilities.
• Demonstrated facilitation and coaching skills.
• Demonstrated ability to develop, implement, and deliver education and training programs/ initiatives.
• Ability to remain organized and on task while handling multiple priorities.
• Ability to adapt to change in a dynamic environment.
• Ability to work unsupervised and independently to manage projects and meet competing deadlines.