By Bimal Sheth, HITRUST Vice President of Assurance Services

Under HITRUST Approach 2.0, our organization continues to pursue enhancements to the tools, solutions, and services that risk managers and information security professionals rely on every day to meet ever-evolving requirements and complexities.

As part of this ongoing commitment, the HITRUST CSF Assurance Program is always looking for ways to add efficiency and certainty during all phases of the assessment process. One such enhancement is our upcoming HITRUST Reservation System for submitting HITRUST CSF Validated Assessments. This initiative is also referred to as “Reservation-Based Quality Assurance” (RBQA).

In the past, the QA process was performed in the order in which assessments were submitted. The new Reservation System creates a more orderly process, allowing assessed entities and HITRUST Authorized External Assessor Organizations to schedule their resources and respond to HITRUST’s QA feedback. In addition, a confirmed reservation means the QA process begins closer to the submission date, which eliminates scheduling questions and guesswork.

Key Reservation System Highlights Include:

1. Starting on July 1, 2021, a reservation will be required to submit a HITRUST CSF Validated Assessment. It’s important to note that HITRUST CSF Bridge, Interim, and Readiness Assessments are not included, meaning RBQA is not available for these types of assessments.
2. Scheduling reservations within the HITRUST MyCSF platform is easy and streamlined; however, the knowledgeable Support team is available to help if needed.
3. Reservations are made in one-week increment QA Blocks that contain reservation slots, which are tied to specific assessments.
4. Expedited Reservations are available if needed, giving the opportunity to schedule QA sooner than would otherwise be available. To purchase an Expedited Reservation, contact your Customer Success Manager.

The new Reservation System for HITRUST CSF Validated Assessments allows the HITRUST community of customers and assessor organizations to schedule a specific starting date to begin the QA process, which enables better submission planning, greater predictability, and added trackability.

Interested in getting additional information on the Reservation System? You can consult the detailed Advisory.

For instructions on how to create a HITRUST CSF Validated Assessment reservation, review the step-by-step procedures in the Process Walkthrough within MyCSF.