Healthcare Information Security: Getting Beyond Compliance

Interview with Cliff Baker of HITRUST Alliance For too many healthcare organizations, information security is about regulatory compliance - requirements and checklists. It's time for patients, privacy and true information security to be prioritized, says Cliff Baker, Chief Strategy Officer with the HITRUST Alliance. In an exclusive interview, Baker discusses: Key healthcare security issues and how HITRUST addresses them; Privacy and information security trends to track in 2010; How healthcare organizations can focus less on compliance, more on security. Baker specializes in information security, privacy and compliance for healthcare organizations. He has 15 years of experience with information security for healthcare organizations, including developing strategic plans for a number of global and national organizations, working on multi-year complex system implementations, and assisting organizations with board level risk management decisions. Baker has worked with leading providers, health plans, and pharmaceutical companies on a number of strategic, compliance and tactical solutions. In his current role as Chief Strategy Officer for HITRUST, he is collaborating with organizations to define the focus areas for HITRUST that deliver the most value and support for the adoption of consistent information security practices in healthcare. Prior to joining HITRUST, Cliff led PricewaterhouseCoopers' Healthcare-Provider Security and HIPAA practice. He is the author of a book on database security and several healthcare specific whitepapers, and he has presented in many privacy and security forums across the country. The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) is a private, independent company created to establish a common security framework that will allow for more effective and secure access, storage and exchange of personal health information. HITRUST is bringing together a broad array of healthcare organizations and stakeholders, who are united by the core belief that standardizing a higher level of security will build greater trust in the electronic flow of information through the healthcare system.