Life Sciences

Today’s life sciences firms face increasingly stringent regulations regarding how they ensure privacy of personal health information (PHI).  Throughout the information’s entire life cycle, as it is passed between insurance companies, outside contractors, HMOs, hospitals, and individuals, PHI must be protected, ensuring privacy. To further complicate matters, all critical information flows must be tracked to verify that breaches of information security do not occur. 

 

While security of PHI is paramount for most health care providers, pharmaceutical companies, in a very much related industry, have a different set of challenges.  These companies manage highly sensitive information ranging from drug formulation to clinical trial results.   

 

Healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies are subject to regulatory compliance and information control challenges.

Regulatory Compliance Challenges

• Corporate Governance
• HIPAA
• Sarbanes-Oxley (esp. section 404)

Information Control Challenges

• Data Retention and Expiration
• Intellectual Property Protection 
• Secure Communications