How Superbio achieved and sustained HIPAA compliance with Sprinto
Superbio.ai is a Palo Alto-based startup democratizing AI in life sciences. It offers a comprehensive and accessible enterprise-grade app ecosystem featuring cutting-edge AI models and tools specifically designed for medical institutions and research centers. Their AI-enabled platform empowers medical researchers, scientists, and clinicians everywhere to accelerate scientific breakthroughs and improve care outcomes.
– Berke Buyukkucak
Co-founder and CEO, Superbio
– Berke Buyukkucak
Co-founder and CEO, Superbio
Introduction
Superbio.ai, a Palo Alto-based startup, is democratizing AI in life sciences through an enterprise-grade app ecosystem of AI models and tools built for medical institutions and research centers, giving medical researchers, scientists, and clinicians a platform to accelerate scientific breakthroughs and improve care outcomes.
Operating in the USA under HIPAA, Superbio.ai needed a comprehensive platform to organize a robust HIPAA compliance program, along with expert advisory and support throughout the implementation journey. The outcome it was after was continuous compliance, sustained through ongoing monitoring of HIPAA controls. “The stakes are high because HIPAA violations have serious consequences,” shares Berke Buyukkucak, Co-founder and CEO of Superbio.
The Problem
Because their AI platform processes a vast volume of protected health information (PHI), including personal health records (PHR), Superbio.ai needed to ensure secure data handling in compliance with HIPAA security and privacy rules. “Handling sensitive data carries the risk of unintended harm. Personally and professionally, compliance is crucial to safeguarding both our reputation and our customers’ interests,” says Berke.
With limited in-house knowledge of HIPAA, Superbio.ai sought an expert partner to navigate its complexities and initially turned to Drata, a security compliance software, where support, the factor it valued most in a compliance partner, fell short of what the team needed. “We had to halt our journey midway. Drata’s limited support made it difficult to navigate the platform and various compliance tasks,” Berke shares.
Bringing in a security consultant proved costly, with quotes as high as $250,000, impractical for a company of their scale. “We had to turn to a software solution,” says Berke.
In Sprinto, Berke found a dependable compliance partner. “Expert guidance and support were crucial. We also needed startup-friendly pricing to approach the process reasonably, both of which Sprinto provided perfectly,” he says.
“Sprinto looked and worked like Drata but with the assurance of support. From sales to kickoff to checklist completion and platform interaction, Sprinto’s professionalism and efficiency stood out. While other platforms like Drata and Vanta may be larger, I didn’t notice any difference in capability or user experience,” adds Berke.
The Solution
Superbio.ai restarted its compliance journey with a Sprinto expert-led security audit, risk assessment, and gap analysis to identify HIPAA deficiencies and the key tasks that would close them. With that picture in hand, Superbio.ai right-sized its efforts before acting on them, structuring the HIPAA program implementation as a tiered organization of key tasks backed by automated control testing and continuous control validation.
With the potential time drains clearly identified, Superbio.ai worked with their Sprinto CSM to sequence compliance tasks for timely completion. “Right at the start, we identified time-consuming tasks like staff training and policy writing because we wanted to do this at our own pace. Sprinto helped us structure this as needed,” says Berke.
That pacing gave the team room to work through the technical items itself. “Tasks like data encryption in transit are complex,” shared Berke. “Without a CTO, we had to figure these out ourselves, but we were committed to doing it right.”
In compliance with HIPAA’s security rule, Superbio.ai implemented the essential technical and tactical safeguards for PHI, aided by Sprinto’s automated control checks and workflows.
“Privacy frameworks require high human involvement, like working with lawyers on policies, but tracking and monitoring these activities on Sprinto provided the most value. Sprinto kept us on track, showing how our efforts were impacting compliance. With that kind of clarity, we reached 60% readiness in the first week,” Berke explains. “The platform’s value lies in its automation, especially in monitoring and tracking controls,” he adds.
Impact
Superbio.ai achieved 90% HIPAA compliance in under three months. “We are moving at a comfortable pace, but we’re happy to see we’re above the 90% compliance mark on Sprinto. This reassures us that we’re on the right track,” remarks Berke.
Superbio.ai now engages with customers as a compliant business associate (BA), using its Sprinto-powered Trust Center to demonstrate its compliance posture as and when needed. “We are eager to show our trust center to customers so they can see our security and compliance efforts,” he adds.
Looking back on the three-month journey, Berke says, “We could have done this with the right partners all along. I wish we had started sooner. Compliance provides a great framework for growing and scaling your organization.” He adds, “Sprinto is designed to give you dopamine spikes when you see the green [control] checks. The platform keeps you motivated to do the right things.”
Got questions? Talk to our experts!
AI for life sciences
USA
