360 Advanced, a leader in IT compliance and assurance services nationwide, is advising healthcare providers and their consumer data management vendors to move quickly to participate in the HITRUST CSF Assurance assessment process because the initial deadline for compliance is less than a year away.

“The HITRUST examination and assurance process can take six months or more to complete successfully, so it would be wise for healthcare providers and their related service organizations managing consumer data to schedule their HITRUST CSF assessment as soon as possible,” advises Eric Ratcliffe, Director at 360 Advanced.

The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) announced in June, 2015, the expansion of the healthcare industry’s use of the CSF Assurance program in support of efforts to efficiently and effectively manage the third-party assurance process. The Alliance said at that time that healthcare organizations would begin requiring their business associates within the healthcare industry to obtain HITRUST CSF Certification within the following 24 months.

“With the deadline less than a year away, now is the time to get this important initiative into your budget for next year and begin seeking an approved HITRUST CSF Assessor organization,” said Ratcliffe.

The HITRUST CSF Assurance Program is already the most widely adopted assessment approach by healthcare organizations and business associates to evaluate and communicate their information privacy and security posture.