Managing Third-Party Risk in Healthcare: Best Practices for 2025

Posted in

Summary

As healthcare leaders, AI-based automation and cloud security have emerged as top strategic priorities—but technology alone isn’t enough. Despite increased visibility into risks, many organizations struggle to turn insights into action. Explore how health systems can move from passive risk awareness to proactive resilience through strategic partnerships and third-party cybersecurity providers. Prepare for the full risk universe, protecting your systems, data, and patient trust.

Downloads

DownloadBook a Consultation

Cybersecurity threats in healthcare are evolving faster than organizations can keep up, especially since many operate a dozen or more outdated systems and manual processes. In 2025, however, reactive risk management is no longer an option. Healthcare leaders must take a proactive, systemwide approach to risk.

I recently led a webinar on this very topic. During Managing Your Risk Universe: Cybersecurity Strategies for a Secure and Scalable Future, I spoke to healthcare leaders and practitioners about the surge in cyber threats, regulatory complexity, and third-party risks.  

This conversation comes at a time when healthcare environments are increasingly fragmented and unwieldy. It’s no wonder healthcare cybersecurity and IT teams are overwhelmed.  

Why Traditional Healthcare Cybersecurity Strategies No Longer Work in Healthcare

I presented the latest cybersecurity data and it’s clear: Healthcare is under siege from all sides. The data shows that:

• 23 percent of all cyberattacks target healthcare.

• 35 percent of those stem from third-party vendors.

• 40 percent of vendor contracts are finalized without a security risk assessment.

Moreover, the Change Healthcare ransomware attack highlighted how a single breach can ripple across the entire system. If it can happen to a national data processor like Change Healthcare, every health system is at risk.

Reframing Risk Management: From Firefighting to Foresight

In our work with healthcare systems, we found that the traditional approach of manually tracking risk via spreadsheets and email is slow, error-prone, and out of sync with real-time threats. Modern risk management requires tools that unify data, streamline workflows, and empower informed decision-making.

BluePrint Protect™ enables healthcare organizations to shift from reactive triage to proactive oversight.

The platform consolidates internal and vendor risk data, automates compliance alerts, and makes it easier for teams to focus on strategy, not spreadsheets.

“Cybersecurity strategies for healthcare encompass proactive approaches to risk assessment, third-party oversight, and regulatory compliance using tools like AI and automation.”

BluePrint Protect: A Scalable Cybersecurity Strategy for Healthcare

BluePrint Protect operationalizes the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST)-aligned frameworks while making risk data actionable across security and executive teams. Its core enablers include:

• A centralized, real-time dashboard for enterprise-wide risk

• Combined visibility into internal, third-party, and accepted risks

• Automated risk scoring, compliance tracking, and alerts

• Structured reports ready for auditors and insurers

• AI-powered assessment workflows that reduce completion time to under 10 days

Streamlining Third-Party Change Assessments

If you’re wondering what BluePrint Protect looks like in action, consider a common challenge: a third-party vendor introduces new capabilities or system changes. Traditionally, this would trigger a 30- to 60-day reassessment, requiring vendors to compile documentation and internal teams to review lengthy, technical materials.

Instead, risk teams can streamline evaluations by applying the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) and leveraging AI Protect Assistant, BluePrint Protect’s newest capability. The solution reviews vendor responses, highlights the most relevant content, and flags concerns for further review, reducing evaluation cycles from months to days.

This automation also enhances audit readiness. The AI-driven documentation of control evidence ensures that responses align with regulatory and insurance standards, making them complete, consistent, and defensible.

Building a Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) Program That Works

Technology helps, but it’s not enough. Resilient third-party risk management depends on clear visibility, structured processes, and ongoing monitoring. BluePrint Protect supports these fundamentals with centralized data, prioritized scoring, and tools that drive action.  

A strong TPRM program must go beyond compliance to create adaptable security, operations, and governance frameworks.

Key components of an effective TPRM program include:

• Centralized vendor inventory

• Tiered risk classification

• Continuous risk monitoring

• Security requirements built into contracts

• Automated, standardized assessments

BluePrint Protect supports these practices with:

• Impact-based risk scoring to prioritize mitigation

• A holistic view of internal and third-party risks

• Dashboards tracking open, accepted, and remediated risks

• Exception management tools to ensure follow-through

Your 2025 Roadmap to Third-Party Healthcare Cybersecurity Strategy Success

Want to modernize your TPRM approach? Start here:  

1. Secure Executive Buy-In: Use simple, visual dashboards to communicate urgency and impact.

2. Document Your Current State: Take inventory of policies, tools, and third-party relationships.

3. Review Your Tech Stack: Identify systems that store or process Personal Health Information (PHI).

4. Log Existing Risks: Prepare them for integration into centralized platforms like BluePrint Protect.

5. Centralize Questionnaires: Standardize and consolidate assessment templates to reduce burden and duplication.

Take the Next Step Toward Proactive Third-Party Risk Management

AI-based automation and cloud security can accelerate cybersecurity, but they are only part of the solution. True transformation comes from moving beyond visibility to action.  

By combining Intraprise Health’s healthcare cybersecurity tools with Health Catalyst’s enterprise-level data and analytics services and healthcare expertise, healthcare leaders can reduce third-party risk at scale. That’s how we navigate the risk universe—together.  

Ready to build a stronger cybersecurity strategy? Schedule a consultation.