Information Security in healthcare is a major issue as the nature of the data in this industry is very sensitive. As a recent Verizon report concluded[1], 58% of security incidents are caused by insiders. In fact, the authors of the report found the healthcare industry as the only industry in which internal actors are the biggest threat to the organization. These incidents include unintentional errors and malicious actions, as well as the abuse of access privileges. They involve the loss of unencrypted devices, snooping on patients’ information, hacking, and malware attacks. Inside threats are hard to identify and harder to control. With the assistance of a trusted security partner, this task can be made effective and easy. Haystack Informatics, Inc., a behavior analytics company, is one such firm that helps the healthcare providers to protect their data and operations from various threats.
The company was born at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) as a next-generation platform to advance patient privacy monitoring. Since then, it has grown its offering to capitalize on its deep understanding of employee behavior in regards to the use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs), and the ramifications of this behavior in the areas of operational efficiency, time-driven activity-based-costing (TD-ABC), and performance improvement.
About the Company
Haystack Informatics is a privately held company, headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. It is driven by the mission to safeguard and optimize healthcare. Rooted in the values of Integrity, Passion, and Ownership, Haystack’s vision is to be the partner of which healthcare institutions think about first whenever they need to protect against insider threat or turn their operational data into actionable insight.
From the CEO’s Desk
The Co-Founder & CEO of Haystack Informatics, Adrian Talapan, is a tech entrepreneur. Previous to the establishment of Haystack, he co-founded HouseFix, a marketplace for homeowners and home improvement contractors (TechCrunch Disrupt finalist), and Clarix, a clinical trials logistics and management platform for the pharmaceutical research and development industry. Talking about the industry and the company, he notes, “Healthcare is a complicated business, which only got more complicated with the introduction of massive Electronic Health Record systems. Running on thin margins, healthcare professionals are currently in the delicate position to deliver the best care they can, while operating in an increasingly information-rich environment that puts significant strain on their capacity to do so. We believe safeguarding and optimizing healthcare are essential initiatives for the next 3-5 years, which is why we set off to help health leaders on this path.”
Tech-Powered Services
Haystack currently offers two services, both delivered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): Haystack Monitoring and Haystack Intelligence.
Haystack Monitoring: This is a next-generation insider threat monitoring platform, which uses behavioral science to assist healthcare professionals with the detection, investigation, and reporting of patient privacy violations, as well as with drug misdirection and other employee behavior deviations. It focuses on understanding employee behavior and patient interactions in the context of delivering care. Combined with intuitive visualizations and end-to-end reporting functionality, this solution allows privacy experts to focus on the most critical threats.
Haystack Intelligence: It offers healthcare leaders the ability to understand the operational performance of their domain. This solution delivers an objective diagnosis and determination of the root causes of operational efficiencies and inefficiencies as they arise in the areas of EHR Workflow Optimization, Operational Improvements, Service Cost Management, and Patient Experience. “I make performance improvement a breeze. I reveal exactly where you should implement the smallest change to get the biggest benefit at the lowest cost. Objectively track the ROI of your improvement changes today.”- Haystack Intelligence
Distinguishing Characteristics
The company encourages employee diversity and empowerment. It believes that different points of views and personal initiative generally lead to stronger outcomes and this makes the work environment more exciting. Haystack is a customer centric organization and its special relationship with CHOP keeps it abreast of the latest challenges and opportunities in healthcare. In turn, these allow it to remain best aligned with industry needs. Haystack works alongside its customers in four steps: Ingest: simple data retrieval from EHR; Identify: exploring the data to find snooping risks and best practices and opportunities; Improve: make changes to improve the provider behavior; and Measure: quantify and monitor the impact of any changes. There are several data sources that track the on-going processes within the health system and each of it creates a unique viewpoint into what is happening. Haystack Monitoring is analyzing the entire universe of risk and Haystack Intelligence combines them all to provide insight about performance bottlenecks and opportunities.
Certainty about a Bright Future
Haystack is aware that the healthcare industry will continue to experience significant challenges in the years to come. It foresees that a data-based approach, inspired from lean manufacturing techniques, can help healthcare leaders adapt to changing circumstances. The company believes it is well-positioned to assist health systems navigate through these upcoming challenges, given its focus on safeguarding and optimizing healthcare.
