Humana Endorses HITRUST Program to Promote Health Care Information Security and Achieve Cost Savings

Published on Tuesday, 27 July 2010 09:28 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

LOUISVILLE, Ky.-( Business Wire )-

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) announced today it will accept the results of assessments conducted under the HITRUST (Health Information Trust Alliance) Common Security Framework (CSF) Assurance program as a means to evaluate and verify its business partners’ capabilities for protecting health information. The HITRUST CSF Assurance program provides Humana and its business partners with a common approach for managing security assessments that reduces the time, costs and complexities associated with today’s compliance efforts.

The CSF Assurance program leverages the HITRUST CSF, a comprehensive security framework that incorporates the existing security requirements of health care organizations, including federal, state, third party and other government agencies. Organizations participating in the program can perform a single assessment against the requirements of the CSF and report the results to multiple internal and external parties. Humana was involved, along with other leading organizations, in the development of the CSF.

With the adoption of the CSF and participation in the CSF Assurance program, Humana expects to simplify and standardize the process for assessing the information security posture of its business partners as well as its own organization. The rigor of the CSF Assurance program enables Humana to protect the privacy and maintain the trust of all its stakeholders. Additional benefits for Humana include eliminating unnecessary costs associated with multiple reviews by different entities while promoting greater information security and compliance.

“The health care industry’s current approach to conducting security assessments is inefficient and forces organizations to spend more time on assessing and reporting than on remediating and monitoring activities,” said Jon Moore, Chief Information Security Officer, Humana, and HITRUST Executive Council member. “Top of mind with Humana is our commitment to protect the information of our members and business partners. We have high security standards, so reducing inefficiencies and streamlining business operations while ensuring compliance is a big win for us and our partners. By participating in the CSF Assurance program, Humana is able to direct its resources to the more critical effort of improving the protection of health information and advancing health care information security.”

About HITRUST

The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) was born out of the belief that information security should be a core pillar of, rather than an obstacle to, the broad adoption of health information systems and exchanges. HITRUST, in collaboration with healthcare, business, technology and information security leaders, has established the Common Security Framework (CSF), a certifiable framework that can be used by any and all organizations that create, access, store or exchange personal health and financial information. Beyond the establishment of the CSF, HITRUST is also driving adoption and widespread confidence in the framework and sound risk management practices through education, advocacy and other outreach activities. For more information, visit http://www.hitrustalliance.net/.

About Humana

Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the nation’s largest publicly traded health and supplemental benefits companies, with approximately 10.4 million medical members and 7.2 million specialty-benefit members.

Humana is a full-service benefits-solutions company, offering a wide array of health and supplementary benefit plans for employer groups, government programs and individuals.

Over its 49-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities to meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in consumer engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a better health plan experience throughout its diversified customer portfolio.

More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company’s Web site at http://www.humana.com, including copies of:

• Annual reports to stockholders
• Securities and Exchange Commission filings
• Most recent investor conference presentations
• Quarterly earnings news releases
• Replays of most recent earnings release conference calls
• Calendar of events (includes upcoming earnings conference call dates and times, as well as planned interaction with research analysts and institutional investors)
• Corporate Governance Information

Humana Corporate CommunicationsJeff Blunt, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.