Meghan Mead is the Deputy Director in the Mid-States region at the Network. She has expertise in data sharing and privacy laws, including extensive experience with HIPAA. Her other interests and areas of expertise include social determinants of health such as housing and food security; public benefits; guaranteed income; and housing instability and evictions.

Prior to her work at the Network, Meghan served as the Director of Law and Policy at New Mexico Appleseed, where she identified and successfully advocated for effective solutions to child and family poverty at the local, state, and federal level. She also spent almost a decade in private law practice providing regulatory and transactional legal advice to health care providers, including hospitals and medical groups. She is a graduate of Stanford Law School and received her undergraduate degree magna cum laude in history and economics from Mount Holyoke College. She is licensed to practice law in New Mexico and California.

Articles & Resources

Syndromic Surveillance: An Early Threat Detection Tool for Public Health

Law & Policy InsightsHealth Information and Data SharingEmergency Legal Preparedness and ResponseMechanisms for Advancing Public Health

December 1, 2025
by Meghan Mead

States rely on data from the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) to identify and monitor troubling trends in adolescent health and develop programmatic and policy interventions. In January, YRBSS data were among many federal data resources pulled from public access in response to vague and scientifically unsupported executive orders signed by President Trump. The result is a dangerous blind spot at precisely the moment when schools, health agencies, and policymakers need clear information the most.

Read more

Counting Everyone, Counting Correctly: Case Studies in Data Disaggregation, Inclusive Data Visualization, and Reducing Misclassification of American Indian and Alaska Native Populations

WebinarsHealth Information and Data SharingMechanisms for Advancing Health Equity

November 6, 2025
by Meghan Mead and Shannan Piccolo

Public health decisions rely on accurate data, yet broad racial and ethnic categories often conceal meaningful differences within communities and perpetuate inequities. This webinar introduces the foundational principles of data disaggregation and highlights how inclusive practices can improve the visibility of health disparities and prevent the statistical erasure of small or historically marginalized groups, particularly American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations.

View page

­Equity Concerns and Recommendations to Support Fair Practices in Sharing and Using Child Welfare Data

Issue BriefHealth Information and Data SharingMechanisms for Advancing Health Equity

June 6, 2025
by Emma Kaeser, Meghan Mead and Susan Fleurant

In recent years, federal, state, and local child welfare agencies have begun to develop data sharing policies and practices to support sharing child welfare data with other agencies. These agencies intend to use data sharing to enhance the government’s ability to coordinate and improve the provision of social services. This issue brief explores the relationships between child welfare, public health, data sharing, and racial and income disparities. It includes recommendations for agencies, community partnerships, and policy researchers to incorporate into the development of data sharing and use practices to reduce the risk of further perpetuating harm against vulnerable communities.

View page

Legal Frameworks to Improve Health Equity Through Community Information Exchanges

Fact SheetHealth Information and Data SharingMechanisms for Advancing Health EquityMechanisms for Advancing Public Health

April 14, 2025
by Emma Kaeser, Meghan Mead and Stephen Murphy

A Community Information Exchanges (CIE™) is a community governed network of health and social service providers that can facilitate data sharing among healthcare, social services, and community-based organizations to facilitate more holistic and coordinated care, and advance public health. This resource examines common features of legal frameworks developed to facilitate the flow of information in CIEs around the country.

View page

­Understanding and Implementing Updates to 42 CFR Part 2, Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records

Fact SheetHealth Information and Data SharingSubstance Use Prevention and Harm Reduction

February 19, 2025
by Meghan Mead

On February 8, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services released a final rule modifying the Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records regulations at 42 CFR Part 2. The updates are significant and will affect the operations of every Part 2 program and provider. This resource provides practitioners and public health officials with a deeper understanding of the updates to Part 2.

View page

Artificial Intelligence and Public Health: Emerging Uses, Risks, and Ethical Considerations

Law & Policy InsightsHealth Information and Data SharingHealth Data Sharing and PrivacyMechanisms for Advancing Health Equity

October 15, 2024
by Meghan Mead

There are opportunities for public health agencies to improve health outcomes and alleviate workforce burden through AI. However, public health agencies also need to be aware of the challenges and ethical complexities around AI, and thoughtfully evaluate its use and ensure appropriate protections are in place.

Read more

An Overview on Conducting a HIPAA Hybrid Entity Assessment for Local Public Health Departments

Issue BriefHealth Data Sharing and PrivacyFederal Privacy Laws

April 1, 2024
by Meghan Mead

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191 (HIPAA) applies to many local public health departments (LHDs). This issue brief helps public health practitioners, and their attorneys understand how HIPAA applies to LPHDs, the steps an LPHD must take to become a HIPAA hybrid entity, and discusses how these decisions directly impact data sharing, operations, compliance burden, and risk.

View page