The Problem
Claims Data Contains the Full Patient Story
Claims and member records contain diagnoses, medications, procedures, providers, eligibility information, payment history, and years of medical activity. A single claims dataset can reveal more about a patient than almost any other healthcare record.
Every Adjudication Stop Is a Risk
Each X12 claim, eligibility transaction, prior authorization request, clearinghouse exchange, utilization management review, and processor workflow creates another location where PHI can be stored, copied, or exposed.
Vendors Retain Excess PHI
Utilization management vendors, fraud analytics partners, billing vendors, and processor networks often require broad PHI access to perform their function, then retain that data long after the original transaction is complete.
Regulators Demand Granular Control
CMS, state insurance regulators, and compliance teams increasingly expect payers to demonstrate exactly who accessed member data, when access occurred, and why access was permitted.
HIPAA Safe Harbor
A Breach of Properly Encrypted PHI Is Not a Reportable Breach Per HHS
If protected health information is lost, stolen, or accessed by an unauthorized party, properly encrypted data remains unreadable and unusable. Under HHS guidance, properly encrypted PHI is not considered unsecured PHI when the decryption key or process has not also been compromised, and therefore does not trigger HIPAA breach-notification requirements. That means a security incident does not automatically become a reportable breach. The result can be reduced breach liability, lower cyber insurance costs, and a dramatically different outcome for your organization.
“Protected health information (PHI) is rendered unusable, unreadable, or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals if one or more of the following applies: electronic PHI has been encrypted as specified in the HIPAA Security Rule… such encryption renders the breach notification provisions of the HITECH Act inapplicable.”
No Public Disclosure
No 60-day notification clock, no HHS portal listing, no press release.
Reduced OCR Exposure
Demonstrated safeguards reduce regulatory and enforcement exposure.
Lower Insurance Premiums
Record-level encryption may qualify for carrier premium credits.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Seald Healthcare do?
Seald Healthcare protects patient data itself, not just the systems around it. PHI remains encrypted at the record level wherever it is reviewed, processed, shared, or stored, and decrypts only at authorized read time under policy for an approved person, device, application, service, or AI agent.
What does zero-knowledge mean?
Seald Healthcare manages key infrastructure separately from the patient data, but cannot independently decrypt customer PHI. Each data key is protected under key material controlled by your organization, keeping decryption authority separate from the systems storing or transmitting the data.
What happens if a vendor or cloud environment is breached?
Seald Healthcare is designed so that compromising the environment storing the data does not, by itself, provide the authority required to decrypt the protected records. Patient data remains encrypted, and decryption still requires an authorized request that satisfies the active policy.
How does Policy Studio work?
Policy Studio, powered by Marlow, Seald Healthcare's proprietary AI, turns BAAs, vendor contracts, and security requirements into proposed access policies. Your organization reviews and approves those policies before Seald Healthcare cryptographically enforces them at the record level on every decryption request.