Edmond Scientific Company to Provide Risk Assessment Analysis for Indian Health Service

FAIRFAX, VA– Edmond Scientific Co. (ESC) working with the Indian Health Service (IHS) – an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services – will provide IHS with information security risk assessments that will enable the agency to meet federally-mandated certification and accreditation (C&A) requirements.

The contract calls for ESC to provide IHS entities throughout the United States with an accurate and thorough risk assessment package that meets primarily with Office of Management and Budget C&A requirements. The project also will enable IHS management to make informed decisions regarding the confidentiality, integrity and availability of its information and information systems.

ESC will specifically address the confidentiality, integrity and availability of Electronic Protected Health Information in order to fully meet requirements set down in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Security Rule (HIPAASR). The goal is to enable IHS entities to create a single risk assessment that satisfies HIPAASR and OMB certification and accreditation requirements.

Risk assessments will be conducted by ESC according to guidelines established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and federal information processing standards. Steps in the risk assessment process include system characterization, threat identification and control analysis. ESC also will provide impact analysis, risk determination and control recommendations.

ESC will provide tailored risk assessments that meet the needs of IHS facilities ranging in size from single building clinics to multi-building hospital complexes in the United States. The complexity of IHS information systems also range in capacity from simple one-server local area networks to multi-server and wide area network systems.

The IHS is the principal health care provider for 1.5 million Native Americans and Alaskans in 35 states. The agency is composed of 12 regional offices and a system of 49 hospitals, 221 health centers, 120 health stations, 160 Alaska village clinics and 34 urban projects.