Data-centric firms spend countless hours and resources ensuring the security of their internal networks, devices and databases. But they also need to make sure they aren’t overlooking other crucial areas that could put their organization at risk- namely those handled by external service providers and vendors.
Every organization is only as secure as its outside resources, which makes it imperative for healthcare-focused firms to ensure that all vendors, including software providers, take data security and privacy as seriously. An easy way to do that is to seek out vendors that are HITRUST certified.
In 2015, many well-known corporations in the healthcare industry, including Anthem, Humana, and UnitedHealth Group, required all downstream vendors to achieve HITRUST certification. The reason was to ensure the safe handling of all sensitive information. Now in 2024, HITRUST has become an industry standard for all vendors, large or small, in the healthcare space.
Why HITRUST?
With its ability to combine over 45 standards and regulations such as ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, NIST SP 800-53, HIPAA, CCPA, and GDPR into one framework, HITRUST is known as the gold standard of security certifications. The framework identifies and validates crucial systems and platforms that store, process, and transmit sensitive data, and requires an authorized third-party assessor to audit the organization’s policies, processes, and procedures to validate it’s HITRUST Certification status. HITRUST Certification must be renewed every two years with an annual interim review to ensure compliance.
The importance of working with HITRUST-certified vendors
Organizations both large and small should always seek qualified partners who can prove a high level of transparency in the security of their data and environment and can verify their capabilities through rigorous and proven industry standards. When you work with vendors and service providers that achieved HITRUST certification, you immediately have the confidence that they are a trustworthy resource to responsibly handle your data requirements.
Organizations that are HITRUST certificated have had their security posture verified at every location (including cloud service providers, data centers, and software-as-a-service products) and in every application in the solution. Examples of related controls include the following:
- Physical security for the data center where information is stored
- Network security for the application that is used
- Encryption of sensitive data
- Monitoring for unauthorized access and devices
In addition to knowing your that your data will be safe, there are logistical advantages working with a HITRUST-certified healthcare vendor as well. For clients of these vendors, HITRUST is a stamp of approval, signaling the quality of the vendor. Any company that commits to that level of rigor is going to stand by its product and apply the same degree of investment in its services.
Also, HITRUST-certified vendors are easier to onboard and integrate into a company’s workflow. Utilizing a HITRUST-certified vendor reduces the time and financial burden of having to conduct due diligence, as they have already proven they follow best practices around digital security. And if they will be exchanging electronic health records (EHR) with a vendor, HITRUST provides peace of mind and eases the integration workload.
For healthcare companies to earn and keep the trust of their customers they need to proactively hold themselves and their vendor partners to the highest data security and privacy standards possible. HITRUST certification helps them do exactly that.
