Tampa General Hospital Fortifies Their Healthcare Cybersecurity Posture with HITRUST Certification
Healthcare cybersecurity is incredibly important in today’s world as cyber-attacks continue to rapidly increase in frequency and sophistication. Since the healthcare industry handles massive amounts of sensitive patient data and personal health information, it’s always under relentless attack by hackers. That’s why it’s essential to fortify your healthcare cybersecurity posture to protect your patients, your finances, and your reputation.
In January 2022, world-renowned medical center Tampa General Hospital announced its achievement of HITRUST certification status with the help of a partnership with Security Compliance Associates. The HITRUST certification process demonstrates a commitment to high standards of cybersecurity; keep reading to learn more about this certification process, who Tampa General hospital is, and how SCA helped them strengthen their healthcare cybersecurity posture through the HITRUST process.
What Is HITRUST Certification?
Pronounced “high trust”—which subconsciously reflects the intended goal of completing such assessments and certifications, HITRUST was established in 2007 with the aim of strengthening cybersecurity measures for healthcare organizations via a Common Security Framework (CSF).
Roughly 15 years later, the original CSF foundation has expanded into a security, privacy, and compliance risk management framework that leverages other global standards for cybersecurity, such as NIST or ISO, and can be customized to suit the needs of your organization. In addition to offering CSF solutions, HITRUST offers a pathway to CSF certification which allows your enterprise to demonstrate comprehensive security, privacy, compliance, and risk management measures to business partners, clients, stakeholders, and all other pertinent parties that would benefit from knowing such measures are taken.
HITRUST recently expanded its portfolio of assessments that it offered; the full list now includes the following:
- HITRUST CSF Rapid Assessment
- HITRUST CSF Readiness Assessment
- HITRUST CSF Validated Assessment
- Basic, Current State Assessment (bC)
- Implemented 1-Year Assessment (i1)
- Risk-Based 2-Year Assessment (r2)
These new assessments—the last three in the above list—and a new certification that requires less effort than today’s validated assessment maintain the golden standard by which HITRUST has become known.
Who Is Tampa General Hospital?
Founded in 1927, Tampa General Hospital (TGH) is a non-profit, research, and academic medical center located in Tampa, Florida. With more than 1,000 beds and almost a century of healthcare service, TGH features the region’s only Level 1 trauma center and comprehensive burn care center in addition to providing world-class healthcare.
Let’s illustrate how vast the Tampa General Hospital world is; under the TGH name, there are dozens of facets that deliver a variety of comprehensive care, including:
- Five medical helicopters to transport critically-ill patients from the surrounding 23 counties
- 32 beds in its Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit, the largest on Florida’s west coast region
- 82 beds in its Level 4 Jennifer Leigh Muma Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
- A nationally accredited rehabilitation center
- 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices
- 19 outpatient Radiology Centers
- A partnership with GE Healthcare to explore how Artificial Intelligence and predictive analytics can be leveraged to better coordinate patient care at a lower cost
Along the way of its extensive history in the Tampa area, TGH has amassed quite a number of prestigious titles, awards, and important recognitions, including:
- The highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report’s 2021-22 Best Hospitals
- One of the top 4 hospitals in Florida, with five specialties ranking among the best programs in the United States
- One of only five hospitals in Florida to receive Certified Level 9 (out of 10) recognition in both the Acute and Ambulatory levels from CHIME for 2021
- Ranked third in the state of Florida by Forbes as one of America’s Best Employers
- Ranked 13th in the nation for Best Employers for Women
With such an extensive range of services that deliver care to millions of people, Tampa General Hospital has a lot on the line in terms of ensuring its healthcare cybersecurity posture is as tough as it possibly can be.
That’s why TGH’s recent achievement of HITRUST certification is so important, both in terms of protecting their patients’ information and in safeguarding their reputation as a leading hospital in the state and country.
The TGH + HITRUST + SCA Connection
With the help of SCA, Tampa General Hospital completed hundreds of supporting requirements across 19 different IT control categories that are mandatory for achieving certification.
“Organizations like ours are under more pressure than ever to meet complex compliance and privacy requirements that include technical and process elements that are included in industry-established frameworks such as HIPAA,” said Peter Rucys, Chief Information Security Officer at Tampa General Hospital. “We are pleased to demonstrate to our customers the highest standards for protecting sensitive data and information by achieving HITRUST CSF Certification.”
Continued in the press release, Tampa General Hospital remarks that “During this time, Clearwater, Fla.-based Security Compliance Associates performed a HITRUST Validated Assessment and related services to help facilitate the certification and remains a valued cybersecurity partner for TGH.”
Partner with SCA to Achieve HITRUST Certification!
Security Compliance Associates offers a range of services to assess your cybersecurity controls and determine areas of improvement, which helps you maintain compliance and save time and money. By partnering with us to manage your cybersecurity posture, your internal team can address other important matters.
Have questions or aren’t sure where to start? SCA offers a no-cost Strategy and Scoping session to help you navigate the best HITRUST path for you.