As healthcare becomes more fully digitized, interconnected, and focused on productivity and generating efficiencies, the need for reliable cybersecurity and data management standards now extends to every corner of the industry — and sterile processing departments (SPDs) are no exception. Here’s a closer look at how HITRUST certification benefits SPDs and those tasked with managing this essential process.
What Is HITRUST?
The Health Information Trust Alliance Common Security Framework (HITRUST CSF®) is a standard establishing formalized cybersecurity compliance and risk management best practices. Consolidating into one system more than 50 privacy and security regulations, standards, and sources, it serves as the healthcare industry’s most widely embraced cybersecurity framework — so effective, in fact, that it’s now embraced by virtually all industries, including 75% of all Fortune 20 companies.
What Is HITRUST Certification, and Why Is It Important?
Achieving HITRUST certification demonstrates to partners, customers, regulators, and communities that an organization has met rigorous cybersecurity controls and compliance requirements. It also provides an important tool for effective and efficient data management to further bolster security through enhanced visibility and proactive decision-making.
The Healthcare Cybersecurity Crisis
And as security risks continue to escalate, HITRUST guidelines only take on greater importance. As of December 2024, cyberattacks in healthcare have increased 55% YOY, with 656 large healthcare data breaches reported to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) just this year.
These attacks have also resulted in significant financial impact to healthcare organizations. According to the IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024, healthcare has topped the list of the most expensive breach recoveries for the 14th year in a row, coming in at $9.77 million on average.
As a result of this heightened risk, “security is now top of mind for every CISO and CIO in any organization, especially in healthcare,” explains Harshil Goradia, Chief Technology Officer for Censis.
The Challenge of Cybersecurity in Sterile Processing
Because it doesn’t typically deal with patient health information (PHI), sterile processing may not be instantly associated with cybersecurity. Yet as the healthcare industry becomes more fully digitized and interconnected, every department has a need for defined data management and security protocols, including SPD.
Sterile processing departments have long struggled with high staff turnover and inadequate training, both of which are high on the list of cybersecurity risks. In addition, the lack of adequate data management combined with high patient volumes and lack of streamlined processes can lead to potential errors in instrument sterilization, which can affect patient safety.
A consistent, verified cybersecurity framework addresses both of those issues, helping to manage data and ensure security protocols amid complex workflows and a fragmented workforce. And by integrating dozens of standards, HITRUST also helps to keep an organization’s processes up to date as regulations and standards evolve.
Why HITRUST Certification Matters to Hospital & SPD Leaders
For leaders of hospitals and surgical processing departments, HITRUST certification provides confidence that the vendors they work with are taking serious measures to protect their systems against risk. For IT managers, it doesn’t just protect information and secure workflows but provides greater visibility into a department’s operations and efficiencies via improved configuration management, access control, and audit logging, among other functions.
“Certification is an outward sign that we prioritize security. It's a way Censis uses measurable results to demonstrate our secure operations,” explains Derrick Rohl, Senior Manager of DevOps & IT for Censis.
“During contract discussions and renewals with our customers, we’re seeing an uptick in the quantity and scope of security assessments,” Derrick adds. “Some customer assessments ask specifically about HITRUST, and we’re glad to say we’re certified.”
What Level of HITRUST Certification Has Censis Achieved?
In 2023, Censis Technologies completed the years-long process to become HITRUST certified. Today, all four of its core products — CensiTrac, LoanerLink, ScopeTrac Advanced, and CensisAI2 — have achieved Implemented, 1-year (i1) Certified status, designed for cybersecurity that does not include PHI. And because it’s renewed annually, this level of HITRUST Certification also requires strict maintenance and adherence throughout the year.
How Censis Achieved Certification & Cybersecurity Success
Achieving HITRUST certification for our solutions meant carrying out an exhaustingly detailed assessment of nearly 200 security controls and while restructuring our entire standing across 19 different digital domains, including:
- Network architecture
- Governance and compliance
- All policies involving removable media
- Encryption methods
- Standards related to changes in staffing
The rigorous (and voluntary) process of HITRUST certification has done more than confirm our dedication to keeping data secure. In the process, Censis achieved top scores for cybersecurity under the umbrella of parent company Fortive, an organization with an international reputation for its strong security posture.
Benefits HITRUST Certification Offers to Censis Customers
Beyond universal advantages to the smooth and secure management of sterile processing departments, how does our HITRUST certification for CensiTrac, LoanerLink, ScopeTrac Advanced, and CensisAI2 help Censis customers in particular?
Minimizing Risk & Safeguarding Info
At a time when data breaches are only getting bigger and more persistent, achieving HITRUST Certification for CensiTrac, LoanerLink, ScopeTrac Advanced, and CensisAI2 shows that we’re fully committed not only to upholding the latest security standards, but also staying up to date on evolving threats and best practices in data protection.
Taking a Proactive Approach to Security
Companies with HITRUST certification for their products constantly work to earn next year’s certification, an effort that requires constant vigilance and evolving industry knowledge, as well as meeting an upgraded set of standards every year. That means they’re always focused not only on fighting today’s biggest threats but also protecting against tomorrow’s most likely scenarios.
Helping Ensure Regulatory Compliance
Because the HITRUST CSF maps and consolidates a huge variety of guidelines, it helps to ensure that all aspects of an organization’s operations are aligned with current laws and regulations. That means lower risk of fines and disruptive audits, as well as the damage resulting from a failure to prevent a data breach or other cyberattack.
Helping Ensure Secure Use of AI
At a time when AI use is surging — and when Censis is actively leveraging its benefits to revolutionize SPD management and surgical instrument tracking — HITRUST provides an extra layer of security. In fact, HITRUST specifically focuses on its ability to assess AI systems. It’s even integrated AI into its own suite of applications “to add new authoritative sources faster and more accurately.”
Providing Confidence & Operational Assurance
“By having CensiTrac, LoanerLink, ScopeTrac Advanced, and CensisAI2 audited and certified through an industry leading and reputable security assurance program such as HITRUST, it gives confidence to our customers and proves our unwavering commitment to safeguarding their data and assets,” Harshil explains.
“And within our cloud-based environments, we manage the complete deployment, maintenance, and support of the infrastructure associated with these applications,” he adds. “This in turn allows our customers to focus on the things which matter most: creating positive patient outcomes.”
HITRUST & Censis ‘History of Credibility’
As important as it is to protect our customers in every way possible, achieving HITRUST certification for our products is also part of Censis’ long history of earning trust and credibility from the customers we serve — a commitment that’s fundamental to our mission of delivering the best possible surgical instrument tracking and management services.
“Companies like Censis have an obligation to not only meet but exceed the trust healthcare facilities are placing on us with their data,” says Harshil. “We need to be able to provide that peace of mind that your data is always safe with us, and we have strong robust security protocols and disaster recovery systems in place. It’s an obligation we take very seriously at Censis.”
Learn More about Censis HITRUST Certification
As the leader in revolutionizing surgical instrument tracking with technology-driven solutions, we know how important data protection is to the security of our processes and our clients. And we’re proud to highlight our commitment to that goal by meeting the strict, industry-defining HITRUST certification guidelines.
Contact us today to learn more about how that certification can benefit your business, and how Censis can optimize and transform your SPD for great efficiency, cost savings, and security.
HITRUST Certification & SPD Cybersecurity FAQs
- Why is cybersecurity important in sterile processing?
As the healthcare industry becomes more digitized, interconnected, and at risk for cyberattacks and data breaches, every department has a need for defined cybersecurity protocols, including sterile processing departments (SPD). In addition, SPDs often struggle with high turnover and inadequate training, furthering the need to implement strict data security measures.
- What is HITRUST Certification?
The Health Information Trust Alliance Common Security Framework (HITRUST CSF®) is a formalized standard for cybersecurity compliance and risk management designed originally for the healthcare industry but now embraced by a majority of companies globally.
- Why is HITRUST Certification Important?
Earning HITRUST certification validates and confirms an organization’s privacy and security efforts and demonstrates that it’s met rigorous cybersecurity controls and compliance requirements. It also provides an important tool for effective and efficient data management to further bolster security through heightened visibility and proactive management.
- How does HITRUST Certification benefit managers of SPD departments?
HITRUST certification has become an essential tool for leaders to ensure security across every inch of their organizations, including sterile processing departments (SPDs). Because it’s the industry standard CSF for healthcare, it’s essential for minimizing the risk of cyberattack and protecting sensitive information.
- Does Censis have HITRUST Certification?
Censis has achieved HITRUST Implemented, 1-Year (i1) Validated Assessment Certification for its CensiTrac, LoanerLink, ScopeTrac Advanced, and CensisAI2 solutions.
RESOURCES
Censis Technologies Achieves HITRUST Implemented, 1-year (i1) Certification to Manage Data Protection and Mitigate Cybersecurity Threats
https://censis.com/blog/censis-technologies-achieves-hitrust-implemented-1-year-i1-certification
HITRUST Certification: What You Need To Know https://hitrustalliance.net/hubfs/23257256/HITRUST-Certification-What-You-Need-to-Know.pdf
IBM Cost of a Data Breach report 2024 https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach?src_trk=em676fe3da069a59.72280171236250732
STAT: Change Healthcare cyberattack drives 2024 into another record year for health data breaches
https://www.statnews.com/2024/12/05/change-healthcare-cyberattack-2024-record-year-us-data-breaches/
Information Security Media Group, Corp. (ISMG): How Healthcare Cyberattacks Broke Records in 2024
https://www.govinfosecurity.com/how-healthcare-cyberattacks-broke-records-in-2024-a-27116
