CynergisTek – A Trusted Partner for Security and Information Management

Our way of life and how we behave and interact with the world around us is rapidly changing as we become more and more dependent on the technology with each passing day. This dependence makes us vulnerable if technology fails. Hence, in order to prevent dire consequences in our day-to-day life, it is important to ensure that the technology is always available, protected, and secure. Healthcare is considered one of the most sensitive industries that may not withstand an error in technology, given the fact that many ‘lives’ depend on it. CynergisTek was born to address the healthcare industry's primary need for protecting patients’ data from attacks and breaches.

CynergisTek was built with a clear and simple purpose – to serve the healthcare industry with a trusted provider of cybersecurity and privacy solutions. CynergisTek was founded in 2004 and is based in Austin, Texas. “We started very traditionally by providing security assessments and remediation services, and over time with input from our healthcare clients, we migrated to the more managed service-centric model that we have today,” says Mac McMillan, CEO of the company. Today, CynergisTek serves over 1,400 hospitals and business associates nationwide. CynergisTek went public in the year 2017.

Services

Before briefing up on the company’s products and services, Mr. McMillan begins by saying, “Our services are shaped by the experience we have in the industry, the expertise of our people, and a simple promise – to say what we do, do what we say, and to always be there when our clients need us.” Their core offerings, he said, include managed services, and also consulting and professional services accompany them. Compliance Assist Partner Program (CAPP) is a managed security service geared to help clients measure their security posture and build a stronger program. Penetration Testing, Risk Assessment, Web-App Testing are some of the technical services that go along with it and it includes advisory services, supporting the core services. By professional services, Mr. McMillan talks about providing clients with, say, a Virtual Chief Information Security Officer to support or manage the program, e.g. assigning Security Engineers to perform implementation tasks and policy development.

CynergisTek upgrades its solutions regularly to match trends and thus keeping them and their services relevant to their clients in this fast-moving technology world. In addition to it, the company also adds a new product or a service to its shelf about every six months, said Mr. McMillan. “We have understood that remaining relevant and in front of the needs of our clients is what makes us successful,” he said. CynergisTek is always in front of the upcoming trend. Their focus is not only on the current state of the industry but also on the trends that could have an impact on client businesses. CynergisTek prepares its solutions beforehand to adapt to the approaching change, to ensure that their clients are never out of the game. This foreseeing trait “has allowed us to bring the right services and solutions to our clients when they need them the most,” the CEO said.

CynergisTek’s way of tackling a problem and finding a solution to it is something that makes them stand apart from its competitors. McMillan says that solutions developed by most organizations revolve around the problem, and it may or may not address the real challenge faced by the customer. This is because, the solution, McMillan says, lacks one major ingredient – the customer’s opinion. For this reason, CynergisTek engages its clients early on in the process to help them define the problem. This is critical, as it helps to understand the problem from their perspective, and thus aids in building the right and effective solution. “We have found throughout the years that this is a much more successful way to build services because it’s easier for our clients to recognize the thought that went into them,” opines the CEO. Further more, “We constantly probe customers for their ideas about our services and solutions, identify what challenges they are having, and uncover problems that don’t seem to have a solution yet.” To conclude, CynergisTek’s main focus lies on its customers and the industry, and not on the competition and their offerings.

CynergisTek’s People

At CynergisTek, there is a diverse mix of skills, experiences, and expertise. Many senior engineers and consultants in the company are experts from the healthcare industry who have also served in the military, retail, finance, and several other sectors. Having served in leadership roles in both private and public sectors, their thought leaders have a rich history in healthcare compliance, privacy, and security. These are the same reasons why people truly believe in CynergisTek–their industry knowledge, and their vast and varied experience in the field.

CynergisTek has managed to retain its clients that have worked with them since its inception.

Mr. McMillan attributes this success to three things – “First, we provide the solutions and services they need and can count on. Second, we are there when they need us – always. We’ve built that trust in our relationship. And third, we are consistent in our relationship. We don’t treat emergent situations differently… we respect the business they give us and the relationship.”

Cybersecurity Expert Mac McMillan

Mac McMillan is Chief Executive Officer of CynergisTek, Inc., top-ranked cybersecurity and privacy consulting firm serving the heatlhcare industry. He is also a member of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Mr. McMillan served as Director of Security for two separate Defense Agencies and sat on numerous interagency intelligence and security countermeasures committees while serving in the U.S. government. Mr. McMillan started experimenting in the healthcare industry post his retirement from the federal government in 2000. He is a thought leader in compliance, security, and privacy issues in healthcare, contributing regularly 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 and was recognized in Becker’s Hospital Review’s lists of influential healthcare IT leaders by both its writers and readers in 2015.

Mr. McMillan was a contributing author to two separate books on cybersecurity in healthcare for HIMSS and CompTIA. He has chaired both the HIMSS Privacy & Security Steering Committee and its Privacy & Security Policy Committee.

"We are passionate; honest and dependable, and always improving; we are CynergisTek."