Healthcare’s Trusted Partner For Data Security: CynergisTek

Founded in 2004, CynergisTek serves the healthcare industry and is focused mainly on security. It is proud of its commitment to its clients and is recognized as a trusted partner for healthcare cybersecurity and information assurance. The company’s executive team provides nearly 100 educational sessions on cybersecurity, privacy, compliance, and document output-related topics every year. CynergisTek continues to receive industry recognition for its educational and subject matter expertise. The company is located in Austin, Texas and Mission Viejo, California.

Humble Yet Successful Beginning

CynergisTek’s first client engagement was a simple $5,000 high-level program review. It focused on the initial review of the things that would make the highest impact for the customer and that were most meaningful to their business. By doing so, it earned their trust and demonstrated that the company was focused on what was important for them, not just trying to sell the next service or solution. It went on to assist them in building their initial cybersecurity program and helping them with several remediation projects. From those initial projects performed in 2001, it has developed a managed service relationship that is still in place today 17 years later and has grown to a strong seven-figure client.

Changing Challenges into Chances

Building a business based on relationships and industry expertise takes patience, commitment and focus. But CynergisTek never lost hope. Success in the competitive market does not come from chasing the next shiny bauble, or blindly following the market trends, or bailing out when the market slows down. Commitment to quality and expertise, investing in more expensive resources, not compromising on the process, and staying focused on figuring out clients’ needs are highly required.

One thing that helped the company  stay ahead of challenges is the client’s honest feedback. The clients have always shared constructive feedback and provided critical thinking when asked for their help. It is made a point to ask for their guidance when developing solutions or services for them. This creates mutual trust.

The Company’s Expansion Over the Years

Over time, the company realized that it couldn’t really separate privacy or compliance from security. Trying to do them separately produces less than optimum results in all areas. So, it added privacy and compliance to its services. Next step was to enter into managed services and today the company has expanded its offerings to include incident response, biomedical device security, IoT endpoint security, and professional services. By the end of 2017, CynergisTek increased the number of services it offers in all areas by about 45%. The expansion of services is tied very closely to its long-standing relationships with its clients and the feedback it receives from them regarding their needs.

Company’s Success Mantras

Be a leader, not a follower: CynergisTek is an ultimate leader when it comes to its values and services. Its core values are simple, and it understands that customers come to them for trust, expertise, and experience.

Act individually and collectively as a member of the market: CynergisTek’s commitment is to build long-term relationships and give back as much as it gets from the clients and the industry. Since day one, the company has been dedicated to education and information sharing. It hosts more than 40 free workshops throughout the year around the country for its clients and others. It participates in more than 100 different events at both the regional and national level and contributes to every major association groups in healthcare such as CHIME, HIMSS, AHIMA, HCCA, AHLA and others.

Contrary to the misconception, success and ethics go hand in hand: “If you do not have solid ethics as a company you are bound to have challenges in business, especially in a market that values trust and relationships. Doing the right thing comes naturally when you support it and encourage your people to value ethics,” quotes Mac McMillan, Chief Executive Officer of CynergisTek, Inc.

Trust is earned, not granted: Trust is earned through actions, the timeliness of the work, the quality of the work, reliability and dependability and values. As per what the company propagates, it is important to first say what you are going to do, and then do what you said you were going to do.

Future Prospects

CynergisTek has embarked on a major program to expand the services it provides to its customers through the development of more managed services, more focused strategic partnerships, and the acquisition or development of technology that can meet the needs of its customers. The company’s strategic sourcing and staffing support are growing as the need for scarce cybersecurity resources increases. Whether it is the implementation of a solution, management of some or all aspects of its security program, the strategic resources to complete a project or staffing to fill critical roles, the company wants to be the name in the industry for cybersecurity that healthcare turns to when they need support.

Mac McMillan, Chief Executive Officer: He is recognized as a HIMSS Fellow and former Chair of the HIMSS Privacy & Security Policy Task Force. McMillan brings almost 40 years of combined intelligence, security countermeasures and consulting experience from positions within the government and private sector.

McMillan is a thought leader in compliance, security and privacy issues in health care, contributing to several industry trade publications and blogs. In 2016, he was recognized by Health Data Management as one of the Top 50 influencers in health IT. He is currently a member of several advisory boards, including HIT Exchange HealthTech Industry, HCPro Editorial Advisory Board, HealthInfoSecurity Editorial Advisory Board etc.

McMillan served as Director of Security for two separate Defense Agencies and worked for numerous interagency intelligence and security countermeasures committees while serving in the U.S. government. He holds a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College and a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Texas A&M University. He is a graduate of the Senior Officials in National Security program at the JF Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

“In an industry that has historically lacked diversity, we are proud of the steps we have taken and the progress we have made towards this commitment.”