Health Insurance

In terms of private data, nothing is more sensitive than health insurance information. 

Not only is this data highly sensitive, but it also needs to be maintained for long periods of time – sometimes for the entire lifetime of the patient. Applications which process this data are often required to interact with other systems, which adds to the complexity of protecting the data. Testing these applications with real data compromises information security by risking theft from insiders; yet, realistic data is required to ensure these applications function properly. Using Camouflage to create realistic data for use in these non-production environments is the solution.

Compliance requirements within the health insurance sector are a blend of those found in the financial services and health care sectors; in particular, HIPAA, GLBA, and the PCI DSS apply. Compliance with Section 306 of the HIPAA Security Rule requires covered entities to “protect against any reasonably anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity [of electronic PHI].” In turn, Section 501 of GLBA requires financial institutions to “protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security [of customer information].” As well, if insurer handles credit card numbers, PCI DSS requirement 6.3.4 is very clear: “production data are not [to be] used for testing or development.”

Consequently, health insurers can be triple-obliged to protect against data theft by developers and testers during application/system development. The most “reasonable and appropriate” way to protect against inside theft by developers and testers is to use data masking to create realistic data for use in these non-production environments.

Given that health insurance information involves both financial and health data, breaches can have a devastating impact on customers. Financial services data breaches cost millions in fines, lawsuits, brand damage, and customer loss. No C-level officer wants to be affiliated with these sorts of losses.

Using Camouflage to create realistic data will protect against data theft.

• Create and test interoperable systems to process claims and adjudicate benefits.
• Facilitate faster information exchange with affiliates by using Camouflage to reduce data to the “minimum necessary” for the intended purpose.
• Eliminate the use of credit card numbers in testing and development
• Create data for analysis while limiting access by “need-to-know”
• Facilitate data sharing by using Camouflage to mask account numbers.