Skip to main content
All CollectionsCensinet for Healthcare Vendors
Getting started with Censinet (for vendors, affiliates, and partners)
Getting started with Censinet (for vendors, affiliates, and partners)

This article is for organizations invited to use Censinet RiskOps™ to complete a risk assessment questionnaire. Learn how to get started.

Updated today

What is Censinet RiskOps?

Censinet RiskOps makes the risk assessment process faster and easier for healthcare delivery organizations (HDOs) and the vendors, affiliates, and partners they need to assess. For the organization being assessed, Censinet RiskOps:

  • Reduces the overwhelming volume of risk assessments that ask the same questions, yet require vendors to “start from scratch” every time. With Censinet’s 1-Click Assessment feature, you can answer a questionnaire once and then reuse it as often as needed with other assessing organizations.

  • Eliminates the highly-manual, labor-intensive processes that require managing disparate spreadsheets, myriad documents, and endless email chains with customers. With Censinet, you can manage questionnaire responses and related documents all in one place.

  • Cuts down the substantial time spent managing and negotiating corrective actions, updating customers on changes in risk, and explaining complex products. Censinet facilitates and tracks these activities with real-time visibility to both vendors and HDOs.

🚀 Censinet RiskOps can help answer questionnaires up to 80% faster

Using the Questionnaire Copilot feature in Censinet RiskOps, you can upload previously completed security questionnaires and other relevant source documents to automatically generate responses to a Censinet questionnaire. After reviewing the Copilot responses and editing as needed, you’ll have a completed questionnaire ready to submit to the assessing organization.

Note that Questionnaire Copilot is currently available to healthcare vendors using Censinet RiskOps to answer a questionnaire about their company or product.

Let’s get started

When a customer or prospect invites you to complete a risk assessment questionnaire through Censinet RiskOps, you will receive an email from [email protected], similar to the sample below.

CHECK POINT: If you are not the right person at your organization to answer a risk assessment questionnaire about your company or the product/service listed in the invitation, please follow the instructions in the invitation email to provide the assessor with the correct contact’s name and email address. Getting the invitation email into the correct hands—or Inbox—as quickly as possible will avoid delays in the assessment process and shorten your sales cycle.

After you receive the invitation email, complete these tasks to answer the questionnaire in Censinet:

Task 1: Create your Censinet account

The steps below will vary depending on different conditions, such as whether your organization is new to Censinet RiskOps and how it is configured. Differences are noted here, but the user interface will also guide you throughout the entire process of creating your account.

1

In the invitation email, click the link to open the Create Account page and then fill out the form.

  • If the page has a Send me an email verification button, it means you are the first user at your organization to set up a Censinet account. Continue with 2.

  • If the page has a Log in to Censinet button at the bottom of the form, you are not the first user at your organization. Continue with 3.

2

Click the Send me an email verification button. Censinet will send you a Welcome to Censinet email from [email protected].

In the Welcome email, click the Verify your email and log in link to activate your Censinet account. This step is a required part of the account setup process; it verifies that you are who you say you are.

The Censinet Create Account page will refresh and display a button to log in. Click LOG IN TO CENSINET and continue with Task 2: Enter basic company information.

3

Click the Log in to Censinet button on the Create Account page. Depending on how your organization is configured, your access will either be automatically approved based on your email address, or you will need to request access from one of your administrators.

  • If you are taken to the Censinet Dashboard, your access was automatically approved. Continue with Task 3 to add users to collaborate with you on the questionnaire, or jump to Task 4 to start answering the questionnaire.

  • If a Request Access page like the following displays, continue with the next step.

4

The Request Access page will list up to three administrators who can approve your access to Censinet RiskOps. Click SEND EMAIL to send an access request to the administrators.

NOTE: Depending on your configuration, Censinet will either send the email directly or prompt you to send it from your email client. You will be copied on the email.


After you send the email, keep an eye on your Inbox:

  • When your access is approved, Censinet will send you a Welcome to Censinet RiskOps email from [email protected]. In the Welcome email, click the Log in to Censinet RiskOps link to open the login page.


    Enter your password and click LOG IN to open your Censinet Dashboard. Continue with Task 3: Add users to collaborate with you on the questionnaire.

  • If your access is denied, Censinet will send you an email with the name and email address of the administrator who denied your request. Contact them directly for further information. You will also see an update about the status of your request on the Request Access page.

To return to the Censinet login page at any time, go to https://connect.censinet.com. Note that Censinet uses Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for increased security. With subsequent logins, you will be prompted to enter a verification code after you enter your password. Censinet will email this code to you.

Task 2: Enter basic company information

Next, Censinet prompts you for some basic details about your organization unless that information was already provided by another Censinet user in your organization that logged in before you. If you are not prompted to enter your company information, jump to Task 3: Add users to collaborate with you on the questionnaire.

ℹ️ HDOs who use Censinet will see these details about your organization listed in the Censinet Vendor Catalog, which lets them know that you have already used Censinet. You are in complete control of who sees your risk data, however; an HDO will only see questionnaire responses and supporting evidence that you explicitly submit to them.

1

On the Company Profile page, enter your company information in the form.

2

Click APPLY CHANGES to display the Censinet Dashboard.

If you are ready to start the questionnaire, jump to Task 4: Complete the questionnaire and submit your responses.

If you want to first invite coworkers to help with responses, continue with Task 3: Add users to collaborate on the questionnaire.

To return to the Censinet Dashboard at any time, log in at https://connect.censinet.com.

Task 3: Add users to collaborate with you on the questionnaire

If there are additional team members that will participate in your company’s assessments, you can add them as users to Censinet. You can do this at any time, so if you wish to review the questionnaire first, move on to Task 4.

To add new users, you must be a Censinet Admin (that is, a user who has been assigned the Admin role). You know you are an Admin if you have a Settings menu in the top navigation bar:


If you are not an Administrator but wish to add a new user, click +ADD MORE USERS on the Censinet Dashboard to display a dialog that lists the name of a Censinet Administrator in your organization that you can contact for assistance with adding users.


If you are an Admin, follow the steps below to add a user:

1

On the Censinet Dashboard, click +ADD MORE USERS to display the Manage Users page. You can also display this page by clicking Manage Users on the Settings menu.

2

On the Manage Users page, complete the Create New User form.

In the Select Role field, select one of these roles:

  • Non-admin: Users with this role can view and edit any questionnaire available from the Products menu and can respond to all in-progress questionnaires and Corrective Action Plans.

  • Admin: Users with this role have all the capabilities of a Non-admin user, plus the ability to add/edit user accounts and grant/deny user access.

3

Click CREATE to add the new user.

Censinet will send the new user a Welcome to Censinet RiskOps email (similar to the one that you received) that provides a link to the Create Account page where they can set a password and log in to Censinet. When the user logs in, they will be taken directly to their Censinet Dashboard and will not be prompted to enter company information since that was entered by the first user who logged in.

Task 4: Complete the questionnaire and submit your responses

Follow these steps to complete the questionnaire and submit responses to your customer:

1

On the Censinet Dashboard, click the action button for the questionnaire in the Actions Required section. If there are multiple actions listed, look at the name of the Customer and Project to identify which questionnaire to work on.

The action button will be one of the following, depending on whether any questions have already been answered:

  • BEGIN QUESTIONNAIRE: This is a new questionnaire for your organization and none of the questions have been answered as part of a previously completed assessment.

  • CONTINUE QUESTIONNAIRE: The questionnaire is partially complete. If you see this button and you know that no other users at your organization have started working on the questionnaire, it is because the questionnaire includes security questions about your company that were answered during a previously completed assessment. Once your organization answers one product/service questionnaire, any new product/service questionnaire will be listed as partially complete because it includes the previously answered company questions.

  • REVIEW & SUBMIT RESPONSES: This button displays when all required questions in the questionnaire were answered either during this assessment or a previous assessment. The ability to reuse answers from a previous assessment is the benefit of the Censinet “1-Click Assessment” feature; once your organization completes a questionnaire for one customer, you can submit those responses to other customers as often as you need. If this button displays, skip to step 4 to review your responses and submit when you are ready.

2

If the assessment is for a product or service (versus an assessment of your company), you will be prompted to enter basic information about the product or service. Complete the form, keeping these tips in mind:

TIPS:

  • Be sure to select all Product Types that apply. For example, if you have a cloud product with a mobile app, select both Mobile Application and Software - Cloud. Questionnaires are curated specifically to the types of products or services selected. For more guidance, see Product Type descriptions.

  • HDOs who use Censinet will see these product details in the Censinet Product Catalog, but they will not see any of your questionnaire responses and supporting evidence unless you explicitly submit it to them.

  • The user you select in the Primary Contact field can be changed at a later time from the Products menu.

3

Go through the questionnaire to answer and assign questions. You can only assign questions to coworkers that have already been added as users to Censinet. To add additional users, see Task 3: Add users to collaborate on the questionnaire.


As you progress through the questionnaire, keep an eye on the yellow information bar to monitor progress. Click SHOW REQUIRED ACTIONS to jump to the questions that still require responses.

4

Once all questions are answered, the following dialog prompts you to submit your responses to the customer or customers who requested them:

If you and your team wish to continue reviewing responses, click REVIEW RESPONSES and make any necessary edits. When you are done editing responses, redisplay the submit dialog above by clicking SUBMIT RESPONSES at the top of the questionnaire.

When you are ready to submit responses, select the checkbox for each customer to whom you want to submit and then click SUBMIT RESPONSES.

🎉 Congratulations! You’ve submitted your first questionnaire with Censinet!

Censinet will display a Questionnaire Submission Confirmation page to provide an instant receipt with all the key details about your submission.


The Submission Confirmation page only displays upon submission, but you can access details about all your organization’s assessments at any time by clicking Assessments in the top menu bar.

Product Type descriptions

Product Type

Select this type if...

Consulting

Your offering includes advisory services related to IT security, healthcare compliance, or operational improvements in hospital settings. This selection will help you evaluate and demonstrate the security aspects of the guidance and strategic plans you provide.

Hardware

Your product is a physical device like servers, network equipment, or any hardware used in hospital IT environments. This selection will allow you to assess and showcase the security measures and robustness of your hardware against potential cyber threats.

Medical Device - MDS2- 2013

Your medical device is evaluated under the 2013 Manufacturer Disclosure Statement for Medical Device Security standards. This selection is ideal for demonstrating the security compliance of older medical devices with earlier cybersecurity norms.

Medical Device - MDS2- 2019

Your medical device adheres to the updated 2019 MDS2 standards. This selection will help you highlight your device's alignment with the latest cybersecurity requirements and standards in the healthcare industry.

Mobile Application

You provide mobile applications for healthcare use. This selection will focus on the security features of your app (including data protection and user authentication), ensuring it’s safe for use on mobile devices in a hospital environment.

Software - Cloud

Your offering is a cloud-based application or service. This selection will help you assess and validate the security and compliance aspects of your cloud solutions, including data storage, processing, and protection against breaches.

Software - On Premises

Your software is designed to be installed and operated directly on a hospital's internal servers and computers. This selection will help you demonstrate how your on-premises software manages data security and integrity, and how it’s safeguarded against internal security threats.

What’s next?

Keep an eye on your Inbox

As your customer reviews your questionnaire responses, Censinet will send you an email notification if anything requires your attention. In the following example, the risk assessor has a comment about one of the responses. The email links the vendor directly to the comment in Censinet.


Monitor your Dashboard

The Censinet Dashboard serves as command central for your risk assessment tasks.

Use the Tasks panel to see if there are any open questions assigned to you, and to check the status of questions you have assigned to your teammates.


Once your customer has reviewed your questionnaire responses and submitted a corrective action plan, you will see that in the Actions Required section of the Dashboard. Click RESPOND TO ACTION PLAN to view the plan and respond to the findings.

We’re here to help

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact the Censinet Customer Success team at [email protected].

You can also message us directly in the Messenger window. Click the button in the bottom right of the Censinet RiskOps window to open the Messenger app. From there, you can also click Help to access this article and other content to help you use Censinet.

Did this answer your question?