HITRUST e1 certification is a simplified way for smaller or growing companies to meet security expectations without the heavy costs and time of full HITRUST certification. It focuses on 18 fixed controls like access management and data protection, making it ideal for organizations with lower risk profiles. Drata automates the process, reducing manual work through real-time evidence collection, gap analysis, and task management. This allows businesses to achieve certification faster, maintain compliance, and prepare for future growth. With a two-year validity, HITRUST e1 provides stability, helping companies build trust with customers and partners while scaling operations.
Key Benefits of Using Drata for HITRUST e1 Compliance
Streamlined Compliance Automation
Drata takes the hassle out of HITRUST e1 compliance by automating critical tasks. It seamlessly integrates with your existing systems, continuously collecting evidence and monitoring for compliance changes in real time. This means smaller teams can spend less time on manual processes and more time focusing on growth and other priorities. Plus, the platform ensures all compliance activities are tracked efficiently.
Real-Time Monitoring and Insights
With Drata, you get complete visibility into your HITRUST e1 compliance status. Its real-time dashboards provide key metrics and instant alerts, helping you address issues quickly and stay on track. This not only reduces the manual workload but also speeds up the certification process.
Step-by-Step Guide: Achieving HITRUST e1 Certification with Drata
Getting HITRUST e1 certified with Drata is a structured process that simplifies a typically complex journey. By breaking it into clear phases, Drata provides a straightforward path from initial setup to certification.
Scoping and Risk Assessment
Start by defining the systems, data, and processes that fall under HITRUST e1. Drata’s risk assessment tools make this easier by automatically identifying systems and mapping data flows.
The asset tracker keeps your scope accurate as your organization grows, which is especially helpful for scaling businesses adding new systems and integrations frequently.
Once your scope and risk overview are established, you’re ready to move on to integrating your systems.
Platform Setup and Control Mapping
Next, integrate Drata with your tech stack. The platform supports over 100 business tools, including popular options like AWS, Azure, identity management systems, and security tools. Drata automatically maps these integrations to the 44 HITRUST e1 control requirements, saving you the hassle of manual mapping.
The control mapping dashboard gives you a clear view of what’s already covered by automated monitoring and what requires manual documentation. This visual layout helps you quickly assess your compliance status and prioritize areas needing work. This step sets the stage for a deeper gap analysis.
Readiness and Gap Assessment
Once controls are mapped, it’s time to verify your compliance status. Drata conducts automated compliance tests across all connected systems, checking hundreds of settings and controls to uncover any gaps.
The platform’s gap analysis reports provide clear, actionable steps to resolve issues. For example, it might recommend enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) for administrative accounts.
Drata also provides a readiness score, which updates in real time as you address gaps. This percentage-based score helps you track progress and determine when you’re ready to work with a HITRUST assessor.
Evidence Collection and Submission
The final phase involves gathering and organizing the evidence required for your HITRUST e1 assessment. For items that can’t be collected automatically, Drata offers guided workflows to walk you through what’s needed and how to format it correctly.
When it’s time to work with HITRUST-approved assessors, Drata can export evidence packages in the required formats, eliminating the back-and-forth that often happens when documentation isn’t properly organized.
Drata also monitors when documentation needs updates to stay aligned with current configurations, ensuring your evidence remains accurate throughout the assessment period.
Features Designed for Growing Organizations
As companies scale, compliance challenges often grow more complex. Expanding teams, multiplying systems, and increased scrutiny can quickly overwhelm without the right tools. Drata steps in with tailored features that simplify compliance management for growing businesses. Let’s explore how scalable workflows, outsourced expertise, and tailored solutions can support your growth journey.
Scalable and Modular Workflows
Drata’s platform evolves with your business, making it easier to manage compliance as you expand. Its cross-mapped controls automatically align existing frameworks like SOC 2 or HIPAA with HITRUST e1 requirements. This reduces redundancy, saving time and effort.
The centralized risk management system is another standout. It grows with your infrastructure, offering tools to identify, assess, and address risks as your organization adds systems or integrations. Automated monitoring ensures new additions are seamlessly included without manual adjustments.
Vendor management is another area where Drata shines. The AI-powered Vendor Risk Management tool simplifies third-party assessments, even as your list of vendors expands. And with API-enabled custom connections, evidence collection becomes automated and adaptable, ensuring your workflows remain flexible and efficient.
Outsourced Compliance Support with Cycore
For resource-strapped organizations, Cycore offers essential compliance support through its GRC Tool Administration services. These services handle the technical side of managing Drata, freeing internal teams to focus on growth.
Take ReadMe, for instance. By leveraging Cycore, they saved 1,656 hours annually and reduced the time spent on security questionnaires by 66%, helping them close deals faster during a critical growth phase.
Cycore also provides Virtual CISO (vCISO) services, delivering expert security leadership without the need for a full-time hire. This ensures strategic oversight of compliance initiatives like HITRUST e1 while keeping costs manageable.
"Cycore elevated a research and analytics company's cybersecurity posture from 70% to 93%, enabling ISO 27001 certification, risk mitigation, and deal closures through a robust security strategy and hands-on vCISO support."
Custom Solutions for Rapid Growth
Cycore’s Compliance Services offer hands-on guidance tailored to your specific growth stage, making even complex certifications manageable. For example, Anterior.com achieved HITRUST e1 certification in just seven weeks with Cycore’s help. This milestone accelerated their sales cycles and opened doors to new healthcare opportunities.
Maintaining Continuous Compliance
As your organization grows, keeping up with HITRUST e1 compliance demands consistent attention. This standard requires ongoing vigilance to ensure your certification remains valid. Drata simplifies this process with automated alerts that notify your team the moment a compliance issue arises. These notifications don’t just point out the problem - they also include clear steps for resolving it, helping your team address concerns quickly and effectively.
Drata also automates evidence collection, maintaining a constantly updated repository of compliance data. This means you’re always audit-ready, eliminating the last-minute stress of scrambling for documentation during assessments.
Policy management is another area where Drata shines. The platform automatically updates your documentation to reflect organizational changes, tracks policy versions and approvals, and even ensures employees acknowledge updates. Notifications are triggered for policy changes, ensuring everyone stays informed and aligned with the latest requirements.
With continuous monitoring in place, your organization can begin planning for more advanced certifications.
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Moving to Advanced HITRUST Certifications
Once maintaining compliance becomes second nature, it might be time to think about advancing to higher-level certifications. HITRUST e1 often serves as a stepping stone to more comprehensive certifications, especially as your organization starts handling more sensitive data. Advanced certifications can enhance your security posture and align with the growing demands of your business.
Drata’s platform can help you map out the additional controls required for these advanced certifications, giving you the insights needed to allocate resources effectively and plan for a smooth transition. The experience gained from managing HITRUST e1 compliance will streamline future risk assessments and certification efforts, making the leap to advanced certifications more manageable.
Regular Reviews and Updates
To maintain certification and identify areas for improvement, quarterly reviews are essential. Drata’s dashboard provides actionable compliance insights, helping you track trends and address emerging issues - whether they relate to technical controls or the effectiveness of your policies. This proactive approach not only secures long-term trust but also supports your organization’s growth.
Annual platform reviews can ensure you’re taking full advantage of Drata’s latest features and integrations. These reviews often uncover opportunities to automate more processes or optimize existing workflows. It’s also a good time to evaluate whether your current Cycore service level still meets your needs as your organization evolves.
As your business changes - whether through launching new services, entering new markets, or updating your technology stack - your security policies should evolve too. Drata helps you stay on top of these changes by tracking modifications and triggering review workflows when needed.
Training is another critical component of compliance. New employees need thorough onboarding, and current team members benefit from periodic training updates to stay aligned with any process changes. Drata makes it easy to track training completion, ensuring everyone understands their role in maintaining compliance.
Finally, proactive planning for infrastructure changes can help you avoid compliance gaps. Whether you’re adopting new cloud services, integrating with third-party vendors, or making major system updates, it’s crucial to evaluate their compliance impact ahead of time. Drata’s vendor risk management tools can assist in assessing whether new vendors meet your HITRUST requirements, giving you peace of mind as your organization scales.
Conclusion: Simplifying Compliance with Drata and Cycore
Achieving HITRUST e1 compliance doesn’t have to slow down a growing company. With Drata's automation tools and real-time tracking, the complex world of compliance becomes a manageable, efficient process that evolves alongside your business. Add Cycore's expertise into the mix - through their GRC Tool Administration services and Virtual CISO guidance - and you’ve got a powerful combination to tackle HITRUST requirements with ease.
This approach grows with you. Whether you’re entering new markets, expanding your team, or adopting new technologies, Drata ensures your compliance framework remains solid. Automated workflows and continuous monitoring keep things running smoothly, no matter how much your business changes.
What’s more, using Drata to establish a strong foundation with HITRUST e1 sets you up for future success. As your company scales, you’ll be better prepared for advanced certifications and more demanding compliance standards. Investing in the right tools and processes now means you’ll be ready to meet rising regulatory challenges and the growing expectations of security-conscious customers.
For companies ready to take charge of their compliance strategy, the solution is clear. Drata delivers the technology, and Cycore brings the expertise to make it all work seamlessly. Together, they turn HITRUST e1 from a challenge into an opportunity - a way to show your dedication to security and earn the trust of your customers.
FAQs
What are the key benefits of using Drata to achieve HITRUST e1 certification?
Using Drata to achieve HITRUST e1 certification brings several important advantages that make the compliance process faster and more manageable for growing businesses. By automating evidence collection and testing, Drata cuts down on manual work, freeing up time and resources. This means your team can spend less energy on tedious compliance tasks and more on driving your business forward.
Drata also offers real-time compliance tracking, giving you a clear, up-to-the-minute view of your organization’s compliance status. This transparency helps you quickly spot and fix any gaps, ensuring you're always prepared for audits. On top of that, Drata’s streamlined workflows integrate smoothly with your existing operations, making it simpler to meet HITRUST e1 requirements without disrupting your processes.
For businesses focused on growth, these features make Drata a powerful solution for staying compliant while keeping momentum.
How does Drata's automation and real-time monitoring help growing companies stay continuously compliant?
Drata simplifies the process of staying compliant by offering real-time monitoring and automation, giving businesses immediate insight into their compliance status. This forward-thinking approach helps spot and address potential issues early, keeping companies aligned with requirements before problems arise.
By cutting down on manual work and reducing the chances of human error, Drata enables teams to concentrate on growing their business while remaining prepared for audits at any moment. This blend of streamlined processes and dependability makes compliance management more manageable for businesses, no matter their size.
What steps should a company follow to progress from HITRUST e1 to more advanced certifications, and how does Drata help streamline this process?
To progress from HITRUST e1 to more advanced certifications like i1 or r2, companies need to step up their game in several areas. This means tightening security controls, refining policies and procedures, and gearing up for a more rigorous audit process. Key steps often include conducting thorough internal assessments, making ongoing improvements, and maintaining well-organized documentation to meet the stricter demands of these advanced certifications.
Drata makes this transition smoother by automating compliance workflows, keeping a constant eye on your controls, and offering tools to monitor progress in real time. With Drata, organizations can meet higher standards more efficiently, cutting down on the manual effort typically required to stay compliant.
