HIPAA, ISO, and COBIT, oh my! Companies that create, access, store or exchange personal health and financial information are beginning to feel a never-ending pressure to comply with the many federal and state regulations and standards that are in place today. Additionally, many of the standards can be open to interpretation and difficult to apply. The question is: As the list of standards and regulations continues to grow, how can a company efficiently prove compliance with all of the standards that are applicable to them?
The Health Information Trust Alliance, or HITRUST, has developed a Common Security Framework (CSF) which provides a single overarching security framework for healthcare-relevant regulations and standards. The purpose of the CSF is to create a common security baseline, and resulting communication of validated security controls, that encompasses many well-known standards, including HIPAA, ISO, COBIT, PCI and NIST.
The CSF is made up of 14 security Control Categories, which includes 45 Control Objectives and 149 Control Specifications. However, testing of only 64 of the Control Specifications is required for the HITRUST Certification.
HITRUST Common Security Framework (CSF) Control Categories
Information Security Management Program
Access Control
Human Resources Security
Risk Management
Security Policy
Organization and Information Security
Compliance
Asset Management
Physical and Environmental Security
Communications and Operations Management
Information Systems Acquisition, Development and Maintenance
Information Security Incident Management
Business Continuity Management
Privacy Practices
Service organizations that are interested in reporting on compliance with the HITRUST CSF should consider utilizing a SOC 2 plus HITRUST report. This type of report allows companies to demonstrate compliance with the required HITRUST CSF Control Specifications in addition to the applicable trust services criteria that would be addressed in a SOC 2 report. To ensure that HITRUST CSF is efficiently included within a SOC 2 report, the AICPA has developed a mapping tool that details the necessary criteria from the HITRUST CSF with the AICPA Trust Services Principles and Criteria.
The SOC2 plus HITRUST report could be your organization’s means to efficiently report on compliance with various applicable standards and regulations, while also reporting on the applicable trust services criteria.
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Material discussed is meant for informational purposes only, and it is not to be construed as investment, tax, or legal advice. Please note that individual situations can vary. Therefore, this information should be relied upon when coordinated with individual professional advice.
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