What is Drummond Certification? Everything You Need to Know About It

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The landscape of healthcare IT is so competitive that if you don’t stay updated, someone else will outrank you in no time. So, with no doubts, staying ahead in the competition is not only an option but the need of the hour.

Healthcare processes have become highly digitized, and ensuring the reliability, interoperability, and security of healthcare IT solutions is today’s most important point of consideration.

This is where the role of Drummond Certification steps in! Drummond Certification is like a beacon of trust and assurance in the healthcare industry.

In this blog post, we have brought Drummond Certification under the limelight and discussed everything you need to know about it.

Like, what is Drummond Certification? What is the importance of Drummond Certification for your healthcare business? And what are the differences between AS2 and AS4 protocols?

Moreover, we will also assist you in deciding which is better, AS2 or AS4, and how we can help you obtain Drummond Certification for your healthcare IT products and solutions.

So, without any further ado, let’s start reading!

What is Drummond Certification in Healthcare?

Drummond Certification in healthcare is standard interoperability certification that gives AS2 or AS4 applicability statements to a healthcare software product. This certification gives an approval that this product does what it claims to do.

Drummond Certification is named after Drummond Group, which is a third-party certification body. When a particular software product or solution gets this certification, it means it has met stringent testing criteria of data exchange, security, and interoperability.

But why does this certification matter, and how can it benefit your healthcare business?

Secure Your Healthcare Future: 5 Unmissable Benefits of Drummond Certification in Healthcare

Following are some must-to-acquire benefits of obtaining Drummond-certified distinctions:

Enhances Trust and Credibility

Drummond Certification is like a trust mark for your healthcare products and services. It not only assures healthcare service providers but also satisfies patients’ concerns regarding the security, credibility, and reliability of IT solutions.

Healthcare software products go through thousands of testing processes before getting Drummond-certified distinctions.

Improves Interoperability

Interoperability is key in today’s digital healthcare world. Drummond-certified healthcare IT solutions seamlessly integrate with other systems and facilitate the effective exchange of highly sensitive patient data.

They make sure that healthcare professionals will have access to the healthcare data they need when they need it.

Compliance with Industry Standards

You know that regulations of the U.S healthcare industry are highly rigid, and whoever doesn’t follow its industry standards face severe consequences. 

But once you obtain Drummond Certification, you get the approval of your healthcare IT products. So, this reduces chances of legal and financial penalties.

Mitigates Security Risks

Did you know what top security experts claim about healthcare data? You will be shocked to hear it. They claim that an individual’s medical record can easily be traded in the black market for more than 10 times the price of their credit cards.

This makes healthcare data an appealing and easy target for hackers. But Drummond-certified software and solutions go through stringent security testing. It helps you strengthen your defense measures against potential breaches.

Cost Savings

Drummond certification can help you figure out and sort out the potential issues in early development processes of your business projects. It not only reduces the costs, but also fixes the post launch problems.

Now you know why Drummond Certification is important for your healthcare business. Let’s explore some technical aspects of it.

What is AS2?

AS2, or Applicability Statement 2, is a widely used protocol in the healthcare industry as it ensures safe and secure data exchange. It is used to share sensitive healthcare data securely over the internet. The healthcare data can be any patient records, billing information, or any other sort of data.

AS2 is an upgrade from the previously used 1990-era protocol. It supports the secure encryption of messages to be shared with trading partners and other stakeholders via HTTPS.

What is AS4?

AS4 (or Applicability Statement 4) is the latest security protocol. It is designed to easily and safely use web services to share sensitive healthcare files. AS4 has enhanced features if we compare it with AS2.

AS4 is now a more popular and preferred choice by healthcare organizations as it provides them with more support documents of every type and size.

AS2 vs AS4: Key Differences You Must Know

Look at the differences between AS2 and AS4; this will help you properly understand AS2 and AS4 protocols.

• AS2 offers point-to-point data exchange, but AS4 supports both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint data exchange.

• Message handling in AS2 is both synchronous and asynchronous, but AS4 is fully synchronous.

• AS2 security follows digital signatures and encryption. On the other hand, AS4 follows digital signatures, encryption, and non-repudiation.

• AS2 usually relies on the HTTP/S protocol, but AS4 has built-in reliability through acknowledgments.

• Payload compression is optional in both AS2 and AS4.

• There is no built-in message routing, but AS4 has built-in routing capabilities.

• In AS2, receipt handling is done by Simple MDN (Message Disposition Notification). On the other hand, AS4 offers receipts with non-repudiation.

• AS2 is widely used in various industries, but AS4 is the preferred choice for industries (e.g., healthcare, FinTech, etc.) with stringent policies.

Now, the million-dollar question is: which is better between the two?

AS2 or AS4: Which is Better?

The choice between AS2 and AS4 depends on your specific healthcare IT needs and requirements. Carefully assess the needs and nature of your healthcare business before choosing any of the two. 

AS2 is a widely recognized and reliable protocol that suits many healthcare data exchange scenarios. But when it comes to increased security and reliability, AS4 has advanced capabilities. 

So, if your healthcare IT software and products require the highest levels of security and non-repudiation, AS4 will be the right choice.

How PureLogics Can Help You

We understand the demands of the U.S. healthcare industry. It’s been 17+ years, we at PureLogics have been providing healthcare-related custom software development services. So, we know the importance and intricate details of Drummond certification.

We are confident because we have the brightest minds on our team who are adept at testing and developing Drummond-certified healthcare IT solutions. The software we develop follows AS2 and AS4 protocols.

From initial assessment and testing to successful full-scale implementation, PureLogics will help you in every phase of the process.

Talk to our experts, discuss your healthcare IT needs, and see how they can take your business to the heights of the Himalayas.

PureLogics: We believe in magic, not logic.