Healthcare, Healthtech and Life Sciences Security
We help technology-enabled healthcare organizations, Healthtech and Life Sciences companies build security programs that defend against real threats, achieve meaningful compliance, and support growth.
How We Engage with Healthcare Companies
Our Fractional CISO Approach for Healthcare Companies
Most healthcare and Healthtech companies engage a Fractional CISO to provide strategic security leadership without full-time overhead. We work with you through a three-phase approach - assessing where you are, designing what you need, and building programs that protect PHI while enabling enterprise healthcare sales.
What This Looks Like for Healthtech and Life Sciences Companies:
We understand the security bar required for your market. Healthcare-specific priorities include PHI protection (encryption, access controls, audit logging), HIPAA & HITRUST compliance, ransomware defense (where security failures become patient safety issues), and a customer trust program to communicate with your external stakeholders.
For enterprise health system partnerships, we manage security diligence requirements including lengthy security assessments, penetration tests, and client negotiations. We help you build the security maturity large healthcare customers require.
When Should You Engage Security Leadership?
You don't need perfect security to start enterprise sales, but you do need a plan. Here are signs you should engage security leadership now rather than later:
Sales & Revenue Signals:
- Enterprise customers requiring HIPAA attestation and BAAs
- Lost deals due to security concerns or missing compliance certifications
- Healthcare customers asking for HITRUST certification
- Sales cycles extending due to security diligence
- Hospital systems or health plans requiring detailed security assessments
Technical Risk Signals:
- PHI stored or transmitted without proper encryption
- No real ransomware defense strategy or backup/recovery plan
- Cloud infrastructure has never been assessed for security
- Unable to answer "how is PHI protected?" with confidence
- No security monitoring or logging of PHI access
Organizational Signals:
- No one owns HIPAA compliance program
- Recent ransomware attack or PHI breach in your sector raising concerns
- Employees concerned that organization isn't meeting security commitments and HIPAA requirements
- Board or investors asking security questions you can't answer
Compliance Signals:
- Customer contracts requiring HIPAA compliance and Business Associate Agreements
- Customers and prospects asked for HITRUST certification
- OCR enforcement activity in your sector or similar companies
- Cyber insurance requiring specific healthcare security controls
- Preparing for due diligence (fundraising or acquisition)
If a few or more of these apply, you're past the point where you can kick security down the road. Healthcare breaches average $10.93 million per incident - each quarter without proper controls increases your risk and limits your addressable market.
Common Questions About Healthcare & Healthtech Security
Do we need a CISO before pursuing enterprise healthcare customers?
Not necessarily a full-time CISO, but you need CISO-level expertise to build your security program, achieve HIPAA compliance, and respond to enterprise healthcare customer security requirements. Many growth-stage healthtech companies use vCISO services to get expert guidance without full-time overhead. This provides the healthcare security expertise you need while you determine when to hire full-time security leadership.
Do we need HIPAA compliance if we're a B2B healthtech company?
Yes, if you create, receive, maintain, or transmit PHI on behalf of covered entities (healthcare providers, health plans, or healthcare clearinghouses), you're a Business Associate and must comply with HIPAA. This applies to most B2B healthtech companies including EHR systems, practice management software, telehealth platforms, and healthcare analytics tools.
What's the difference between HIPAA compliance and HITRUST certification?
HIPAA is a federal law requiring healthcare organizations to protect PHI through administrative, physical, and technical safeguards. HITRUST is a certification framework that includes HIPAA requirements plus additional security controls from ISO 27001, NIST, and other standards. Many enterprise healthcare customers require HITRUST certification as it demonstrates a more comprehensive security program. We can help you achieve both HIPAA compliance and HITRUST certification.
How long does it take to achieve HIPAA compliance?
Timeline varies based on your current security posture and complexity. For a growth-stage healthtech company with basic security controls in place, achieving HIPAA compliance typically takes 3-6 months. This includes risk assessment, gap remediation, policy development, and control implementation. HITRUST certification adds another 6-12 months due to the more comprehensive requirements and formal assessment process.
How do we protect against ransomware attacks?
Effective ransomware protection requires multiple layers: endpoint detection and response (EDR), network segmentation, regular backups with offline copies, access controls, and security awareness training. We help you implement comprehensive ransomware defense programs and incident response capabilities to minimize impact if an attack occurs. Focus on both prevention and rapid recovery - healthcare operations can't afford extended downtime.
Ready to Strengthen Your Healthcare Security?
Let's discuss your healthcare security needs and compliance requirements.