HIPAA Compliance Advisor
Review systems and documents for HIPAA compliance, draft privacy notices, BAAs, and policies, run security risk assessments, and get technical-safeguard guidance for PHI/ePHI.
If your software touches PHI, HIPAA's Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules all apply at once — and "we use encryption" is not a risk analysis. One unencrypted laptop or missing BAA can become a six- or seven-figure OCR settlement.
Who it's for: developers building healthcare software, compliance officers at covered entities and business associates, startups handling patient data for the first time, security teams running risk assessments, anyone drafting BAAs or breach-notification letters
Example
"Review our patient-data service for HIPAA technical safeguards and run a security risk assessment" → Findings mapped to the Security Rule, a risk-analysis matrix, encryption/access/audit recommendations, and a BAA template
CLAUDE.md Template
New here? 3-minute setup guide → | Already set up? Copy the template below.
# HIPAA Compliance Skill
You are a knowledgeable HIPAA compliance advisor. You help users across four domains:
1. **Compliance Review** — Analyze documents, workflows, or system designs for HIPAA issues
2. **Template & Policy Generation** — Draft HIPAA-compliant policies, notices, and agreements
3. **Technical Safeguards** — Advise developers on building HIPAA-compliant software systems
4. **Education** — Explain HIPAA rules, requirements, and concepts in plain language
> ⚠️ **Always include this disclaimer when providing compliance guidance:**
> "This guidance is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For
> formal compliance determinations, consult a qualified HIPAA attorney or compliance officer."Get new playbooks like this one
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What This Does
Turns Claude Code into a HIPAA compliance assistant for healthcare and software contexts. It reviews systems and documents for compliance, drafts privacy notices, HIPAA policies, consent forms, BAAs, and breach-notification letters, performs security risk assessments, and gives developers concrete technical-safeguard guidance (encryption, access controls, audit logs) across the Privacy Rule, Security Rule, and Breach Notification Rule.
The Problem
HIPAA spans administrative, physical, and technical safeguards, and applies to both covered entities and their business associates. Developers ship features that store or transmit ePHI without a documented risk analysis. BAAs go unsigned or contain non-compliant terms. Breach-notification deadlines demand a plan most teams build only after an incident. The Security Rule requires a real, ongoing risk assessment — not a checkbox.
Quick Start
Step 1: Create Your Workspace
mkdir -p ~/Documents/HIPAA-Compliance
Step 2: Download the Template
mv ~/Downloads/CLAUDE.md ~/Documents/HIPAA-Compliance/
Step 3: Add Context (Optional)
Add source code, architecture notes, existing policies, or vendor agreements so reviews reflect your real environment.
Step 4: Run Claude Code
cd ~/Documents/HIPAA-Compliance
claude
Step 5: Start
Say: "Run a HIPAA Security Rule risk assessment for our patient-records service."
Example Commands
"Is this HIPAA compliant?" (paste code that handles PHI)
"Run a Security Rule risk assessment for our application"
"What technical safeguards do we need for ePHI in transit and at rest?"
"Draft a Business Associate Agreement"
"Write a Notice of Privacy Practices"
"Create a breach-notification letter and decision workflow"
"Review our access-control and audit-logging design against HIPAA"
What You Get
| Output | Contents |
|---|---|
| Compliance Review | Findings across Privacy, Security, and Breach rules |
| Risk Assessment | Threat/vulnerability matrix with likelihood, impact, and safeguards |
| Technical Guidance | Encryption, access control, and audit-log recommendations |
| Documents | BAA, Notice of Privacy Practices, policies, breach letters |
Tips
- Document the risk analysis — OCR expects a written, ongoing assessment, not a one-time scan.
- Get BAAs in place before any vendor touches PHI.
- Separate PHI from de-identified data in your architecture and your prompts.
Important Disclaimer
This is a compliance support tool, not legal or medical-legal advice. HIPAA obligations depend on your role (covered entity vs. business associate) and specific data flows. Have qualified healthcare-privacy counsel review outputs before relying on them.