If you’re running an online business or providing a service that handles healthcare information, you need a HIPAA Compliant Hosting.
HIPAA is an American law that regulates how some health information has to be protected online.
Because of this law, your website and web projects have to be compliant with HIPAA to store or transfer a good deal of healthcare information.
It’s KEY to making sure your business is legally protected, and has the trust of customers.
So how do you do this? It’s not as hard as you think:
A lot of hosting companies know how to navigate HIPAA and are compliant with it—and if you use them and their servers, YOUR site will be compliant with it.
In this list, I’ll go over the top 8 of these providers. All of them share certain features in common, but range in accessibility, products offered, and more.
Best HIPAA Compliant Hosting
- Atlantic.Net
- Liquid Web
- LuxSci
- PhoenixNAP
- Hostway
- HIPAA Vault
- MedEd Webs
- Prominic
Ready? Let’s get started with the best of the best:
A lot of the options on this list have been around for a while, but Atlantic.Net is the oldest—it’s been around since 1994. It’s got 7 data centers around the world, with two more on the way.
Atlantic is an overall strong cloud hosting provider. But it has a lot of extra focus on HIPAA compliant hosting solutions.
One of the reasons it’s top on this list, is that there’s a range: you can have HIPAA compliant cloud hosting, dedicated hosting, and even WordPress hosting. Plus, HIPAA compliant databases and storage options.
The various hosting packages come with loads of features that boost security in addition to fully meeting HIPAA standards. Plus, Atlantic.Net provides a 100% uptime guarantee.
Additionally, Atlantic.Net’s data centers have a ton of certifications—not just for HIPAA compliance, but other security and privacy standards.
You can choose to have managed or unmanaged hosting through Atlantic.Net, and prices are custom.
Liquid Web is one of the more famous hosts here, having built a good reputation in its 22 years of existence.
Unlike some other companies on this list, Liquid Web does not specialize solely in HIPAA compliant hosting.
Part of what makes Liquid Web special is that it offers only high-quality managed hosting, but for a range of business sizes.
So it brings that to its HIPAA compliant hosting as well. Meaning you can get VPS, dedicated cloud, and dedicated server hosting that is compliant.
Liquid Web is very meticulous in detailing how it meets HIPAA requirements, along with all the extra security precautions it has in general.
But best of all, it’s fully managed—which is Liquid Web’s big strength, of course. So such secured hosting that meets HIPAA requirements will not involve any headaches for customers.
3. HIPAA Compliant Hosting: LuxSci
Like many other options on this list, LuxSci has been around for over two decades. But one of the things that makes LuxSci stand out, and has earned it a higher spot on this list, is its client list:
This includes not just regional hospital networks, but YMCA, Southwest, and even the health insurance company Aetna.
So that alone ought to verify that LuxSci is successfully compliant. But what makes it even more attractive is that the company itself is dedicated to HIPAA compliant web services.
So it offers some unique features like secure marketing tools, secure email, and secure high-volume data transfer, among other things.
Pricing is partially custom, and has a wide range, but it can be on the lower side compared to other options here, while still offering everything you need.
So it’s a great option for smaller businesses that want a basically normal hosting experience, but need to be fully compliant with HIPAA.
4. HIPAA Compliant Hosting: PhoenixNAP
PhoenixNAP provides high-end hosting solutions, particularly cloud and dedicated servers. It’s also a somewhat younger company on this list, having been founded in 2009.
PhoenixNAP emphasizes its performance—100% availability is assured—and scalability.
PhoenixNAP doesn’t say a ton about how it’s HIPAA compliant, but that’s more of a marketing and site information issue.
The main point here is that the digital infrastructure is highly secure, so the hosting is not just HIPAA compliant, but of very high quality.
As a host, PhoenixNAP is solid. The only issue is that it could provide more information on its HIPAA compliance to reassure its customers.
5. HIPAA Compliant Hosting: Hostway
Hostway was founded 20 years ago, and since then it’s been a leader in cloud solutions, with 14 data centers around the world.
Hostway uses HITRUST, which is a certified security framework that helps businesses fulfill HIPAA requirements.
So Hostway can claim to be both HIPAA compliant and HITRUST compliant—while there’s some obvious overlap, it means you can be extra-sure that HIPAA requirements are being FULLY met, not just partially.
Some other highlights of Hostway: a 15-minute response plan to security incidents; quarterly HIPAA security training for all Hostway staff; and a choice of managed servers, private clouds, or hybrid solutions, all of which are scalable.
Hostway basically provides all the assurances you need that your online business and projects will be HIPAA compliant, while also providing high-quality hosting solutions.
6. HIPAA Compliant Hosting: HIPAA Vault
Unlike some of the other names here, HIPAA vault is a company solely dedicated to HIPAA compliant hosting.
Like others here, HIPAA Vault has been around for a while (1997), but it stands out again with its high profile customers—customers like Deloitte and Northrop Grumman.
One of the main benefits HIPAA Vault brings is an array of products focused on HIPAA compliance, rather than just one or two options.
So for example, there’s the main solution—HIPAA compliant hosting—but there’s also “HIPAA Drive,” or a secure cloud storage system that’s easy to use, and even a HIPAA compliant email hosting (for Microsoft Outlook and Gmail).
Even that main hosting solution can be split into Linux, Windows, WordPress, and FTP account hosting.
Plus, the hosting is managed and comes with a lot of features.
The only issue is that it can be expensive, and thus better for larger businesses that can afford to invest in it.
7. HIPAA Compliant Hosting: MedEd Webs
MedEd Web Solutions is another established host, having been around for more than 20 years.
MedEd’s HIPAA compliant hosting is that of a managed cloud environment.
The only real downsides are that MedEd Web Solutions’ website lacks a lot of information, including even basic information about the company.
So there’s not a ton of specification on the site as to how MedEd is unique. However, one great point is that you can request certain additional security measures in your hosting.
MedEd offers a BAA (Business Associate Agreement) to define its obligations clearly. And the basic outline of MedEd’s security looks solid. However, the other options higher on this list also have those same strengths.
There are no pre-set plans. You just have to talk to reps first to figure out what your price is.
8. HIPAA Compliant Hosting: Prominic
Prominic has been around since 1998, and provides hosting for businesses and companies.
Its data centers independently audited and hold security certifications (SOC-1 and SOC-2 SSAE-16), plus everything is fully backed up in case of disaster.
Additionally, those independent audits happen every year, which is obviously better than simply having a certification that’s several years old, and means you can count on continual compliance.
One cool point is that Prominic has staff dedicated to understanding HIPAA compliance, and keeping up with any updates to the regulations.
Like most of the other options here, Prominic offers a Business Associate Agreement.
Prominic doesn’t have preset plans you can simply purchase, at least not for HIPAA compliant hosting, so you have to talk to them yourself.
What is HIPAA compliance?
HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It’s a U.S. law passed in 1996 that attempted to modernize healthcare information.
Part of this modernization meant updating security standards. “HIPAA compliance” means meeting those standards for protecting health information.
HIPAA standards cover a wide range of organizations. Basically any organization that creates, collects, or transmits certain health information electronically falls under these regulations.
What is HIPAA-compliant hosting?
HIPAA-compliant hosting means the hosting company follows the guidelines defined by HIPAA for storing medical information on its servers.
Generally, these guidelines are intended to prevent data breaches, and to make sure any individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in who can see their information.
Getting into the specifics of these would require a lot of time, but they include things like physical security, digital security (encryption, firewalls, etc), reporting of breaches and other transparency, etc.
Most websites don’t need HIPAA-compliant hosts. But, sometimes you may need to. If your site is going to handle individual health data, you need HIPAA.
If you’re handling anonymous or anonymous and aggregate medical data, you’re not subject to the same regulations. But, it’s always best to double check the specifics first.
How to choose HIPAA-compliant hosting
The basic way is to double-check the HIPAA-requirements. You can check out an overview of HIPAA compliant hosting requirements here.
Another good way of choosing is to simply pick from the hosts that have the best security set-ups in general.
Meaning, rather than only checking whether HIPAA requirements are met, checking if the host goes above and beyond the basic requirements.
But beyond that, it’s important to consider your own needs as someone who runs a website and runs a business.
Obviously, security takes a top seat. But aside from that, is price the other determining factor? Or do you want a lot of features to make hosting with HIPAA-compliance a better deal for you?
Ease of use is an important point of consideration here:
Depending on the size of your organization, or your technical expertise, you may be able to get away with more complex hosting solutions, which may also yield lower costs.
But many of the solutions here offer managed solutions, which can come at higher cost but are an enormous relief for a lot of small to mid-sized businesses, who then only have to worry about managing the website itself, and not the hosting.
Conclusion
So, who’s the best HIPAA compliant host for you? All the options here are solid, offering good security, clear contracts specifying their obligations, and of course full compliance with HIPAA.
But top spot would have to go Liquid Web or Atlantic.Net. They have all the features and assurances the other items on this list do, but even more options to choose from and excellent reputations.
In particular, I recommend Liquid Web to those who strongly prioritize ease of use, as Liquid Web leads the hosting industry in managed hosting. But Atlantic.Net’s managed products are great too.
So there you have it—happy HIPAA hosting!
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