HITRUST is a private assurance program built around its CSF control framework, with three assessment types: e1, i1 and r2. For a product manager the decisions are which product to scope, which level a buyer will accept, and whether the sales it unlocks justify the effort.
What is HITRUST?
HITRUST says its CSF is a unified control library that harmonizes more than 70 standards and regulations, including ISO/IEC, NIST, HIPAA, PCI and GDPR requirements, and that all HITRUST assessments (e1, i1 and r2) are built on it. The framework is updated by what HITRUST calls a cyber threat adaptive engine. These are the organization's own statements, taken from its framework page.
A key point: HITRUST is not a government program. Buyers ask for it, usually in healthcare and related industries, because it gives a standard answer to many security questions.
Why would a product need it?
The usual trigger is a customer. A hospital system or payer security team asks for a HITRUST report in procurement. If you hear that from two or three serious prospects, it is a signal. If you hear it once, ask what the buyer would accept instead, such as a questionnaire plus another report.
Which decisions are yours?
Scope. HITRUST assessments cover a defined environment: systems, facilities and the people who run them. Choose the product line that carries sensitive data and keep scope tight.
Level. The three assessment types differ in depth and effort. HITRUST describes e1, i1 and r2 on its site; check the current definitions and what a given customer will accept before choosing. Choosing the lightest level may disappoint a buyer who insists on the deepest, and the deepest costs more to run.
Timing. An assessment takes engineering, security and operations time. Avoid starting during a launch.
Ownership. Name a single owner. A product manager often ends up as the coordinator, so agree early who gathers evidence.
Product changes. Certification asks for controls such as access management, logging, encryption and change control. Some will show up as backlog items. Plan them rather than discover them midway.
A constructed example
A scheduling tool wants to sell to clinics. Two prospects ask about HITRUST. The PM checks what each will take and learns one accepts a recent independent security report plus a completed questionnaire, while the other requires HITRUST. The PM scopes only the clinic product environment, books the assessment after the quarter's release, and lists three product tickets: audit logging for admin actions, session timeout settings and tenant isolation tests.
How to decide
- Collect the exact wording from prospects asking for it.
- Ask what alternatives they accept.
- Estimate revenue tied to those deals.
- Pick scope and level, and confirm with the buyer.
- Get a quote from an assessor and a timeline.
- Add the product tickets to the roadmap.
- Name the evidence owner.
Safeguard's compliance automation can help track control evidence for frameworks you work toward. It does not certify you; assessment and certification come from HITRUST and its assessors.
What do teams get wrong?
The frequent error is scoping too wide, which multiplies evidence work. Another is picking a level from a price sheet instead of the buyer's requirement. A third is treating it as a security team project; many controls live in product behavior, such as session handling, audit logs and tenant isolation, so product needs a seat at the table. Teams also forget the maintenance: reports expire and the next assessment arrives, so evidence collection should become routine rather than a yearly scramble. Finally, avoid announcing certification before you hold the report, because customers will ask to see it.
Quick check
Is HITRUST required by HIPAA?
No. HIPAA does not require it. Customers or contracts may.
Do all HITRUST assessments use the same framework?
According to HITRUST, yes. e1, i1 and r2 are all built on the CSF.
Sources
Last reviewed: 18 October 2026.
