ePHI Scope and Data Flow
Systems, applications, devices, cloud services, locations, interfaces, vendors, and workflows that handle electronic protected health information.
Healthcare Cybersecurity
HIPAA security risk assessments grounded in the actual environment.
TruSec helps covered entities and business associates identify threats and vulnerabilities affecting electronic protected health information, evaluate safeguards, and prioritize practical corrective action.
Service Overview
Connect HIPAA requirements to systems, data flows, and operational risk.
A useful HIPAA security risk assessment must reflect where electronic protected health information is created, received, maintained, and transmitted. It should consider people, processes, facilities, applications, infrastructure, cloud services, vendors, and the threats that could affect confidentiality, integrity, or availability.
TruSec works with healthcare and business stakeholders to identify the environment, review relevant documentation and safeguards, interview responsible personnel, evaluate evidence, and document risk in a format that supports remediation and management decisions.
Assessment Coverage
Assessment coverage across administrative, physical, and technical safeguards.
The scope is tailored to the organization’s ePHI environment and may include the following areas.
Administrative Safeguards
Governance, policies, workforce access, training, incident procedures, contingency planning, vendor oversight, and risk-management processes.
Technical Safeguards
Access control, authentication, audit logging, transmission security, encryption, endpoint controls, network security, and system configuration.
Physical Safeguards
Facility access, workstation use, device handling, media controls, environmental protections, and location-specific practices.
Threats and Vulnerabilities
External attacks, insider risk, ransomware, credential compromise, outages, configuration weaknesses, process failures, and environmental events.
Risk and Remediation
Likelihood, impact, existing controls, residual risk, responsible owners, corrective priorities, and documented management decisions.
How the Engagement Works
A documented process that can support ongoing risk management.
Define scope
Identify entities, locations, systems, ePHI data flows, key vendors, responsible personnel, and available documentation.
Collect evidence
Review policies, configurations, diagrams, inventories, prior assessments, incident history, and implementation evidence.
Evaluate risk
Identify threats and vulnerabilities, consider existing safeguards, and determine likelihood, impact, and residual risk.
Prioritize action
Deliver findings, risk treatment recommendations, management priorities, and a basis for tracking corrective action.
Deliverables
A defensible risk assessment and practical remediation roadmap.
The deliverable is designed to support leadership, compliance, security, IT, and operational owners.
- Executive summary and overall risk posture
- Scope, methodology, assumptions, and limitations
- ePHI systems and data-flow observations
- Threat and vulnerability analysis
- Risk-rated findings and existing safeguard context
- Administrative, physical, and technical recommendations
- Prioritized remediation roadmap
- Supporting evidence and management discussion points
The assessment supports risk-management decisions but does not provide legal advice or guarantee regulatory compliance.
Common Questions
HIPAA risk assessment questions
Is a HIPAA risk assessment the same as a penetration test?
No. A risk assessment is broader and evaluates threats, vulnerabilities, safeguards, likelihood, and impact across the ePHI environment. Penetration testing may be one supporting technical activity.
How often should a HIPAA risk assessment be updated?
It should be reviewed and updated when environmental, operational, organizational, or threat changes could materially affect risk. Many organizations also establish a recurring review cycle.
Do you assess business associates?
Yes. Business associates that handle ePHI can be assessed based on their services, systems, data flows, contractual obligations, and security safeguards.
Can the assessment include technical testing?
Yes. Vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, cloud review, wireless testing, or social engineering can be scoped separately to provide additional evidence about specific risks.
Related Services
Build coverage around the full attack path.
Need to update or strengthen your HIPAA security risk assessment?
Share the organization type, locations, approximate workforce, major ePHI systems, cloud services, prior assessment date, and target completion window.