Information Governance

Excellence in information governance is at the heart of what we do. We have a legal and ethical responsibility to handle confidential and sensitive information carefully and securely, and we are fully committed to doing that in a way that maximises its utility while preventing unauthorised or inappropriate use or disclosure.

Our Information Security Management System (ISMS) is certified to ISO 27001:2013 by British Assessment Bureau. Regular audits and independent assessment help us to maintain compliance with the standard and provide assurance that information security is always built in to our work.

Since 1999 Dr Foster has been handling confidential patient-level data and operating under a range of UK, European and international laws, associated codes of practice and international standards. Our experience contributes to the maturity of our ISMS and provides customers with confidence that their information is protected.

Wherever we work we comply. We make sure that we meet the data protection and other legal requirements of the countries we operate in. This includes the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, the UK’s Data Protection Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the US. We meet all of the requirements set out by the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit and adhere to the Caldicott Principles. And our team remains up to date with compliance developments as they emerge.

We are respectful of the nature of the data we work with, where it comes from and what it means for individuals and organisations.

We use a range of privacy enhancing technologies, physical security measures, data agreements, contracts of employment, impact assessments and audit measures. Taken together these provide us with a robust governance framework for information management.

Privacy is core to our designs and processes. We process anonymised and pseudonymised data about patients to preserve privacy and minimise risk. Our Privacy page provides more information.