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Can I use Help Scout and be HIPAA compliant?

Can I use Help Scout and be HIPAA compliant?

Earlier this year, we spoke with a customer who mentioned using Help Scout within their digital health startup. As an aside, we’ve been seeing more vendors, customers, and prospects asking about HIPAA compliant services. Here's what we'll be covering in this post:

 



We know the HIPAA industry is vast so we can empathize with just how many people need to use cloud services in this sector. Today, we will determine if Help Scout offers HIPAA compliant service or not.

 

Help Scout

Help Scout is a help desk SaaS company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company offers a customer support platform, knowledge base tool, and a widget for customer service professionals.

 

 

What is a Business Associate?

A Business Associate is a person or company that performs certain functions or activities that involve the use or disclosure of protected health information for a Covered Entity. In a nutshell, the role of a Business Associate is to help Covered Entities comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule.

Read full article: What does it mean to be a Business Associate?

 

Business Associate Agreement provisions

If a Business Associate provides services to a Covered Entity, then a Business Associate Agreement must be in place. A Business Associate Agreement is a written contract between a Covered Entity and a Business Associate and is required by law for HIPAA compliance. At a minimum, a Business Associate Agreement contains 10 provisions.

Read full article: Business Associate Agreement Provisions

 

Help Scout and the Business Associate Agreement

We checked the Help Scout site for mention of their ability to sign a Business Associate Agreement. We quickly found the information we were looking for in their documentation page called, Help Scout and HIPAA: "Help Scout will sign a business associate agreement (BAA) with your organization, which you can access from the links below. Once signed, our team will be notified and mark your account as HIPAA-compliant. No other action is needed. HIPAA support is available on the Plus and Company plans only."
Can I use Help Scout and be HIPAA Compliant? - Paubox

 

Does Help Scout offer HIPAA Compliant Service?

The Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is a key component to HIPAA compliance between a Covered Entity and a Business Associate. We were able to learn the following about Help Scout and their stance on HIPAA compliance:
  • Help Scout will sign a BAA with customers who purchase their Plus or Company plans.

 

Conclusion: Help Scout is capable of being used in a HIPAA compliant manner, as long as you purchase the right plan (Plus or Company).

 

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