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Digital Health Security Blueprint

Executive Self-Assessment for Healthcare Technology Leaders

17 questions across 5 strategic domains — takes about 6 minutes

0 of 17

Domain 1: Governance & Strategy

Question 1 of 17

How is cybersecurity positioned within your organization's leadership structure?

Effective security requires executive-level ownership and accountability.

No dedicated security leadership; handled ad hoc by IT

IT manager handles security as part of broader responsibilities

Dedicated CISO or security director reporting to CIO

CISO with board-level reporting and a defined security strategy

Question 2 of 17

How often does your board or executive team review cybersecurity metrics?

Regular oversight ensures security stays aligned with business objectives.

Rarely or never discussed at the executive level

Annually, usually after an incident or audit finding

Quarterly with defined KPIs and dashboards

Monthly or continuous with real-time risk dashboards

Question 3 of 17

Does your organization have a documented cybersecurity strategy aligned with business goals?

A written strategy turns intent into measurable action.

No documented strategy

Informal goals but no written strategy

Documented strategy reviewed annually

Living strategy tied to business objectives with quarterly updates

Domain 2: Technical Controls & Architecture

Question 4 of 17

What level of endpoint detection and response (EDR/XDR) capability does your organization have?

Modern threats require visibility and response capabilities beyond traditional antivirus.

Traditional antivirus only

Next-gen antivirus with some behavioral detection

EDR deployed with 24/7 monitoring and response

XDR platform integrating endpoint, network, cloud, and identity telemetry

Question 5 of 17

How do you manage network segmentation for clinical and IoMT devices?

Medical devices and IoT create unique attack surfaces in healthcare environments.

Flat network; all devices share the same segments

Basic VLANs but no dedicated clinical device segmentation

Dedicated clinical network segments with access controls

Microsegmentation with device profiling and automated policy enforcement

Question 6 of 17

What is your approach to identity and access management (IAM)?

Identity is the new perimeter in cloud-first healthcare environments.

Username and password only; no MFA

MFA for some systems; manual provisioning

MFA everywhere with SSO and role-based access controls

Zero Trust architecture with adaptive authentication and continuous verification

Question 7 of 17

How do you handle data encryption for PHI at rest and in transit?

Encryption is a core HIPAA safeguard and a baseline expectation.

No systematic encryption; varies by system

Encryption in transit (TLS) but inconsistent at rest

Encryption at rest and in transit for all PHI systems

End-to-end encryption with key management, DLP, and automated data classification

Domain 3: Compliance & Risk Management

Question 8 of 17

How current is your HIPAA risk assessment?

OCR expects documented, comprehensive risk assessments — not checkbox exercises.

No formal risk assessment completed

Completed once but more than 2 years ago

Annual risk assessment with documented findings

Continuous risk assessment with real-time tracking and remediation workflows

Question 9 of 17

How do you manage third-party and vendor security risk?

Supply chain attacks are among the fastest-growing threat vectors in healthcare.

No formal vendor risk process; rely on BAAs alone

Security questionnaires during initial onboarding

Annual vendor assessments with risk tiering

Continuous vendor monitoring with real-time risk scoring and contractual SLAs

Question 10 of 17

What compliance frameworks guide your security program?

Aligning to recognized frameworks demonstrates maturity and accelerates audits.

HIPAA minimum requirements only

HIPAA plus partial NIST CSF alignment

Full NIST CSF or HITRUST implementation

HITRUST certified with additional frameworks (SOC 2, ISO 27001, FDA 21 CFR Part 11)

Domain 4: Incident Response & Resilience

Question 11 of 17

Do you have a documented and tested incident response plan?

The first hours of a breach determine the outcome — preparation is everything.

No documented plan

Written plan but never tested

Plan tested annually with tabletop exercises

Plan tested quarterly with cross-functional drills and lessons-learned integration

Question 12 of 17

What is your backup and disaster recovery strategy for critical systems?

Ransomware resilience depends on reliable, isolated, and tested backups.

Basic backups with no tested restore process

Regular backups with annual restore testing

3-2-1 backup strategy with immutable copies and quarterly testing

Air-gapped immutable backups with automated failover and defined RTO/RPO targets

Question 13 of 17

How quickly can you detect and contain a security incident?

The average healthcare breach takes 236 days to identify (IBM 2024). Faster detection reduces cost.

Unknown; we would likely discover issues from external reports

Days to weeks; log review is manual and periodic

Hours; SIEM with 24/7 monitoring and defined escalation paths

Minutes; automated detection with SOAR playbooks and pre-authorized containment

Domain 5: People & Security Culture

Question 14 of 17

How do you approach security awareness training for staff?

Human error remains the leading cause of healthcare breaches.

Annual compliance video with no follow-up

Periodic training with basic phishing simulations

Monthly training with role-specific content and tracked metrics

Continuous adaptive training with gamification, department benchmarks, and real-time coaching

Question 15 of 17

How does your organization evaluate AI tools before deployment in clinical or administrative workflows?

AI adoption without governance creates compliance and security blind spots.

No process; teams adopt tools independently

Informal review by IT before deployment

Formal AI governance policy with security and privacy review

AI review board with documented risk assessments, PHI impact analysis, and ongoing monitoring

Question 16 of 17

How do you manage the cybersecurity skills gap within your team?

Healthcare faces a significant shortage of qualified cybersecurity professionals.

Security is handled by general IT staff with no specialized training

Some staff have security certifications; no formal development plan

Dedicated security team with professional development and certification support

Internal team supplemented by a managed security partner with 24/7 coverage

Question 17 of 17

How do you measure the ROI of your cybersecurity investments?

Demonstrating value ensures continued investment and executive support.

No measurement; security is treated as a cost center

Track spending but no formal ROI metrics

Risk reduction metrics tied to investment levels

Business-centric metrics: risk reduction, compliance savings, insurance premium impact, and incident cost avoidance

Your Digital Health Security Maturity

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This self-assessment provides a directional view of your security maturity based on industry frameworks including NIST CSF, HITRUST, and HIPAA Security Rule requirements. Results are educational and do not constitute a formal audit or compliance certification.