Understanding HIPAA expectations
If you handle protected health information (PHI) as a vendor to healthcare organizations, HIPAA shapes how customers expect you to manage privacy and security. While there is no single HIPAA certification, your controls, contracts, and documentation all contribute to demonstrating alignment.
Where HIPAA applies
- Providing services to covered entities such as providers, plans, or clearinghouses.
- Acting as a business associate that creates, receives, maintains, or transmits PHI.
- Building platforms that store or process PHI on behalf of customers.
Determining whether you are handling PHI and in what capacity is often the first step in understanding your obligations.
What customers expect under HIPAA
- Business associate agreements that clearly define responsibilities.
- Access controls, audit logging, and secure transmission of PHI.
- Procedures for incident response and breach notification.
- Training and awareness for staff who may encounter PHI.
Cyberneza can help you translate these expectations into concrete controls and processes in your environment.
Using Vanta in HIPAA-influenced environments
While HIPAA itself is not a checklist, many of the technical safeguards it implies map to controls that platforms like Vanta can monitor, such as endpoint protection, access management, and logging coverage.
- Highlight PHI-relevant systems in your asset inventory.
- Use monitoring to confirm baseline controls stay in place.
- Track recurring reviews and training activities.
How Cyberneza can help
- Clarify where HIPAA is or is not in scope for your product.
- Align your controls and documentation with customer expectations.
- Support you during security and compliance reviews with healthcare customers.
Discussing HIPAA with customers
If customers are asking about HIPAA and PHI, we can help you prepare responses that accurately describe your controls and identify any gaps you may want to address before you scale further.