Security Featured Article

Public health surveillance through the sharing and exchange of individually based healthcare information is essential to protect thehealth of individuals and populations. It is essential to preserve privacy and conceal patient identity. Striking a balance between protecting patient confidentiality and undertaking the surveillance and research essential to protect thehealth of the public is becoming an issue in many countries.

WellPoint, Inc., the health insurer by medical membership, announced today it will accept the results of HITRUST Common Security Framework (CSF) assessments as a way to evaluate and verify its business partners' capabilities for protecting health information.

WellPoint is the first health benefits company to accept the results of HITRUST CSF assessments from its business partners as evidence that they have the necessary controls in place to effectively manage information security risks within their environment. Organizations undergoing assessments through the HITRUST CSF Assurance program can choose to become either CSF Validated or CSF Certified, both of which leverage the same processes, tools and requirements, but offer different degrees of assurance.

WellPoint works to simplify the connection between Health, Care and Value. WellPoint is the nation's largest health benefits company, with more than 33 million members in its affiliated health plans.

Roy R. Mellinger, vice president, IT Security, and chief information security officer for WellPoint said that HITRUST certification and assurance programs allow WellPoint to ensure the companies with which the company partners and exchange protected health information to meet specific requirements for information security.

He added that these programs have standardized assessment and reporting processes. Further, he continued that the company is responsible for the security and privacy of health information belonging to more than 33 million Americans who have entrusted their information to WellPoint.