I work exclusively with healthcare and health-adjacent organizations. Here's a closer look at the types of clients I serve — and whether your organization might be a fit.
You became a physician to care for patients — not to become an expert in HIPAA breach notification procedures, ransomware recovery, or cybersecurity insurance questionnaires.
Physician groups face a unique set of security challenges: you handle sensitive patient data, operate on tight margins, and lack the internal IT depth of large hospital systems. Yet regulators, insurers, and patients hold you to the same standards as enterprise healthcare organizations. A single breach — or an OCR audit — can be catastrophic.
Hiring a full-time CISO isn't realistic for most practices. But doing nothing isn't an option either. A fractional vCISO gives you the dedicated security leadership you need, at a cost that makes sense for your size — without burying your staff in compliance busywork.
For physician groups, working with Melissa means getting a clear picture of where your PHI lives, what risks you're carrying, and exactly what needs to change. You get a documented HIPAA compliance program, a plan for your team to follow, and a trusted advisor you can call when something comes up.
You have under 500 employees
You process, store, or transmit patient health information
You've had a HIPAA question you weren't sure how to answer
You're renewing cyber insurance and don't know how to answer the questionnaire
You know security is a gap but don't know where to start
Your clients trust you with their most sensitive information — mental health records are among the most protected and most targeted data in healthcare.
Behavioral health organizations face a disproportionate threat: patient records that include diagnoses, treatment notes, and medication histories are high-value targets for bad actors. At the same time, many behavioral health practices operate with minimal IT staff and legacy systems that were never designed with modern security in mind.
The fractional vCISO model is purpose-built for organizations like yours. Rather than hiring a full-time security leader who may spend half their time on work your organization doesn't need, you get a right-sized engagement — focused, practical, and aligned to your specific risks.
Melissa's approach is built around your clinical reality — security programs that are practical, HIPAA-aligned, and designed to work within the way your organization actually operates. Not theoretical. Not overcomplicated. Maintainable.
You have under 500 employees
You process, store, or transmit patient health information
You've had a HIPAA question you weren't sure how to answer
You're renewing cyber insurance and don't know how to answer the questionnaire
You know security is a gap but don't know where to start
When your staff is in the field, caring for patients in their homes, the security risks your organization carries are invisible — until they aren't.
Home health and hospice agencies face a distributed security challenge that many overlook: caregivers accessing EHRs on personal devices, sensitive data moving through home Wi-Fi networks, and a workforce that isn't trained to recognize phishing attacks. The result is a significant security gap that most agencies don't realize they have.
A full-time CISO would spend most of their time on problems your organization doesn't face. A fractional vCISO focuses on what actually matters: mobile device policy, workforce security training, vendor management, and HIPAA compliance — in proportion to your actual risk.
With Melissa, home health and hospice organizations get a practical security roadmap that accounts for the reality of field-based care delivery. The result is a security program your staff can actually follow — and documentation that protects you if regulators come knocking.
You have under 500 employees
You process, store, or transmit patient health information
You've had a HIPAA question you weren't sure how to answer
You're renewing cyber insurance and don't know how to answer the questionnaire
You know security is a gap but don't know where to start
You're moving fast, building product, and trying to close enterprise deals — and suddenly every prospect is asking about your SOC 2, your HIPAA program, and your security posture.
Health tech startups face a security credibility gap: your enterprise customers and hospital partners have security requirements that exceed your current program. You're being asked to complete security questionnaires, pass vendor assessments, and demonstrate HIPAA compliance — before you've had the time or budget to build a real program.
A fractional vCISO accelerates your path to security credibility. Rather than hiring a full-time CISO prematurely — or piecing together advice from multiple consultants — you get one experienced leader who builds the program you need to close deals, pass audits, and scale.
For digital health companies, Melissa focuses on the intersection of speed and defensibility: building a security program that satisfies enterprise buyers and regulators without slowing down your team. The result is a program you own, a story you can tell, and a foundation for what comes next.
You have under 500 employees
You process, store, or transmit patient health information
You've had a HIPAA question you weren't sure how to answer
You're renewing cyber insurance and don't know how to answer the questionnaire
You know security is a gap but don't know where to start
