NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Clearwater and CaringWays today announced that CaringWays is the latest health tech company to engage in The ClearAdvantage® Program, a special offering from Clearwater enabling its customers to quickly implement a cost-effective, best-in-class cyber risk management and HIPAA compliance program. Clearwater developed The ClearAdvantage Program based on its work with innovators like UberHealth and Digital Reasoning, which has helped the two companies meet the increasingly stringent expectations of their healthcare provider customers regarding data privacy and security.
CaringWays has developed an innovative platform that facilitates direct payment of medical costs to healthcare providers from those contributing to online fundraising campaigns. The company’s leadership team recognizes that ensuring the protection of their partners’ data is essential to earning the trust of providers to engage in the platform.
“Our partnership with Clearwater is a key part of our growth strategy as it reinforces to our hospital partners that CaringWays is committed to being a good steward of the patient data they maintain,” said CaringWays President and Chief Operating Officer Kristi Morrow. “By working with Clearwater and leveraging their expertise and software, we believe we’ve been able to transform HIPAA compliance and cybersecurity from a potential liability into a competitive advantage.”
Data breaches driven by third parties have been among the healthcare industry’s most prominent incidents over the last few years, including the recent Blackbaud data breach that has impacted nearly 80 organizations to date. A recent survey conducted by the Ponemon Institute found that 53% of responding healthcare organizations have experienced one or more data breaches caused by a third party since the beginning of 2019, costing them an average of $7.5 million to remediate.
Recently rated the #1 provider of Compliance and Risk Management solutions in Black Book Market Research’s annual survey of healthcare providers for the fourth consecutive year, Clearwater drew on its intimate understanding of the industry’s information security needs and compliance requirements to develop The ClearAdvantage Program. The program provides all the elements that organizations need to build a strong HIPAA compliance and cyber risk management program, including:
- Leadership from an experienced Virtual Chief Information Security Officer
- Cyber risk management program development and governance
- HIPAA policy and procedure development and workforce training
- Annual security risk analyses and compliance assessments
- Ongoing compliance gap assessment and risk remediation
- Ongoing vulnerability scans and monitoring
- Annual penetration testing
- Support completing security questionnaires from prospective customers
CaringWays also has tapped into Clearwater’s cloud security expertise and engaged the company to assist in hardening its use of Amazon Web Services as a cloud computing platform. Hardening involves reducing the attack surface of a server to allow fewer avenues of infiltration by external threats.
“Healthcare technology companies play a vital role in the U.S. healthcare system, providing innovative solutions that advance the way care is accessed, delivered, managed, and paid for,” said Clearwater CEO Steve Cagle. “Through The ClearAdvantage Program, we are helping ensure that concerns over the security of new solutions don’t stifle innovation. We are proud to serve as CaringWays’ partner as the company transforms the way we support the payment of medical bills for those who are unable to handle the burden on their own.”
About CaringWays
CaringWays is a private fundraising platform that works directly with healthcare providers and other organizations to help patients pay medical expenses including healthcare bills, transportation, food, and other critical needs with greater ease, confidence, and security. The platform was designed to enable patients to raise needed funds while giving confidence to donors that their gifts will be used for their intended purpose. For more information about CaringWays, please visit www.CaringWays.com.
About Clearwater
Clearwater is the leading provider of Enterprise Cyber Risk Management and HIPAA compliance software and consulting services for the healthcare industry. Our solutions enable organizations to gain enterprise-wide visibility into cybersecurity risks and more effectively prioritize and manage them, ensuring compliance with industry regulations. Clearwater’s IRM|Pro® software and consulting services help healthcare organizations to avoid preventable breaches, protect patients, and meet OCR’s expectations, while optimizing cybersecurity investments. More than 400 healthcare organizations, including 70 of the nation’s largest health systems and a large universe of business associates that serve the industry, trust Clearwater to meet their information security needs. For more information about Clearwater, please visit www.clearwatercompliance.com.
