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HIPAA app development

Building an app to HIPAA requirements, in plain English.

For clinics and health startups planning an app or portal that handles patient data. Here is what HIPAA means for the build, what makes it cost more, and how we work with your compliance team.

Talk about your project

The problem

Many teams hear "HIPAA compliant" from every vendor and can't tell what was actually built. Others over-build and spend months on controls they didn't need, or under-build and find out during a security review. The safest path is a short list of controls agreed up front, built into every screen and release, and written down.

The controls we build in

  • Access by role. Each person sees only what their role needs: patients their own data, staff their own patients.
  • Audit logs. A record of who opened or changed patient data, and when.
  • Encryption. Patient data is encrypted when stored and when sent.
  • Least-privilege access. Our team and your tools get only the access the job needs, and keys are stored on the server, never in the app.
  • No patient data where it doesn't belong. Kept out of logs, analytics, crash reports and demos; early builds use sample data.
  • Vendors that sign. Hosting, email, text, video and AI services that will sign the agreements HIPAA requires.

What drives the cost

HIPAA adds work to any app, but how much depends on these choices:

  • How much patient data the app holds. An app that only books visits holds far less than one with records, messages and forms.
  • Who needs access. More roles, such as patients, clinicians, billing and admins, mean more access rules to build and test.
  • Your vendors. Some services that sign the required agreements cost more or need extra setup.
  • Audit and documentation needs. What your compliance team or customers ask to see: logs, reports and written controls.
  • Existing code. Adding controls to an app that wasn't built for them often means reworking parts of it.

The price and timeline are fixed in writing after a short scoping call, before any work starts.

How long it takes

HIPAA work runs through the whole project, not as a step at the end:

  1. Agree the controls. With your compliance lead: what data is held, who can see it, which vendors are used.
  2. Design with the rules in. Access, consent and data flows are part of the screens from the start.
  3. Build and review. Each round is checked against the agreed controls, with sample data only.
  4. Document and hand over. A written list of the controls and how they work, for your records and reviews.

HIPAA and patient data

There is no official HIPAA certification for developers or apps, so be careful with anyone who says they are "HIPAA certified". We build the technical controls your compliance team asks for and document them; your organization stays responsible for compliance. Talha worked on US healthcare software built to HIPAA requirements at PsychPlus, and we build the same way for you.

Proof

At PsychPlus, a US mental health platform, Talha's work was built to HIPAA requirements: access controls by role, audit trails of who opened or changed records, and careful handling of patient data in every screen and release.

Case study: PsychPlus
Web and mobile work by Talha Manzoor as a Senior Software Engineer with the PsychPlus team, not an HTH client project. The product, brand and data belong to PsychPlus. Screens use sample data.

Questions

Are you HIPAA certified?

There is no official HIPAA certification for developers. We build the technical controls your compliance team asks for and document them; your organization stays responsible for compliance.

Will you sign a business associate agreement?

We discuss this on the scoping call. Early builds and demos use sample data, so our team doesn't need real patient records to start.

Can you check whether our current app is safe?

Yes. A reliability and performance audit covers how your app handles patient data, with a written list of fixes in priority order.

Can AI tools be used with patient data?

Only through AI services that will sign the agreements HIPAA requires, with keys on the server and a person approving every action.

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