Dianne Pledgie

Dianne Pledgie is a Principal in Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville's healthcare group.

Dianne advises federally qualified health centers, behavioral health organizations, and other non-profit organizations on the development and implementation of robust compliance programs. Earlier in her career, Dianne served as Chief Compliance Officer and Manager of Government Grants at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program. That experience continues to influence the advice she provides to clients related to developing compliance programs that align with applicable federal and state regulations and guidance documents and reflect each client’s culture and operational realities.  Dianne regularly conducts compliance program assessments, develops compliance program policies, and conducts compliance investigations.  She has trained hundreds of compliance officers through in-person and virtual training sessions, as well as one-on-one coaching sessions.

Dianne also provides legal guidance on privacy, security and confidentiality matters, with particular focus on Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), 42 C.F.R. Part 2 and the Information Blocking Rule, including:

• Advising clients on their obligations to protect patient records, respond to patient requests, and develop policies and procedures;
• Reviewing business associate agreements, data use agreements, and patient consents related to the use and disclosure of protected health information and sensitive information; and
• Advising clients experiencing security incidents – from working with forensic investigators to identify the extent of an attack, to determining whether an incident is a reportable breach and notifying patients, regulatory agencies and the media, to responding to federal (HHS Office for Civil Rights) and state (Attorneys General) investigations.

As part of the Health Center Compliance and Risk Management Team, Dianne also develops trainings and tools to support health centers to respond to emerging and evolving compliance risk areas, including recent trainings on responding to Executive Orders, privacy and security in health information exchanges (HIEs), and compliance program requirements for health care providers in New York.