In the healthcare industry, safeguarding sensitive patient data is of the utmost importance. With the increasing reliance on SaaS (Software as a Service) applications to manage everything from electronic health records (EHRs) to patient scheduling and billing, healthcare organizations face unique challenges in maintaining robust security. The combination of regulatory pressures, such as HIPAA compliance, and the sensitive nature of the data handled makes SaaS security not just a priority but a necessity.
So how can healthcare organizations leverage the power of SaaS tools while ensuring that patient information remains secure? Let’s walk through five essential steps to protect your SaaS environment while staying compliant with industry regulations.
Step 1: Create a Complete Security Map
In healthcare, knowing exactly what applications your staff and clinicians are using is the first step in ensuring the security of patient data. SaaS applications are commonly adopted to streamline operations, but it’s not unusual for employees to sign up for new tools without IT’s approval — leading to the phenomenon known as “Shadow IT.”
To secure your SaaS environment, healthcare organizations must first identify all the applications in use across departments. This can be done through surveys, audits, or enterprise SaaS discovery tools that map out your organization’s entire application usage. Understanding the tools being used is critical to identifying risks, especially when sensitive patient data is at stake.
Step 2: Clarify Roles and Responsibilities
In the complex world of healthcare, SaaS security responsibilities are shared among various teams: IT, compliance officers, medical staff, and even third-party vendors. With so many parties involved, it’s critical to define who is responsible for each aspect of SaaS security to avoid potential gaps that could lead to data breaches or non-compliance with regulations like HIPAA.
Healthcare organizations must assign clear responsibilities for managing SaaS security. Your IT department should oversee setting up access controls such as Single Sign-On (SSO) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Compliance officers should ensure that the SaaS applications used are aligned with HIPAA and other regulations, while staff members should be trained to follow proper data handling procedures. Clarifying roles will ensure that everyone understands their part in protecting sensitive health information.
Step 3: Ensure SaaS Applications Meet Compliance Standards
In healthcare, compliance isn’t just a best practice — it’s a legal requirement. SaaS applications used by healthcare organizations must comply with industry regulations like HIPAA, HITECH, and GDPR (if applicable), especially when handling Protected Health Information (PHI). Non-compliance can result in hefty fines and reputational damage.
Before implementing any SaaS tool, ensure it adheres to your organization’s security and compliance policies. This includes verifying that the application encrypts PHI both in transit and at rest, provides audit logs, and includes the necessary access controls to prevent unauthorized access. Regular reviews of your SaaS applications are also essential to maintaining compliance, as regulations evolve over time and new security vulnerabilities emerge.
Step 4: Continuously Monitor and Assess Risks
Healthcare organizations cannot afford to be reactive when it comes to SaaS security. With the ever-present threat of data breaches and ransomware attacks, continuous monitoring of your SaaS applications is essential to ensuring they remain secure and compliant.
Leverage SaaS security tools that offer real-time monitoring of your SaaS environment. These tools can provide alerts for potential vulnerabilities, monitor changes in risk scores, and detect unauthorized access or misuse of patient data. Regular risk assessments and security audits should also be conducted to ensure that all applications continue to meet both internal security policies and external regulatory requirements.
Step 5: Implement SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM)
Misconfigurations within SaaS applications are a leading cause of data breaches, particularly in healthcare where even a small error can have significant consequences. SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) tools are invaluable for healthcare organizations, as they allow you to monitor the security settings and configurations of your SaaS applications in real time.
With SSPM, healthcare organizations can automatically detect misconfigurations or excessive permissions that could expose sensitive patient information. This helps ensure that your SaaS applications remain compliant with HIPAA and other regulations while protecting PHI from unauthorized access or data leakage.
Top 5 SaaS Security Solutions for Healthcare Organizations
Here’s a breakdown of some of the best SaaS security tools designed to help healthcare organizations maintain compliance and safeguard sensitive patient data.
Pros:Waldo Security provides healthcare organizations with the tools they need to discover and assess the SaaS applications in use, aligning them with your security policies and compliance requirements. Waldo helps ensure that applications meet regulatory standards like HIPAA by mapping them to your organization’s authentication protocols and identifying gaps in security controls, such as encryption and MFA.
Cons:However, Waldo lacks in-depth SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) capabilities. For organizations that need real-time monitoring of SaaS configurations and permissions, additional tools will be necessary to supplement Waldo’s discovery and governance strengths.
2. Zscaler
Pros:Zscaler is highly effective at securing network traffic to and from SaaS applications, making it an excellent choice for healthcare organizations that need to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data. By controlling which SaaS tools are accessible from your network, Zscaler helps reduce the risk of unapproved applications that could introduce vulnerabilities.
Cons:While Zscaler excels at network-level control, it doesn’t provide detailed insights into the SaaS applications themselves, such as user activities or app configurations. Healthcare organizations may find that they need additional tools to gain visibility into how specific SaaS applications are being used to manage PHI.
3. Varonis
Pros:Varonis is ideal for healthcare organizations looking to protect sensitive patient data across popular platforms like Office 365 and Google Workspace. Varonis offers data classification and monitoring features to ensure that PHI is only accessible to authorized users. It also includes some posture management capabilities to help identify misconfigurations and security risks within your SaaS environment.
Cons:Varonis’s posture management is limited to specific applications like Office 365. Healthcare organizations that use a wider range of SaaS applications will need to complement Varonis with tools that provide more comprehensive coverage.
Pros:Obsidian Security offers advanced security features for enterprise-level SaaS applications commonly used in healthcare, such as Salesforce and Office 365. Its real-time threat detection and analytics capabilities help healthcare organizations identify and mitigate potential security incidents before they become breaches. Obsidian’s ability to track user behaviors also makes it ideal for monitoring compliance with HIPAA and other regulations.
Cons:Obsidian lacks discovery capabilities for SaaS applications not connected to your organization’s identity provider, meaning it may miss some tools that are used without IT approval. For healthcare organizations seeking full visibility, this could be a limitation.
5. Netskope
Pros:Netskope is a leader in SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM), making it particularly valuable for healthcare organizations that need to ensure their SaaS applications are properly configured. It offers in-depth visibility into security settings and configurations for applications like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, allowing healthcare providers to detect and address misconfigurations that could lead to PHI exposure.
Cons:Like Zscaler, Netskope’s discovery capabilities are somewhat limited, focusing mainly on known applications. Healthcare organizations looking for comprehensive discovery of all SaaS tools in use may need to pair Netskope with other tools to gain full visibility.
Conclusion
For healthcare organizations, SaaS security is not just about protecting your business — it’s about protecting your patients. The unique regulatory environment, coupled with the sensitive nature of healthcare data, means that your approach to SaaS security must be comprehensive, proactive, and aligned with HIPAA and other standards.
By following these five steps — mapping your SaaS landscape, defining responsibilities, ensuring compliance, continuously monitoring risks, and leveraging SSPM tools — your healthcare organization can effectively secure its SaaS environment while maintaining compliance and protecting patient data.
Choosing the right tools is key to success. Whether you opt for Waldo Security to map your SaaS usage or Netskope for detailed posture management, the right solution will help you mitigate risks, ensure compliance, and keep patient data safe. In a healthcare setting, there’s no room for error — SaaS security must be a top priority.
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