When it comes to operating a business, not all security certifications are created equal. While many frameworks provide audit-worthy assessments to prove you take security seriously, HITRUST certification enables access to markets and opportunities that other designations fail to provide.
Why? Because it’s not necessarily better than others – but rather, what healthcare systems, insurance agencies, and financial institutions require of their partners and vendors in increasingly high number is HITRUST.
The Accessing the Healthcare Market Dilemma
If you want to work with some of the country’s largest healthcare systems, they will not even look at you if you’re not HITRUST certified. This isn’t because they’ve got their heads high in the air being arrogant. It’s because they’ve adopted HITRUST as their vendor security metric of choice.
Imagine if a software company supports several SOC 2 audits and has an ISO 27001 certification but has HITRUST as well. It might also have an impeccable record of security incidents to date. It doesn’t matter. If the procurement policy for a hospital system is HITRUST, then HITRUST it must be.
This isn’t just happening at organizations. It’s happening at a large enough level for it to be a standard. HITRUST is now considered the baseline for large health systems, health plans, and healthcare software companies alike. If you’re competing for contracts in the healthcare sector, you’re not competing if you don’t have HITRUST certification.
But Why HITRUST?
The reality is that healthcare systems did not just wake up one day and choose HITRUST. They selected HITRUST because of the problem HITRUST solves that other frameworks cannot: A consolidation of certifications into one.
Understanding hitrust certification requirements is universal to HIPAA, NIST, PCI DSS, and over ten other standards at a time. For healthcare companies that must comply with various compliance requirements, this is the make-or-break factor. One certification covers ten required components of other certifications.
Creating a network effect for businesses so that the more people who adopt HITRUST, the more it will become the common language of security, partners can rest assured that if someone has HITRUST certification, they met the mandated operational standards without further in-depth security reviews.
The RFP Requirement
Request for proposals are increasingly littered with HITRUST as a necessity; this is not an option. Companies submitting RFPs will be screened out in the first round before anyone examines the solution if they do not have HITRUST.
This is how HITRUST provides a competitive edge. If two companies have the same similar solutions at the same price, one has HITRUST certification, and one does not – the one that does will win. It’s not always fair; however, this is how procurement works in the healthcare sector.
In addition, companies with HITRUST spend less time filling out security questionnaires or formal assessments as it pertains to each prospective customer. Instead, they can say they have HITRUST certification. The validated assessment trumps self-reported questionnaire results every time.
Insurance and Financial Services Recognition
While HITRUST originated in healthcare, it has transcended into general access to prove whether certain companies’ security practices are better than other frameworks.
Insurance companies see HITRUST certification as mature security practices even though they’re not in traditional healthcare settings. Why? Because they also have strict standards as it pertains to vendors and want only the best access.
A fintech company that serves health insurance clients benefits from being HITRUST certified – but it doesn’t do so by having SOC 2 accomplishments alone. HITRUST signifies an understanding of privacy and security that relates to healthcare realities that emerge in insurance realities like ensuring data security for minors.
This is important in financial institutions. Financial institutions conducting due diligence on potential partners or acquisition targets see HITRUST certification as a strong signal that an organization has taken initiative regarding comprehensive policies and current protocols – which means low risk moving forward.
In addition, operational companies that use due diligence on prospective partners or acquisition targets view HITRUST certification as a strong signal; it’s safe to assume an organization has undertaken investment efforts regarding comprehensive measures since intra-company operations demand meticulous standards.
The Accelerated Partnership
How often do you find business partnerships stuck in the security review process? Both companies need confirmation and approval of their mutual systems and processes before data can be shared or onboarding begins.
This can take months – and enough time to kill momentum for both parties. HITRUST certification for both accelerated efforts as most of the security validation is already there.
When both parties are HITRUST certified, they can get beyond the risk assessment to onset meetings sooner instead of bogging things down. While this may put smaller companies behind the proverbial startup benefits checklist, a startup with HITRUST certification can partner with large healthcare systems much easier than without.
Market Entry Without Excluded Audits
Another benefit of having HITRUST certification is never needing to undergo security audits to enter new markets or add new customers while your HITRUST certification still stands.
New markets/new clients cover new segments of private healthcare – to include provider operations, payers, and pharmaceutical companies – but once certified through HITRUST requirements, chances are that this satisfies HIPAA aspects of inquiry across all channels.
For growing businesses that need to maintain specific segments’ benefits without pulling different documents for different audits or different regulations or different customization specifics required, this makes sense as HITRUST satisfies either standpoint regardless.
This is compared to managing even one more certification separately – SOC 2 from one client requires HIPAA attestation from another client and ISO 27001 from an international client. Each of them comes from separate assessments, documentation efforts and ongoing maintenance due to different standards and timelines although HITRUST often satisfies this globalization for common sense.
Investment Prospects
Due diligence for investors and acquirers during due diligence calls confirm HITRUST certification as a value-add indicator; operational maturity during due diligence means risk is lessened from perceived value standpoints less than companies without HITRUST instead of those companies with bare minimum compliance endeavors for better marketplace positioning.
This makes sense when viewed through an investor’s lens – companies with HITRUST hold credibility associated with proven infrastructure and processes for continued success; opportunities for remediation efforts are few and far between after acquisition on an impact basis – and risk is low when assuming ownership of companies with ongoing integrated success thus far.
For those companies looking to exit down the line, operational fortification position can make more sense by acquiring compliance measures that go beyond basic requirements that render attractiveness.
Networking Effect
As more organizations gain access to HITRUST certification – and it’s increasingly popularized among those involved – the more valuable it will be for those certified when everyone else lacks it.
This non-networking effect means honest brokers will acquire credible success by way of depth of relationships over time while competitors who’ve lacked years must try hard to catch up without achieving the same top tier status effectiveness (the earlier you’ve gained HOIST certification is better than other companies who got there later).
The Compliance Benefits Are Real
With others assessing your worth beyond just check-the-box compliance endeavors, by securing HOIST certification privately or publicly deemed legitimate by outsiders vs insiders trumps the rest every time.
HITRUST practitioners don’t take their time handing out certifications lightly – it requires substantial resources and time – and when conflict arises within an RFP process or similar situation, those who have HOIST certification vs those who rely on easy certs know their methods weren’t good enough in hopes that others were fair-minded anyway.
HITRUST opens doors based on tolerable measures others deem reasonable and unfortunately extended expectations do not – but without additional commiseration active among audits – it’s clear that HITRUST goes beyond what others provide.
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