Becker’s Health IT

By Giles Bruce

Several health systems and other healthcare companies have signed on to an organization that aims to protect the industry from cybersecurity risks involving third-party vendors.

The Health 3rd Party Trust Initiative and Council, or Health3PT, said Jan. 11 it plans to team up to better assess and manage third-party cybersecurity.

While about half of healthcare organizations have suffered a recent third-party data breach, according to a study from software vendor SecureLink, less than a third of them monitor their cybersecurity exposure in real time from outside vendors, IT consulting firm Gartner found.

Its members include cybersecurity executives from:

Health systems:

  • Centura Health (Centennial, Colo.)
  •  HCA Healthcare (Nashville, Tenn.)
  • Highmark Health (Pittsburgh)
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York City)
  • Piedmont Healthcare (Atlanta)
  • St. Luke’s Health System (Boise, Idaho)
  • Tufts Medicine (Burlington, Mass.)
  • UPMC (Pittsburgh)

Other organizations:

  • AmeriHealth Caritas
  • AmerisourceBergen
  • Attest Health Care Advisors
  • CVS
  • Evolent Health
  • Health Care Service Corp.
  • Healthix
  • HealthStream
  • Highmark BCBS
  • Humana
  • Premera Blue Cross
  • Virtual Health
  • Walgreens