Symantec has announced that HealthDataInsights (HDI), a company that reviews healthcare claims for fraud, waste, abuse, errors and improper payment identification, has realised significant cost savings after implementing PGP Whole Disk Encryption from Symantec while also ensuring compliance with regulations governing the privacy of personal health information (PHI).
HealthDataInsights implemented PGP Whole Disk Encryption after employees struggled with free disk encryption software, said Symantec.
HDI’s 300+ employees, many of whom work remotely, specialise in the identification and recoupment of claim overpayments to providers (hospitals, physicians, DME and other specialty providers.)
The company reviews more than $300bn in paid claims annually, and its clients include the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, insurance companies, and government agencies.
The medical records HDI reviews are confidential, so the company must comply with laws including the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS).
HealthDataInsights systems security officer Kurt Smith said, "People too often had trouble opening their files and kept seeing the dreaded blue screens of death."
"We risked losing hundreds of thousands of dollars a day in lost productivity, so we decided to implement PGP Whole Disk Encryption from Symantec and have realized 100 percent return on our investment after just one month," Smith added.
PGP Whole Disk Encryption provides HDI with full disk encryption for all data on desktops, laptops, and removable media.
The encrypted data is protected from unauthorised access, and protected systems can be centrally managed by PGP Universal Server, which simplifies deployment, policy creation and distribution and reporting.
For its encryption requirements, HDI uses PGP Whole Disk Encryption, PGP NetShare, and PGP Universal Server. HDI uses a feature of PGP Universal Server known as Guarded Key Mode for private key recovery in order to restore backups, data streams, and files.
"PGP NetShare is one of the coolest features, especially when it comes to corporate documents and contracts," said Smith.
"With PGP in place, administrators are able to restore files or whatever is required, but do not have access to the data unless the administrator is part of the security group that allows them to view the data.
"Since we handle medical claims, everything we do has to protect patient data," he added.
"We have a large portion of our employees working remotely, and if someone’s laptop gets stolen or lost, because of the encryption software the damage to HDI would only be the cost of the computer, because the data can’t be accessed."
