HITRUST supports cybersecurity order

The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) said this week that it is establishing a new working group to support the White House cybersecurity executive order signed on February 12 by President Barack Obama.

The order mandates cybersecurity information sharing between the government and private industry, as well as a baseline framework known as the Cybersecurity Framework, aimed at reducing cyber-risk with the use of industry frameworks and best practices. The order also mandates the identification of critical infrastructure that is at greatest risk, HITRUST said in a statement.

The HITRUST working group will focus on the following tasks for the healthcare industry:

• Developing a cybersecurity framework with a set of standards, methodologies, procedures, and processes that align the efforts of technology developers, businesses, and policymakers
• Addressing the need for industry-wide collaboration to reduce cyberthreats in healthcare, including information systems and medical devices
• Incorporating timely sharing of information with the government, and toward that end, HITRUST said it has worked with the government and industry to create policies and systems to allow anonymity and privacy to ensure that information can be transmitted without liability concerns

The result of these efforts has been a very effective model for public-private collaboration between the healthcare industry and government, HITRUST said. The industry is working closely with government on cybersecurity, including active threat intelligence, information sharing, and incident response, through its HITRUST Cyber Threat Intelligence and Incident Coordination Center (C³).

HITRUST said it has a cyberthreat information sharing agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services, and it participates in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Critical Infrastructure Sharing and Coordination Program.

The group is hosting a roundtable session to share information and receive comments on the working group's findings on May 20-22 in Grapevine, TX. Meeting information is available by clicking here.