Compliancy Group partners with several leading cybersecurity and MSP firms to offer a wide set of customized HIPAA compliance programs for them and their clients. Compliancy Group is part of any Healthcare IT Company’s overall “security” plan. Rigid Bits, a Compliancy Group partner, specializes in cybersecurity, forensics, breach support, and protection for their clients. The challenge that Rigid Bits faced as an MSSP is not unlike many MSPs in the channel, they provide good cybersecurity, but were not in a position to make their clients fully “HIPAA compliant.” Clients tend to believe that compliance and cybersecurity are the same thing. Rigid Bits needed a way to give their clients a full solution without adding internal HIPAA expertise onstaff. Compliancy Group fills the void on educating their clients and providing year round expertise.
The Challenge: HIPAA Compliance as a Service for MSPs
HIPAA is mandated for anyone who may access protected health information (PHI) as part of their job function. With clientele such as healthcare providers, CPAs, and insurance companies, Rigid Bits had clients that were required to be HIPAA compliant in order to legally service their existing and new healthcare clients. As such, several clients in the healthcare space were asking them for a complete package that combined cybersecurity and compliance. However, at that time they were only offering cybersecurity solutions. Rigid Bits also recognized a challenge in signing new healthcare clients because they were looking to other companies that were already offering both security and compliance.
With a clear need to provide HIPAA compliance, Rigid Bits started doing research and realized that it is a complex issue. If they wanted to offer HIPAA compliance without investing a ton of time and money, they needed to find a partner that would allow them to continue providing cybersecurity services, while they covered the administrative side.
In addition, many of Rigid Bits’ clients were confused on what being compliant actually meant and how to strategically maintain both cybersecurity and compliance. Rigid Bits looked to Compliancy Group to help solve this problem for many of their existing accounts and future prospects.
The Solution
Rigid Bits’ clients were concerned with cybersecurity safeguards, which was why they initially came to them. However, the reason they were concerned with cybersecurity stemmed from their need to be HIPAA compliant. Through this, Rigid Bits saw the opportunity to offer clients a complete and more competitive package by providing both cybersecurity and HIPAA compliance.
Rigid Bits also used Compliancy Group to help show their clients that they could differentiate their practices from competitors by demonstrating a level of trust that they themselves are compliant, have a culture of security, and are legally able to provide their services to the end clients. So not only do their clients understand the need for ongoing Rigid Bits support to maintain compliance, they are also able to differentiate their practice with Compliancy Group’s Seal of Compliance.
Most businesses are ignorant to HIPAA requirements and the effort required to become compliant. The Guard helps by providing everything needed to work towards, and meet compliance requirements. Rigid Bits also finds that a lot of companies have failed to document what they’ve done for their compliance efforts, and having a tool like The Guard makes it much easier for them to not only complete the work but track and demonstrate what was done.
Compliancy Group provides the knowledge and support required to meet HIPAA compliance. Clients of Rigid Bits benefit greatly from their expertise, and are able to significantly reduce the time and effort required to meet HIPAA compliance. Compliancy Group provides what is usually a very expensive service for a very competitive price, backed by knowledgeable professionals. Rigid Bits had seen many other companies that say they provide HIPAA compliance but either offer an incomplete service or will never confirm when compliance is actually met. With Compliancy Group’s services and tools, especially the Seal of Compliance, Rigid Bits is now able to offer something that is truly unique from their competitors.
The transition for Rigid Bits to offer compliance services was simple; Rigid Bits did not have to do much work. Compliancy Group makes things easy, they provide a coach and the platform, and there is no setup for the MSSP or work to get their clients onboard. Compliancy Group works with the account and helps them identify compliance gaps. The security gaps that are identified through Compliancy Group’s process allows Rigid Bits to easily identify what their clients need in terms of cybersecurity, and address the client’s issues strategically, allowing them to keep their environment safeguarded and secure as per the compliance standard.
With Compliancy Group as a partner, Rigid Bits was enabled to offer compliance without having to invest a lot of time or money to do so. Compliancy Group “held their hand” through the entire process of adding HIPAA compliance to their stack, which they made easy with the support of their Compliance Coaches. All Rigid Bits had to do to offer HIPAA compliance was sign up with Compliancy Group. From there they manage all of their healthcare clients, and Rigid Bits provides the technical expertise while Compliancy Group provides the administrative expertise.
The Benefits
Through Compliancy Group’s process, the end clients were able to clearly see where their cybersecurity was lacking. Clients of Rigid Bits now understand what it means to be compliant, and realize that they would not have sufficient cybersecurity protocols and training in place without the right provider supporting them. This gives Rigid Bits the platform to sell a full range of advanced cybersecurity services without client pushback. If they want to be HIPAA compliant, they need to implement advanced cybersecurity tools and practices. This included Security Awareness Training, Dark Web Monitoring, Incident Response Planning, Vulnerability Scans, Penetration Testing, and other services that Rigid Bits can then offer. HIPAA compliance justifies an MSSP’s advanced cybersecurity offerings because it is the law!
Partnering with Compliancy Group allowed Rigid Bits more opportunity with current clients, as well as an opportunity for growth. Previous to the partnership, clients were seeking HIPAA compliance tools from other companies, or worse: neglecting it completely. Once they started offering compliance as part of their stack, Rigid Bits saw an increase in client loyalty as well as an increase in profits. Existing clients were able to see the value of implementing advanced cybersecurity tools to protect their patient information, allowing them to drive up MRR and increase profit through better upselling engagements for services beyond HIPAA compliance.
Compliance as a Service (CaaS) gave Rigid Bits the opportunity to grow their client base by attracting more healthcare clients.
Key Takeaways
Entering the healthcare vertical should be the next step for any MSP or MSSP looking to expand their client base, or looking to offer a full package for existing healthcare clients. Most MSPs are not HIPAA compliant, which makes it a great differentiator when you are. Being HIPAA compliant as an MSP shows your healthcare clients that you take their cybersecurity seriously. Also, if you want to service healthcare clients, you are obligated by law to be HIPAA compliant. With Compliancy Group, Rigid Bits was able to grow their healthcare client base exponentially, and will continue to do so. Since Compliancy Group doesn’t offer cybersecurity services, Rigid Bits never had to be concerned about giving them access to clients.
