Selecting the Right HITRUST Assessment for Your Organization
You may or may not be familiar with HITRUST, so we wanted to share some helpful information about the organization and help you decide the best option for selecting the correct HITRUST assessment for your organization. First, you should understand a little more about what HITRUST is and how HITRUST certification can benefit your organization. Then, we can choose the correct assessment and partner to assess your needs.
Understanding HITRUST
HITRUST CSF (originally Common Security Framework) assessments are the stamp of approval on your organization’s cybersecurity protection and compliance. The framework combines elements of significant frameworks and relations like COBIT, ISO 27001/27002, PCI, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, the FTC Red Flags Rule, Meaningful Use, HITECH, and HIPAA.
The framework provides organizations with actionable best practices to ensure the highest necessary level of cybersecurity, depending on an organization’s needs. HITRUST CSF assessments are the starting point to understanding the level of protection your organization needs and which recommended controls need to be implemented. The cybersecurity implementation measures will depend on your organization’s size, complexity, identified systems, and regulatory requirements.
Getting Started with HITRUST CSF Certification
The first step to getting your HITRUST certification will be signing up for MyCSF®, the official online HITRUST tool, to start your HITRUST audit. The Readiness Assessment tool is the first step, but HITRUST certification is no small endeavor. You’ll have to fill all the gaps in your cybersecurity program. If you have a limited (or no) internal cybersecurity team, you’ll probably want to partner with an authorized HITRUST External Assessor.
Original HITRUST Assessments
Initially, HITRUST offered three levels of assessment. They were the HITRUST CSF Rapid Assessment, the HITRUST CSF Readiness Assessment, and the HITRUST CSF Validated Assessment. Only the third assessment, which is typically the third step in a series of understanding your security situation, was considered viable for Certification.
Expanded HITRUST Portfolio
HITRUST expanded its portfolio of assessments in early 2022 so that organizations can apply HITRUST assessments and certifications according to their specific needs.
There are some recent name changes to the HITRUST portfolio. The former Rapid Assessment is now called the Basic Current State Assessment (bC), which is self-administered and does not provide a certification. The legacy Validated Assessment is now offered in two options depending upon the needed level of assurance and client resources available. First is the newly Implemented 1-Year Assessment and Certification (i1), which provides moderate assurance and lower resource requirements. Second is the Risk-Based 2-Year Assessment and Certification (r2), which replaces the original Validated Assessment, provides a high level of assurance, and measures risk maturity.
The Benefits of HITRUST Assessment and Certification
HITRUST Certification demonstrates that an organization is a leader in security, privacy, and compliance because they have the Certification to back it up. This credibility and status set organizations across industries apart from their competitors and demonstrate investment in their client’s data security and safety.
As cyber threats continue to evolve and increase in volume, efficiently assuring that your organization has effective security and privacy controls is ever more valuable. Customers, clients, employees, and general stakeholders seek the confidence to obtain adequate security and privacy control assurances from the organizations they interact with. HITRUST was developed to facilitate that confidence, making it easy for organizations and stakeholders to identify when privacy and security are organizational priorities.
HITRUST certification is considered the gold standard in assured risk management because of the intense approach it requires. The HITRUST system relies on over forty authoritative sources. It ensures transparency and accuracy when it comes to organizational security protection.
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