HIPAA compliant file sharing is searched for by a small firm the day a client sends it a medical record, and the answer is a short list of things the software must do rather than a legal opinion. This page sets out what HIPAA file sharing requires of the vendor, why HIPAA secure file sharing means a portal that logs the open rather than an attachment, what a HIPAA compliant file sharing free plan usually leaves out, and what a secure file sharing HIPAA compliant vendor has to sign. Whether a given file is covered is the firm's adviser's question, and the terms on this site say so. The free document capture worksheet sizes the backlog; Batesio Pro keeps the portal and the log for $19 a month.
What the vendor must do, in the firm's terms
Sign a business associate agreement with the firm; encrypt files at rest and in transit; keep a log of every access against a named person; and let the firm withdraw a file after it is shared. The HHS Security Rule page cited below sets out the safeguards those map to. A vendor that will not sign the agreement is not an option for a covered file whatever its feature list says, and a firm that cannot produce the access log has no way to answer the question it will one day be asked.
Why HIPAA secure file sharing means a portal, not an attachment
An attachment leaves the firm's control when it is sent, and there is no record of who opened it or where it went next. A portal link tied to one email address, expiring, with the open and the download logged, keeps the file inside a record the firm controls. That is the difference between sharing a covered file and losing it, and it is also why the common misspelling, hippa compliant file sharing, lands on the same answer: the spelling changes, the log does not.
What free plans leave out, and what the record costs
A HIPAA compliant file sharing free plan usually withholds the business associate agreement, the access log or the retention control, which are the three things the firm actually needs. Dropbox publishes its Standard team plan at $15 per user per month as the storage rate. Batesio Pro is $19 a month for the whole firm: the client portal, the Bates number on every page, the access log and the retention record with an export, so that a covered file behaves like every other secure document in the firm.
Questions people ask about hipaa compliant file sharing
Is Batesio HIPAA compliant file sharing?
Batesio keeps the portal, the log and the retention record a covered file needs; whether a firm's use of any tool meets the rule is its adviser's judgement, and the terms say so.
Can I use a free plan for HIPAA file sharing?
Only if the vendor signs a business associate agreement on the free plan and keeps an access log; most do not.
Is an encrypted email HIPAA secure file sharing?
It protects the message in transit and nothing after arrival; the log and the withdrawal are what a portal adds.
What if I am not sure a file is covered?
Ask the firm's adviser, and share it through the portal in the meantime so the log exists either way.