The Significance of HITRUST in Third-Party Risk Management: Ensuring Security and Compliance Across the Supply Chain

Established in 2007, HITRUST provides a framework that integrates existing standards and regulations such as HIPAA, ISO, NIST, PCI DSS, and COBIT into a unified approach to cybersecurity and risk management. The HITRUST CSF is designed to be scalable and flexible, allowing organizations of different sizes to implement controls appropriate to their risk level.

A statistic from the HITRUST 2025 Trust Report shows that 99.41% of HITRUST-certified environments did not experience any data-related breaches in 2024. This is particularly important for healthcare organizations where protecting patient information is critical. The low breach rate suggests that HITRUST’s risk management practices, which are regularly updated to address new cyber threats, provide effective security.

Unlike HIPAA, which sets minimum standards mainly for covered entities, HITRUST offers a more detailed and risk-based plan for protecting health data across the entire supply chain. It features a maturity model that evaluates security controls across multiple areas, including policy, procedure, implementation, measurement, and ongoing management. This helps healthcare organizations meet compliance standards and continually enhance their security efforts.

HITRUST and Third-Party Risk Management in Healthcare

Due to the growing use of external vendors for key services, third-party risk management has become important for healthcare providers. Clinics, hospitals, and medical offices work with many suppliers such as technology companies, billing services, data centers, and telehealth providers. Each new vendor adds complexity and potential risk to patient information.

UPMC, a major healthcare system with $19 billion in revenue and over 85,000 employees, has faced challenges managing vendor security. Their use of HITRUST as the main third-party security framework since 2009 has helped secure their supply chain. John Houston, Vice President of Information Security at UPMC, says HITRUST certification provides a consistent standard that allows quick and confident evaluation of vendor security. This uniformity simplifies comparing vendor security and compliance levels.

The HITRUST Assurance Program includes assessments and certifications that help organizations manage risks throughout the vendor lifecycle, from onboarding to contract renewal. UPMC requires vendors to have HITRUST certification as part of their contracts, and non-compliance can lead to penalties. This requirement enhances vendor accountability and aligns with regulatory standards like HIPAA and NIST.

Besides improving security assurance, HITRUST certification reduces administrative work by combining various compliance requirements into one framework. Vendors no longer need to answer multiple, often conflicting questionnaires or audits from different healthcare clients. This approach helps reduce delays and inefficiencies in vendor management.

HITRUST Assessments and Certification Types

• e1 (Foundational): For organizations beginning to implement cybersecurity controls. Covers 44 basic security areas and is valid for one year.
• i1 (Intermediate): Represents a more established security framework with additional controls.
• r2 (Comprehensive): The most detailed assessment, covering five maturity levels across 19 control domains such as access control, incident management, third-party assurance, and data protection. Valid for two years with an interim assessment after one year.

The r2 certification is considered a best practice for organizations handling sensitive healthcare data. It requires continuous monitoring and re-evaluation to help maintain defense against new cybersecurity threats.

Benefits of HITRUST for Medical Practices and Healthcare IT Managers

• Improved Vendor Security: Requiring HITRUST certification helps ensure vendors follow standard security policies, lowering the risk of breaches from third parties.
• Reduced Regulatory Risk: The structured framework supports compliance with HIPAA privacy and security rules, state laws, and other mandates.
• Streamlined Vendor Management: Uniform assessments simplify procurement and ongoing vendor monitoring.
• Enhanced Trust With Patients: Showing commitment to security standards can boost patient confidence in data privacy.
• Cost and Resource Savings: Reusing controls across assessments cuts down duplicated efforts and reduces compliance costs.

Healthcare organizations requiring HITRUST certifications from vendors can be confident these third parties have undergone adaptive assessments that reflect current cyber threats rather than one-time checks.

Addressing Challenges in Third-Party Risk Management

Even with benefits, traditional methods of managing third-party risk can become overwhelming due to the number and variety of healthcare vendors. Security teams often deal with backlogs of manual questionnaire reviews, and vendors face inconsistent security requests from different clients.

Moving to automation and standardized frameworks like HITRUST helps tackle these issues. The Health 3rd Party Trust (Health3PT) Initiative promotes better information sharing and ongoing monitoring among healthcare vendors to increase transparency and reduce redundant assessments. HITRUST’s Third-Party Risk Management Program incorporates these ideas, giving healthcare organizations clearer views and actionable information on vendor risks.

AI and Automation in Third-Party Risk Workflow

Artificial intelligence is changing how healthcare organizations conduct vendor risk assessments, compliance checks, and incident responses. When combined with workflow automation, AI improves the speed and accuracy of third-party risk management.

For example, platforms like FortifyData use AI-driven automation to help healthcare IT teams continuously assess vendor readiness, monitor security controls automatically, and provide real-time risk visibility. This allows organizations to quickly spot problems or threats and respond promptly.

AI can detect unusual behaviors or patterns in vendor networks, such as irregular access or data transfers, which may signal risks before breaches happen. Automation also simplifies evidence gathering and reporting needed for HITRUST audits, reducing the workload for IT and compliance staff.

• Faster Vendor Evaluations: Automated questionnaires and risk scoring speed up vendor onboarding.
• Ongoing Risk Monitoring: Continuous checking of controls keeps security standards active throughout contracts, instead of relying on periodic audits.
• Improved Decision-Making: AI insights provide more accurate views of vendor risk and compliance gaps.
• Resource Optimization: Less manual work frees staff to focus on strategic cybersecurity tasks.

By combining AI with HITRUST frameworks, healthcare organizations can manage security risks more efficiently and meet changing regulatory demands.

Putting HITRUST into Practice: Lessons from Industry Leaders

John Houston of UPMC stresses the practical value of HITRUST certification in protecting patient data and managing third-party risks. Using HITRUST assessments as a “one-stop-shop” for vendor evaluation helps simplify complex discussions about compliance between healthcare providers and vendors.

Similarly, organizations like Sequential Tech, represented by Marc Ennico, start with foundational e1 certifications and move toward more comprehensive ones. This gradual approach allows vendors to build their security capabilities steadily while meeting customer needs.

Wide adoption of HITRUST in the healthcare supply chain promotes better cooperation with vendors by using a shared language for risk and compliance. The requirement for third-party certification extends data protection responsibility to all involved parties, including cloud providers and billing companies.

Final Thoughts for U.S. Healthcare Providers

Medical practice administrators, owners, and IT managers in the United States face growing pressure to manage vendor security risks in a demanding regulatory setting. HITRUST certification offers a practical way to show compliance, improve security, and handle third-party risks across the supply chain.

By adopting HITRUST along with AI and automation tools, healthcare providers can move from slow manual processes to faster, more reliable workflows. This helps maintain patient trust, meets regulatory requirements, and protects healthcare operations from cyber threats, preparing organizations for current and future challenges.