Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act explained
HIPAA is a US federal law that governs how covered entities — healthcare providers, health plans, and clearinghouses — and their business associates handle protected health information (PHI). Its Security Rule requires administrative, physical, and technical safeguards such as access controls, encryption, audit controls, and risk assessments to keep electronic PHI confidential, intact, and available.
For Ontario businesses, HIPAA matters when they handle US patients' health data or provide services to US healthcare organizations — for example, a clinic with US clients, or a software or services firm acting as a business associate. The Canadian equivalents that govern health data here are PHIPA (Ontario) and PIPEDA (federal). (This is general information, not legal advice.)
Why HIPAA matters for your business
HIPAA carries significant enforcement teeth, with substantial penalties for violations and mandatory breach notification. Any organization touching US health data — directly or as a vendor — inherits real obligations, and US healthcare clients will often require contractual assurances and evidence of safeguards before they'll work with you.
Whether you're aligning to HIPAA for US engagements or to PHIPA/PIPEDA at home, the underlying security work is largely the same: control access, encrypt data, log and monitor activity, assess risk, and be ready to respond to incidents. Strong controls satisfy multiple frameworks at once.
Scalogic secures health data across frameworks
Scalogic builds the safeguards HIPAA's Security Rule expects — access controls, encryption, audit logging, risk assessment, and 24/7 monitoring — for Ontario businesses that handle US health data or serve US healthcare clients. The same controls also support your PHIPA and PIPEDA obligations at home.
We help you implement, document, and monitor these protections so you can give US partners the assurances they require and keep protected health information genuinely secure. Healthcare is a core focus — see our healthcare IT services.
Frequently asked questions
Does HIPAA apply to Canadian businesses?
It can, when a Canadian business handles US patients' health data or acts as a business associate to a US covered entity. Domestically, health data is governed by PHIPA and PIPEDA.
What's the difference between HIPAA and PHIPA?
HIPAA is US federal health-privacy law; PHIPA is Ontario's. Both require safeguards for health information, and the underlying technical controls largely overlap.
What safeguards does HIPAA require?
Administrative, physical, and technical safeguards including access controls, encryption, audit controls, and risk assessments. Scalogic implements these controls. This is general information, not legal advice.