U.S. HealthTek Earns HIPAA and SOC2 Certification
HAYMARKET, VIRGINIA – U.S. HealthTek announces that it has achieved SOC2 and HIPAA certification, the “gold standards” for the IT and health care industries, says Karen Saldaña, COO. This is an example of U.S. HealthTek’s commitment to security and compliance by safeguarding customer and patient health information.”
System and Organization Controls (SOC) is a set of auditing standards that determines the security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of an organization’s systems. SOC2 is a type of reporting that focuses on availability, security, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy i.e., the five Trust Services Criteria. Interestingly, it’s not mandatory for industry organizations, though for obvious reasons it’s advantageous to have it, as it confirms that the company has put in place the strongest security measures possible to protect customer data.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law that sets standards for Protected Health Information (PHI) and how it should not be disclosed to anyone other than the patient and the patient’s authorized representatives. There is overlap between the two, SOC2 and HIPAA, though their objectives are different. Combined they offer the highest assurances and confidence to protect sensitive information.
Saldaña says earning these two certifications is a lengthy and complicated process that involves implementing policies and procedures that outline how we perform periodic risk assessments, respond to incidents or breaches, and detect/manage vulnerabilities, to name a few. Following that is a type 2 audit, spanning over three months, where an auditor will evaluate the operating effectiveness of the organization’s security protocols.
“We have always strived to make all our clients feel confident in our abilities,” says Saldaña, who was project manager of the certification process. “This is now an extra layer that will ensure current and future clients that their data is safe and secure to the highest level with U.S. HealthTek.”
About U.S. HealthTek
U.S. HealthTek is an IT consulting company focused specifically on the needs of the healthcare industry, offering solutions for personnel support, interoperability, data mapping, project management, and custom software builds among other products and services. For more go to USHealthTek.com.