Upp Helps Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota
Comply with Today's Tough Security Mandates
Client Profile:
BlueCross Blue Shield ND is North Dakota's largest provider of healthcare coverage, insuring more than 475,000 – either directly or through administrative agreements. BCBS ND provides health, dental, vision, life insurance, disability insurance and long-term care coverage.
With the increased focus on regulation, security, and compliance with government mandates, BCBS ND undertook a proactive technology review initiative. This two-phase process required analysts with knowledge of both security best practices, as well as in-depth industry processes.
Solution:
Upp IT consultants began by identifying enhancements to BCBS' current IT architecture and application environment. As part of this process, they reviewed procedures governing audit validation and systems access; and performed a comprehensive analysis of existing storage and backup systems. Upp then developed a Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP), containing any exposures discovered by the initiative.
Following an executive review of the CAP, Upp consultants developed an organizational roadmap for achieving industry accreditations, such as ISO2000/27001 and CMMI/L2. Working with Blue Cross Blue Shield ND security and infrastructure teams, Upp designed guidelines for future enterprise project management, quality assurance, documentation, disaster recovery and business continuity. Institutionalization of ITIL/ITSM and IEEE 12207 included DISA, DoD, STIG, and NIST standards. Upp also implemented Security and Compliance tools such as Opsware, Guardian, Foundstone, Bladelogic, EMC Smarts, Tripwire, Envision and Network Intelligence.
Business Value:
Assisting Blue Cross Blue Shield ND in achieving compliance with today's demanding healthcare industry mandates required knowledgeable consultants with a unique skill set of industry knowledge and cutting-edge IT analysis. Upp consultants provided BCBS ND with the services and insight to exceed current regulation requirements and lower costs for future initiatives.
