HIPAA compliant answering service
HIPAA compliant medical answering service — without compromise.
DeskMD is a HIPAA compliant medical answering service built on BAAs, encryption, audit logs, redaction, deletion workflows, and honest subprocessor status.
BAA status
Use the precise claim until every agreement is signed.
DeskMD signs a BAA with customers. The safer public statement is that the BAA process is underway with all production subprocessors until every agreement is executed and scoped for the exact PHI workflow.
HIPAA documentation retention is addressed in the HHS audit protocol and 45 CFR §164.316(b)(2)(i): HHS audit protocol, 45 CFR §164.316.
Controls
The controls behind a HIPAA compliant medical answering service.
BAA workflow
Signed customer BAA, with production subprocessor BAAs required before PHI use.
Encryption
AES-256 at rest and TLS 1.2+ in transit are the design targets.
Audit logs
Six-year audit-log retention aligns to the HIPAA Security Rule documentation time limit.
PHI redaction
Admin endpoints can redact PHI from call records when a privacy workflow requires it.
Patient deletion
Deletion workflows support patient-level cleanup requests where legally appropriate.
Breach notification
Operational breach notification should be documented in the BAA and incident-response policy.
Subprocessors
Every PHI processor needs a signed BAA.
A HIPAA compliant medical answering service is only as compliant as its subprocessor list. DeskMD’s production stack and BAA status:
| Subprocessor category | Role | BAA status |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud infrastructure | Compute, encrypted storage, managed key management, recordings + transcripts at rest | Signed customer BAA available |
| Telephony | Inbound voice + media streams + recording | Signed BAA on HIPAA-eligible accounts |
| Database | Call records, intake, audit logs | Signed BAA on dedicated tier |
| Payment processing | Billing only — never carries PHI | BAA not required (no PHI) |
| Voice AI | Real-time voice agent + post-call translation | Signed BAA required before PHI production use |
DeskMD does not enable PHI production traffic on any subprocessor surface until the relevant Business Associate Agreement is fully executed and the scope explicitly covers the data flow in question.
What “HIPAA compliant” means
What HIPAA compliant actually means for an answering service.
There are four components. Watch any vendor’s answer to all four before signing.
1. Signed BAA
A Business Associate Agreement between the practice and the service. DeskMD signs a BAA with every customer before PHI lands on the service. If a vendor says “we’re working on it,” do not push PHI through them.
2. Encryption at rest + in transit
AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.2+ in transit. DeskMD recordings + transcripts are encrypted before they hit storage. Calls and dashboard views travel over TLS 1.2+.
3. Audit log retention
HIPAA Security Rule requires policies + procedures be retained for 6 years (45 CFR §164.316(b)(2)(i)). DeskMD audit-log retention defaults to 6 years (2,190 days).
4. Breach notification + deletion workflow
Defined breach notification SLA in the BAA. Patient deletion + PHI redaction workflows for privacy operations. DeskMD has admin endpoints for both.
Multilingual + HIPAA
HIPAA + multilingual: how translation works without breaking BAA scope.
DeskMD Pro answers in 20+ languages at native quality and shows English translation in the inbox. Every language and translation API call stays inside the BAA-covered subprocessor stack — the patient’s words never get sent to a non-BAA translation API.
Why this matters: many practices have used Google Translate or other consumer translation tools to handle non-English calls, which is a clear BAA gap. DeskMD’s translation runs on the same BAA-covered infrastructure as the call itself, under the same agreement.
FAQ
Compliance questions.
Does DeskMD sign a BAA?
DeskMD is designed to sign a BAA with healthcare customers. Production PHI use should wait until BAAs are complete with every production subprocessor.
How do you handle voice AI subprocessor compliance?
The voice AI subprocessor used for real-time calls operates under a BAA that must be fully executed before any PHI production traffic flows.
How long are audit logs retained?
DeskMD’s audit-log retention target is six years, aligning to 45 CFR §164.316(b)(2)(i).
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