HITRUST Certification Services
Home
Services
Healthcare Assessments
HITRUST Certification
Table of Contents
What is HITRUST?
Achieve Healthcare Security Excellence
In the healthcare industry and beyond, safeguarding sensitive information represents not just regulatory compliance but the gold standard of data protection. HITRUST certification offers the most comprehensive framework for managing information security, privacy, and risk in healthcare and regulated industries. As healthcare organizations face increasing cyber threats, complex regulatory requirements (HIPAA, HITECH, PCI DSS, GDPR), and demanding customer security expectations, HITRUST CSF (Common Security Framework) provides a unified, certifiable framework that harmonizes multiple regulatory requirements into a single assessment. At NextGen Assure, we specialize in providing HITRUST certification services across all assessment types—from entry-level e1 assessments to comprehensive r2 validated certifications, including cutting-edge AI security assessments. Our expert team guides healthcare organizations, technology companies, and business associates through the rigorous HITRUST certification process, helping you achieve the highest standards of data protection, demonstrate regulatory compliance, and build trust with patients, partners, and stakeholders.
What is HITRUST?
HITRUST (Health Information Trust Alliance) is an organization that developed the HITRUST CSF (Common Security Framework), a comprehensive, certifiable framework that harmonizes security and privacy requirements from multiple standards and regulations into a single, standardized framework. HITRUST CSF is recognized as the gold standard for healthcare data security and privacy.
The HITRUST CSF incorporates requirements from multiple authoritative sources including HIPAA/HITECH, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, NIST frameworks, FTC, GDPR, and state privacy laws. HITRUST certification demonstrates that an organization has implemented and maintains appropriate safeguards to protect sensitive information, particularly in healthcare and regulated industries.
Key Features of HITRUST CSF
Unified Framework: Consolidates multiple regulatory requirements into single framework
Risk-Based Approach: Controls scaled based on organization size, type, and risk
Validated Assessments: Independent third-party validation by HITRUST assessors
Multiple Assessment Types: e1, i1, r2 assessments for different assurance levels
Certifiable: Issues formal certification upon successful assessment
Inheritance Model: Cloud service providers can share assurance with customers
Why HITRUST Certification Matters
HITRUST certification is critical for healthcare organizations and their business associates. Here's why HITRUST matters:
1. Comprehensive Regulatory Compliance
HITRUST addresses multiple regulatory requirements simultaneously:
HIPAA and HITECH compliance for healthcare organizations
PCI DSS requirements for payment card data protection
GDPR requirements for European patient data
State privacy laws (CCPA, CPRA, and others)
Industry-specific regulations across healthcare, financial services, retail
2. Customer and Partner Requirements
Healthcare organizations increasingly mandate HITRUST certification:
Major health systems require HITRUST from technology vendors and business associates
Payers and health plans mandate HITRUST for claims processors and service providers
Pharmaceutical companies require HITRUST from research and clinical trial organizations
Absence of HITRUST certification is deal-breaker for many healthcare prospects
HITRUST increasingly required in vendor contracts and RFPs
3. Risk Management and Cybersecurity
Healthcare is the #1 target for cyberattacks with average breach cost of $10.93 million (highest of any industry). HITRUST certification strengthens cybersecurity posture through comprehensive security controls, independent validation of control effectiveness, ongoing risk assessment and monitoring, incident response preparedness, and reduced risk of breaches and ransomware attacks.
4. Efficiency and Cost Savings
HITRUST reduces compliance burden and costs through unified framework replacing multiple separate audits, streamlined vendor assessments (one HITRUST report vs. multiple questionnaires), inheritance model where cloud providers share assurance, reduced customer audit requests, and lower insurance premiums (cyber insurance often offers discounts for HITRUST).
5. Competitive Differentiation
HITRUST certification provides market advantage as gold standard recognized across healthcare industry, demonstrates commitment to highest security standards, competitive requirement for healthcare technology vendors, preferred provider status with major health systems, and credibility with investors and acquirers.
Our HITRUST Services
NextGen Assure offers comprehensive HITRUST certification services covering all assessment types, advisory services, and specialized AI security assessments. We guide organizations from initial readiness through certification and ongoing maintenance.
Readiness Assessment
We examine your organization's environment and flow of data between systems that are in-scope, identify gaps for control, and provide recommendations for remediation.
e1 Assessment (Validated 1-Year Assessment)
The e1 is the cybersecurity essentials assessment with 44 control requirements and is meant for low-risk organizations that want to ensure they are maintaining good cybersecurity hygiene.
i1 Assessment (Implemented 1-Year Assessment)
The i1 Assessment is suitable for moderate assurance and results in a 1-year certification if requirements are met. There are 219 static controls in an i1 Assessment and only the Implemented maturity is tested.