HIPAA vs. HITRUST: Key Differences, Benefits, and Which to Choose

Updated on 22 Jan 25•8 min read

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HIPAA and HITRUST: similar-sounding names, both related to the security of healthcare data—but that's as far as similarity goes. One is a law, and the other is an organization, but the important thing is that every person working around Protected Health Information (PHI) should know the nuances separating the two very important frameworks.

That begs the question: What exactly is the difference between HIPAA and HITRUST? In this guide, we discuss some of the most important things that set the HIPAA vs. HITRUST debate apart, covering what HITRUST and HIPAA are, the relationship between HIPAA and HITRUST, as well as the importance of knowing the difference between HIPAA and HITRUST in the current healthcare environment.

Understanding HIPAA: The Foundation of Healthcare Privacy

What is HIPAA?

HIPAA is important while we are discussing health data security, especially when looking into the subject of HITRUST vs. HIPAA. HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996—it is not just another acronym but the very foundation of the claim to the privacy of patients in the United States. While drawing comparisons between HITRUST vs. HIPAA, it should be noted that HIPAA is actually the law and sets some minimum requirements, while HITRUST is a framework helping organizations meet or exceed those requirements. Thus, while examining hitrust and the various attributes concerning certification, first, we have to comprehend HIPAA properly.

History and Purpose of HIPAA

Before HIPAA, patient health information was inconsistently maintained at times, and its degree of protection varied across healthcare professionals and states. This absence of standardization opened the door to vulnerability and it became challenging for people to keep control over their own health data. High­lighting this critical gap, Congress passed HIPAA to address a number of related points:

  • Portability: Before HIPAA, many employees faced "job lock," where they were reluctant to change jobs due to the fear of losing health insurance coverage, especially if they had pre-existing conditions. HIPAA sought to erase this by guaranteeing the mobility of health insurance across jobs.
  • Accountability: The legislation sought to prevent healthcare fraud, waste, and abuse by imposing standards on health information security and privacy. It played an important role at a time when electronic health records (EHRs) were becoming more common and thus required strong data security mechanisms.
  • Administrative Simplification: HIPAA established the Administrative Simplification Rule, requiring standard code sets for use in healthcare transactions to facilitate administrative processes, reduce paper, and improve the efficiency of providing health care.

Key Components of HIPAA

HIPAA includes a number of fundamental rules that must be followed by covered entities and their business associates' with respect to PHI. These standards are core to the HIPAA vs. HITRUST discussion, as HITRUST augments and builds upon many of these requirements. The core components include:

The Privacy Rule: The rule sets forth national standards to protect individually identifiable health information (PHI), thus limiting and conditioning the uses and disclosures of PHI without the patient's authorization. It gives respective patients considerable rights concerning their health information, including the right to preview, request amendments, and receive an accounting of disclosures of their PHI. This is one area of straight overlap in the HITRUST vs. HIPAA comparison since HITRUST assists organizations in implementing the technical, administrative, and physical safeguards the Privacy Rule requires.

The Security Rule: This rule establishes national standards for privacy protection of electronic PHI (ePHI). Covered entities and business associates are required to put in place administrative, physical, and technical safeguards protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of ePHI. This rule is especially relevant when thinking about what HITRUST is and what value HITRUST certification provides since the HITRUST CSF contains a complete collection of controls to ensure and beyond the Security Rule mandates. In comparing HITRUST vs. HIPAA, the security rule is one of the important areas of intersection.

The Breach Notification Rule: This rule also mandates that covered entities and their business associates notify each other upon a breach of unsecured PHI. It provides and explains the notification requirements, i.e., who and what needs to be notified, which information must be contained in the notification, and how soon all notifications should be carried out.

HIPAA Enforcement

It is the function of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to enforce HIPAA. Organizations in breach of HIPAA may incur serious sanctions, including civil money penalties, criminal charges, and corrective action plans. This enforcement element is at the heart of the HITRUST VS HIPAA difference discussion; HIPAA is a bill and therefore carries legal penalties for noncompliance.

What is HITRUST: A Comprehensive Security Framework?

HITRUST, or the Health Information Trust Alliance, is a non-profit organization established in 2007 to elevate the standards of data protection and certification programs. Its primary goal is to help organizations, particularly healthcare organizations, keep sensitive information secure, manage information risk effectively, and attain compliance objectives.

Unlike HIPAA, which is a federal law, HITRUST uses the Common Security Framework (CSF). This comprehensive and certifiable framework embodies multiple regulatory standards and best practices in a cohesive, manageable form. This is where the true value of HITRUST becomes clear in the HITRUST vs. HIPAA debate.

HITRUST Common Security Framework (CSF) and Its Structure

The HITRUST Common Security Framework (CSF) is a broad, certifiable framework intended to support managing and reducing risks relating to protected information. Here's a brief overview of its structure:

  • Domains: The CSF is comprised of 19 domains, each domain covering a different area of information security, such as access control, incident management, and risk management.
  • Control Specifications: The CSF contains 14 categories of controls, consisting of 49 objectives and 156 specifications.
  • Levels of Implementation: The framework presents "levels of implementation" that depend on the organization's size, nature, and risk exposure. This hierarchical arrangement enables adaptation and growth, allowing an organization to adjust its security posture to fit its needs.

The HITRUST Common Security Framework (CSF)

The HITRUST CSF is the foundation of the HITRUST approach. A flexible and extensible framework that aligns and correlates multiple security and privacy standards, such as:

  • HIPAA (Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules)
  • NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)
  • ISO (International Organization for Standardization)
  • PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)
  • State-specific privacy laws

This harmonization presents a significant advantage when comparing HITRUST with HIPAA. Instead of navigating multiple, frequently overlapping standards, organizations can leverage the HITRUST CSF as a single, unified approach to compliance. This streamlined method is a key consideration when deciding whether to pursue HITRUST certification.

If you are an entrepreneur, check this article out: How to Develop a HIPAA Compliant Mobile Application - Entrepreneur’s Guide

Benefits of HITRUST Certification:

Achieving HITRUST certification offers several significant benefits:

  • Reduced Risk of Data Breaches: Through the use of CSF, firms can massively reduce the risk of a data breach and the enormous incident costs, legal, regulatory, and reputational consequences that often follow.
  • Improved Security Posture: The framework assists organizations in proactively identifying their risks and applying appropriate means to mitigate them, therefore boosting their overall security stature.
  • Demonstrated Compliance with Multiple Regulations: HITRUST certification simplifies compliance with a number of standards and laws, such as HIPAA, SOC 2, NIST, ISO 27001, and GDPR, reducing the cost and simplifying the complexity of compliance reporting.
  • Competitive Advantage: Certification delivers a definite, unambiguous message to customers, partners, and stakeholders that a company is committed to data security. Therefore, it confers a market advantage in the form of a market premium and a competitive advantage.
  • Meeting Business Associate Obligations: HITRUST certification is a necessity for many larger healthcare providers and payers, thereby making it a de facto requirement to deal with them.
FeatureHIPAAHITRUST

Nature and Purpose

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)

It is a federal law that sets national standards for electronic healthcare transactions, insurance coverage, privacy, and security of the health information.

HITRUST (Health Information Trust Alliance)

This organization is responsible for the establishment of a certification framework (HITRUST CSF) to assist organizations with the management and demonstration of compliance with multiple security standards, including HIPAA.

Compliance Mandate

HIPAA Compliance is Mandatory:

Covered entities, namely healthcare providers, health plans, clearinghouses, and business associates, are bound by law to comply so as to avoid incurring hefty penalties up to $1.5 million/year/violation category.

HITRUST Certification is Voluntary:

The organization finds it worthwhile to opt for HITRUST Certification as it is a comprehensive certification and shows that security is third-party validated.


Focus and Scope

Patient Privacy and Data Security Focused:

As required by HIPAA, the Privacy Rule will govern all protected health information (PHI) with the Security Rule regulating electronic PHI (ePHI) to ensure its confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Encompassing Security Framework:

It will cover the facets of cybersecurity, including data protection, risk management, governance, and regulatory compliance other than HIPAA, such as NIST, ISO, and PCI-DSS.

Security Controls

HIPAA Security Rule:

  • Establishes mandatory security standards with respect to administrative, physical, and technical controls.
  • Attention to risk assessments, access controls, audit controls, and secure transmission.

HITRUST CSF (Common Security Framework):

  • Offers a comprehensive catalog of security controls (more than 100) that are consistent with different standards and which contain concrete steps to address risks.
  • Controls at every level of the organization (governance to operations).

Adaptability

Static:

  • HIPAA regulations are somewhat static, with Office for Civil Rights (OCR) updates occurring over time but less frequently than in other sectors.

Dynamic and Scalable:

  • CSF can be customized to an organization's risk appetite, sector of industry, and size, and can be scaled and customized for security operations.

Certification

No Certification:

  • There is no certification for HIPAA; compliance is achieved through regular audits, investigations, and self-assessments.

HITRUST Certification:

  • Organizations under consideration are selected for third-party compliance with the CSF, which receives an assurance report developed, validated, and risk-prioritized independently.

Regulatory Coverage

Primarily HIPAA:

  • Compliance is not limited to the HIPAA regulations, meaning other regulations can also be considered in the due diligence practice.

Multiple Regulations:

  • HITRUST certification shows that HIPAA and other standards are followed, such as NIST DR 800-53, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, and others.


Risk Management

Basic Risk Assessment:

  • It is part of the Security Rule and requires risk assessment, but a comprehensive risk management framework does not exist.

Comprehensive Risk Management:

  • Offers a formalized risk management process, risk analysis, and continuous risk monitoring and resolution.

Industry Impact

Healthcare Only:

  • HIPAA deals with the healthcare sector and applies directly to entities sharing PHI.

Broader Industry Reach:

  • Rooted in healthcare, HITRUST certification is woven into finance, energy, and other industries where data security and compliance matter.

Complexity

Less Complex:

  • HIPAA imposes adherence to an established set of federal standards.
  • Especially for the healthcare organizations that work with PHI information.

More Complex:

  • The CSF is based on multiple standards, for which organizations need to know and apply a broad suite of security controls.
  • Framework often requires professional assistance for implementation.

Final Thoughts

In this detailed comparison, you can see that while HIPAA and HITRUST both operate in the healthcare data protection space, HITRUST offers a far more comprehensive, actionable, and certifiable security framework. Organizations who are interested in HITRUST vs. HIPAA compliance tend to take it beyond and go for a HITRUST that offers a more assertive security posture that handles general security needs. HITRUST certification does take more time and money. Still, the gains in enhanced security, decrease in risk, and competitive advantage can make it a strategic option for organizations to show an even stronger level of commitment to cybersecurity and compliance than HIPAA alone.

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FAQS

Stay curious, Questions?

Is HITRUST certification required for HIPAA compliance?

HITRUST certification is not legally mandatory for HIPAA compliance. However, HIPAA is a law, and compliance is mandatory for Covered Entities and Business Associates. HITRUST is a framework that allows organizations to demonstrate compliance with HIPAA and other standards. While not mandatory, achieving HITRUST certification indicates that one’s security posture is covering some serious ground and can further aid in securing HIPAA audits.

Many organizations, especially larger healthcare firms, require their business associates or vendors to be HITRUST certified. So, while not required for HIPAA HITRUST compliance, it is generally treated as the de facto requirement to conduct business with larger healthcare organizations. This is an important consideration when it comes to HITRUST vs HIPAA.

Which is more expensive: HIPAA compliance or HITRUST certification?

Generally, higher direct costs are involved in getting HITRUST certified rather than the initial actions that mean HIPAA compliance and self-assessment. Besides, if you are HITRUST certified, those costs would also embrace those charged for assessment, making good on identified gaps, and maintaining that certification on an ongoing basis. But the total cost of ownership must also be weighed.

HIPAA breaches can result in significant additional costs, such as penalties, attorney fees, reputational damage, and business disruption. HITRUST certification may be viewed as an investment that enhances security and reduces the risk of a breach to mitigate potentially magnitudes greater future costs. This is an important consideration in the HITRUST vs. HIPAA cost-benefits analysis.

Is HIPAA a global standard like HITRUST?

No. HIPAA is a U.S.-specific law. HITRUST, while heavily used in the U.S. healthcare sector, can be applied globally. This is a significant difference in terms of scope when comparing HITRUST and HIPAA.