HIPAA Compliant Website Design
Most healthcare websites are not HIPAA compliant, and most owners have never been told. If your site collects anything from a patient, these are the parts that have to be right.
The short version
A Website Becomes a HIPAA Problem the Moment It Collects Something
A brochure site with no forms carries little risk. The moment there is an appointment request, a contact form asking about symptoms, a patient portal login, or a chat widget, protected health information is in play and the rules apply.
What we build
The Five Things That Have to Be Right
Each of these is a place we have found real healthcare sites failing.
A Signed Business Associate Agreement
If your host can access servers holding patient data, they are a business associate and need a signed BAA. Most budget shared hosting will not sign one. This is the single most common failure, and no amount of good development fixes it.
Encrypted Submission and Storage
A form that emails patient details in plain text is a breach waiting to be discovered. Submissions need encryption in transit and at rest, restricted access, and a retention policy that actually deletes things.
A Published Notice of Privacy Practices
A covered entity describing its services online needs an NPP published and reachable. Most healthcare sites we audit do not have one. We draft it and publish it properly rather than linking a PDF nobody can open on a phone.
Analytics That Never See Patient Data
Third-party trackers on pages behind a patient login, or on pages revealing a condition, can disclose PHI to a vendor you never signed an agreement with. We configure analytics so it measures traffic without ever touching identifiable data.
The fifth is access control: who on your team can read form submissions, whether that is logged, and what happens when somebody leaves. It is the least visible of the five and the most often ignored.
Why us
We Already Do This Work
Our founder has spent 2+ years working part-time as a developer for a US healthcare web company, building and maintaining freestanding emergency-room and hospital websites. Compliance is not a checklist we downloaded, it is the environment those sites are built in.
- Notices of Privacy Practices drafted and published
- Forms rebuilt with encrypted submission and controlled access
- Tracking reconfigured so no patient data reaches a third party
- Hosting moved where a BAA can actually be signed
- Advertising claims reviewed against state and federal rules
What we are not
We are not attorneys, and we do not certify compliance. Nobody building a website can. What we do is know where the exposure sits, build so that it is avoided, and route the judgement calls to your compliance advisor.
Any agency promising you "HIPAA certified" hosting or a "HIPAA compliant" plugin is selling something that does not exist. Compliance is how the whole system is operated, not a product you buy.
Proof
See This Work in Practice
Healthcare projects where compliance shaped the build.
FAQ
HIPAA and Websites: Common Questions
Is WordPress HIPAA compliant?
WordPress itself is neither compliant nor non-compliant, because compliance is a property of the whole system rather than the software. A WordPress site can be run compliantly with the right hosting, a signed BAA, encrypted forms, controlled access, and correct tracking. The same site on standard shared hosting with a plain-text contact form is not.
Does a brochure site with no forms need to be HIPAA compliant?
If it collects nothing from patients, the exposure is low. But a Notice of Privacy Practices is still expected of a covered entity describing its services online, and most sites acquire a form eventually. It is far cheaper to build it right than to retrofit after a form appears.
Can we keep using Google Analytics?
Usually yes, with care. The risk is tracking on pages that reveal health information about an identifiable person, such as anything behind a patient login or a page tied to a specific condition. We configure analytics to exclude those contexts so you keep your traffic data without disclosing anything.
Our current host says they are HIPAA compliant. Is that enough?
Ask them to sign a Business Associate Agreement. If they will not, the claim is marketing rather than a legal position. The signed BAA is what actually matters, and it is a short conversation that tells you where you stand.
How much does this cost?
It depends entirely on what is already in place. Some sites need a notice published and a form rebuilt. Others need to move hosting. The free audit tells you which, and we quote from there with no obligation.
Find Out Where You Stand
A free audit covering hosting, forms, notices, and tracking, with a plain list of what needs fixing.
Get a free compliance audit