David MacLeod has served as the Chief Information Security Officer of many corporations and has also served contemporaneously as the CIO or senior IT executive leader. He has applied his skills at such notable organizations as the Regence Group (now part of Cambia Health Solutions), Medicare Northwest, Zenith-American Solutions, and, most recently, Welltok (now a Virgin Pulse company). He has over 35 years of experience in the IT and technology innovation field. David MacLeod is also a Certified Information Systems Security Professional and a Fellow of the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society, with over two decades of information protection experience.
Under David's leadership, the teams he has managed were recognized for multiple awards, including the 2018 and 2020 Info Security Products Guide Global Excellence Awards in the "Security Product and Service for Healthcare" category, the 2020 SC Professional Awards for "Best Security Team," the shortlist for the 2020-21 Cloud Award in the Security Innovation of the Year category, and the 2020 and 2021 Globee Gold Award Global Excellence in CyberSecurity. For David, these awards are humbling and treasured recognitions.
One of the things that have motivated David is his desire to improve information security in general and in the healthcare sector in particular. David has constantly set a high bar for companies, expecting them to go above and above what is necessary by law to protect personal information. He has heavily invested in state-of-the-art protection technologies and processes to protect the company's clients' and consumers' data in each of his engagements as a CISO. In addition, he has focused on continually upgrading their methodology, policies, and procedures to stay compliant with rapidly changing privacy regulations as well as to prevent, detect, contain, and correct security and privacy issues in each of his engagements. Finally, David has sought and proudly maintained HITRUST certifications and unqualified (clean) SOC2 Type II attestations to their security and privacy procedures in these engagements.
"I strive to create digital moments that will make your life better and more secure!"
Regence is a Blue Cross Blue Shield Association member operating in Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Washington; Asuris Northwest Health; BridgeSpan Health; and LifeMap. At the time, Regence also operated Medicare Northwest, the largest processor of Medicare claims west of the Mississippi. He served as CISO, as well as overseeing IT operations and legacy development activities. He then joined the TriZetto Group, now part of Cognizant. TriZetto Healthcare Products are software solutions that help healthcare organizations enhance revenue growth, drive administrative efficiency, improve cost and quality of care, and improve the member and patient experience. Next, David served as CISO for Zenith-American Solutions, the largest Third Party of Administrators in the US, and contemporaneously directed IT Operations. He then joined Welltok to serve as Senior Vice President, CIO & CISO in 2016. David's tenure at Welltok recently ended as part of the acquisition. He will spend the next couple of months completing research for his doctoral dissertation (he has already earned multiple undergraduate and graduate degrees in healthcare administration, computer science, and technology management) and is looking forward to new opportunities after the New Year.
David says, I have become a student of leadership and began studying it relentlessly. In fact, I am currently working on a Doctorate in Business Administration with an emphasis in Leadership and Management. My goal is to teach the next generation of IT leaders because they will not be "their father's CISO." His research is focused on identifying the most effective leadership behaviors that promote creativity and innovation in the IT industry. These are essential leadership behaviors that every CISO and all IT management must understand and employ.
As an impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, David started distributing training materials to help staff respond (or not respond) to phishing and spam attacks, as well as business protocol for working from home safely. He believes that by assisting employees in protecting their personal information, security and privacy will become ingrained in people's DNA at home and work. David has also acquired the respect and trust of his colleagues, employees, and customers by giving timely and relevant information. David's leadership runs through his team and shines across the organization; he has been recognized as a "true security futurist" on more than one occasion. David feels that CISOs should be role models for leadership, especially when they lead through direct and indirect contacts. To be effective, they must throw a positive and effective "leadership shadow." David MacLeod's goal and his ability to innovate and execute next-generation technologies have distinguished him as an outstanding CISO. IE