ISI Completes HIPAA Recertification, Asserts Security in Operations
June 09, 2016
By Steve Anderson
Contributing Writer
Every so often, organizations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) need to undergo recertification to ensure full compliance and, therefore, the security of patients' interest as part of the system. Recently, ISI (News - Alert) concluded just such a recertification with ecfirst and the HIPAA Academy, making it clear that ISI is more than ready to safely handle records.
The recertification was conducted as part of a larger risk analysis started in April 2016, and it assesses overall levels of compliance with not only HIPAA's Privacy and Security Rules, but also with the HITECH Act. Since ISI is a Business Associate, as well as a frequent cohort of Covered Entities in healthcare, compliance with the various rules involved isn't just a matter of legal compliance, but also a matter of maintaining a reputation.
ISI has been working with ecfirst for nearly a decade now, with not only risk analysis going on but also vulnerability assessments, with circumstances defined by the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rule. Using tools like on-site interviews with staff and management, as well as review of documentation and offices as well as the data center, vulnerability assessments help spot any problems in the earliest stages, making remediation a much simpler matter. ISI's results proved positive, as ecfirst noted that not only had much of the earlier remediation work already been completed, but that ISI was working to carry out regular system activity reviews.
Head of IT for ISI, Laura Huska, commented “We are very excited about the recertification by ecfirst. HIPAA continues to be a critical certification for ISI as many of our healthcare clients rely on this standard to meet their compliance needs when using ISI’s UC Reporting application.”
In the end, ISI needs to not only meet compliance standards, it needs to demonstrate how it surpasses these routinely in order to elicit the greatest consumer confidence. If ISI is visibly clearing the regulatory hurdles and beyond, then that makes its own line of services more attractive to potential users. Tools like ISI's Infortel Select, for example, take on a whole new light when ISI is visibly clearing any hurdles it may come across; it provides a halo effect of sorts that tells potential users that, if they use this particular service, they too can have results like these, in a similar way that Wheaties uses professional athletes for endorsements.
ISI's recent move to recertify should prove a valuable one in the end, reinforcing its brand image and making potential customers more at ease with its lineup. That's good news for ISI, and for its customer base alike.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi