Compliance management services for ADHICS

Experience end-to-end compliance management services for ADHICS

SharkStriker offers you the team you need to identify and implement all the best practices recommended by the Abu Dhabi Department of Health.

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Compliance

ADHICS

Understanding ADHICS

To ensure the privacy and security of all the healthcare information of its citizens, the Abu Dhabi Department of Health passed ADHICS or the Abu Dabhi Health Information and Cybersecurity Standards in 2019. The regulatory guidelines provide the best practices to assist healthcare entities specific to their risk exposure, maturity, and status quo cybersecurity capabilities in improving their defense and information security.

It is governed by the local and federal bodies, providing a comprehensive set of controls to help entities secure all the health information transmitted, maintained, created, displayed, processed, and disposed of. Through the guidelines, the Abu Dhabi Department of Health ensures that the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of information are protected. ADHICS offers detailed guide to establish an effective Information Security Program.

What does it cover?

Asset management

Access and communication control

Data security

Data sovereignty and retention

Third-party security

Information Security and Incident Management

Information Security Continuity Management

Information Systems Management

Physical and Environmental Security

Human Resource Security

Operations Management

On whom does it apply?

It applies to all the public and private organizations that offer some or the other healthcare services, healthcare insurance services, or are a third-party partner to healthcare services providers.

Challenges: The ADHICS was passed with more than 692 controls, offering healthcare entities a comprehensive way to secure their most sensitive patient information assets.

The following are some of the business challenges offered by ADHICS:

Model

Description

Healthcare organizations have old systems in place

Many healthcare organizations have legacy systems. They are for the management, storage, and processing of information. Since the systems exist across different levels of the organization, it is challenging for them to implement all the new technological measures in the ADHICS guidelines.

A limited team for compliance

A big challenge is that majority of their teams are IT experts. On top of this, businesses struggle to find one vendor that can fulfill all their goals for cybersecurity and compliance. It is challenging for them to identify and implement all the best practices recommended by ADHICS.

Security responsibility is highly distributed

Since security control is distributed across multiple levels in healthcare organizations, implementing unified security becomes a challenge.

Cybersecurity is not prioritized

Organizations face the immediate challenge of not having the budget required for implementing the measures with the right set of people, processes, and technology. It is because they haven’t prioritized cybersecurity.

Consequences of non-compliance

Any healthcare organizations subjected to ADHICS that score less than 86% on the Annual Surveillance Audit will have their license canceled. The exact penalty imposed isn’t specified anywhere. However, the law that regulates healthcare entities may impose a penalty of not less than AED 500000 and AED 700000.

SharkStriker Approach

Our approach encompasses the following steps:

1. Risk Assessment
2. Gap assessment
3. Risk treatment plan
4. Implementation
5. Post implementation
6. Training and awareness

01

Risk Assessment

The foremost step involves preparing a detailed scope of compliance based on careful evaluation of status quo infrastructure. We engage in a comprehensive risk assessment using VAPT of their status quo IT infrastructure, identifying all the risks and vulnerabilities and categorizing them as per their severity. We prepare a report post-assessment with detailed information on the categorized risks and vulnerabilities with the measures to for treating the risks and vulnerabilities.
02

Gap assessment

The next step is to evaluate whether there are gaps in compliance through an organization-wide gap assessment.
03

Risk Treatment plan

Upon risk identification, we prepare a detailed risk treatment plan comprising all the measures, policies, security controls, rules, and procedures to be implemented for the comprehensive treatment of the risks. We define the roles of the parties associated with it and specify the people, processes, and technology required to effectively execute the plan.
04

Implementation

We implement the risk treatment plan and all the aspects of it with the right people, processes, and technology. We see to it that nothing is left out in the implementation.
05

Post implementation audit

To ensure that the implementation goes well, we conduct a post-audit that assesses whether there was any gap in implementation and if any are found, we take measures to bridge them.
06

Training and awareness

Since lack of awareness is one of the primary causes of non-compliance, we take measures to raise awareness about compliance across multiple levels of the organization. We prepare training and awareness modules that assist organizations in filling their gaps in compliance and cybersecurity

What are the business benefits of ADHICS compliance?

ADHICS guidelines assist healthcare organizations in improving their cybersecurity posture and increasing their preparedness against modern threats.

The following are some of the business benefits of being ADHICS complaint:

Improves information assurance standards

The guidelines provide a detailed means to effectively manage the security of information that is in use, processing, storage, and transmission, improving the standards of information assurance between all the healthcare entities and users that are citizens of UAE.

Builds trust between patients and healthcare entities

ADHICS takes a holistic approach to addressing cyber risks and information security, covering people, processes & technology not limited to just IT. It enables an organization by providing means to better address the underlying cybersecurity risks across different levels. It increases the predictability of risks and reduces the chances of operational disruptions significantly.

Creates a loyal customer base of repeating customers

In healthcare, trust is the most critical aspect that drives customers back to the same organization. By providing the best practices for information security, ADHICS establishes trust among its customers by keeping their information secure and private. This leads to increased repeat customers so organizations can reduce their reliance on finding new customers.

Clarifies ownership of information assets

As businesses grow, they find themselves in the challenge of identifying which information belongs to whom. The guidelines require businesses to implement measures that clarify the ownership of information assets, decreasing the probability of unauthorized access and breach of information security.

Saves business from costs

Any form of disruption in operation can result in high business costs. ADHICS provides guidelines that assist organizations in considerably reducing downtime through best practices to reduce cyber risks. It recommends proactive measures that reduce the possibility of breaches that may impact operations significantly.

Helps business achieve global benchmarks

ADHICS comprises some of the best practices recommended in global information security standards. Therefore, by implementing them, organizations can achieve the guidelines recommended in many global compliance standards for information security.

SharkStriker’s compliance management services for ADHICS

Organizations find themselves in a constant struggle when it comes to compliance. Whether it is having a limited team or dealing with multiple vendors, it is a challenge to implement the measures and stay compliant in a compliance environment that constantly changes. SharkStriker helps solve that by offering a team that renders expertise to implement all the recommended guidelines.