Protecting Privacy
Shelbe Moore '13 is a privacy compliance coordinator at Dartmouth-Hitchcock
MBS alumna Shelbe Lane Moore ’13 is using her business degree to play an important role in the healthcare industry.
She is a privacy compliance coordinator at Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Lebanon, New Hampshire, where she works to maintain the privacy and security of patient health information by ensuring that practitioners and staff comply with local, state and federal laws and regulations as well as institutional policies and contract obligations.
“Patients need to be able to trust their health care provider with the information they disclose,” says Moore, a certified information privacy manager (CIPM) and a certified information privacy professional (CIPP) with a concentration in the U.S. private-sector privacy.
“The Privacy Office is charged with protecting patient information and the conclusions that are drawn from it. The assurance of privacy is crucial since, without it, people may be less candid with their healthcare providers, which hinders their treatments.”
Since starting her job in August 2016, Moore, who lives with her husband, Kaleb, in Lebanon, has been busy helping to build a robust privacy program. Among other things, she has developed and implemented privacy-related policies, created educational tools, and played a role in furthering D-H’s vision for data governance.
“People experience some of the best and worst days of their lives at a hospital, especially one like D-H, which is an adult and pediatric trauma center and one of only 45 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation,” she says. “Those experiences are extremely personal. That’s where I come in. I find it rewarding to do my part in caring for our patients, or, really, their data.”
A native of Patten, Maine, Moore completed her undergraduate degree in three years, graduating from MBS and the University of Maine Honors College in 2013. She earned a J.D. at the University of Maine School of Law in 2016.
She was introduced to the field of information privacy at the Summer Privacy Institute after her first year of law school.
“I like that the field of privacy isn’t a purely legal field, but that it also incorporates business, ethics, technology and policy,” she says. “Because it is cutting edge and still in its early stages, there are opportunities for me to help organizations develop their privacy programs, gain a variety of experiences, grow my career, and attain my goal of becoming a consultant — the ultimate combination of business, privacy and the law.”
Moore’s days fly by as she investigates privacy concerns and complaints and communicates with patients about how D-H protects their privacy, among other things.
She constantly uses the skills and training she learned in MBS. “We are involved in operational decisions and evaluating how those decisions may impact patient privacy,” she says. “And it all has to be done in consideration of the legal framework in which we operate and the expectations of our patients — who are our customers. That is exactly what an MBS education teaches.”
A participant in the 2012 Maine NEW (National Education for Women) Leadership program, which aims to address the under-representation of women in politics, Moore has returned to UMaine each year since graduation to attend the event and has served as an intern, advisor, panel moderator and speaker.
Praising MBS faculty who mentored and guided her, Moore says she is grateful to management Professor Stephanie Welcomer, who encouraged her ambition to graduate in three years, and to Executive in Residence Shawn McKenna, who passed away last summer.
“He taught us that leadership isn’t just about being in charge, but about recognizing the talents of others, being humble, and stepping in to help when things don’t go as planned.”