The Problem
Attackers Do Not Scale to Practice Size
Small and specialty practices hold the same patient data as large health systems. They rely on the same vendors, cloud tools, and AI-assisted workflows. Any trusted system with access to plaintext PHI is a target, regardless of size.
Specialty Records Carry Elevated Risk
Behavioral health, addiction treatment, oncology, fertility, cosmetic, and other specialty records often contain highly sensitive patient information that can create significant harm if exposed.
Every Referral Expands PHI Exposure
Patient data routinely leaves your network for laboratories, imaging centers, referral partners, specialty pharmacies, billing vendors, and other third parties. Once that data is shared, traditional security controls no longer apply.
Small Teams Have Limited Resources
Most specialty practices do not have dedicated security teams to monitor access logs, manage encryption keys, review vendor security, or respond to incidents.
Policies in Action
Examples of What You Can Enforce
Small and specialty practices manage access across clinical care, referrals, billing, laboratories, and outside services. Seald Healthcare turns those requirements into record-level decryption policy without requiring an enterprise security team. Start with your own staff and providers, then extend the same controls to outside organizations that need access to patient data.
Learn More About Policy StudioFront desk staff can decrypt scheduling and contact fields only: patient name, phone number, and email address. Diagnoses and clinical notes do not decrypt for the front desk role.
Clinical notes decrypt only for the treating provider, from a practice device on the clinic IP range in Atlanta, Georgia, from two hours before the visit to two hours after. Outside that window, the notes do not decrypt.
Maria Lopez ([email protected]), Medical Assistant, can decrypt vitals and intake fields only, on office devices, during office hours.
After-hours or off-site access requires step-up verification. Without it, records do not decrypt.
Sam Reed ([email protected]) can decrypt current billing records only on Tuesday and Thursday, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM Eastern, from the authorized office desktop on the billing firm's IP range with MFA verified. Access is revoked when the engagement ends.
Dr. Olivia Grant ([email protected]) can decrypt only the referral record for the referred patient. Access expires after the consult.
Cedar Lab Services can decrypt only the order and result fields for the tests it runs. Patient identifiers do not decrypt in its environment.
Northgate Collections' access is revoked automatically when the engagement ends.
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
Seald Healthcare’s demonstrable controls 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. Each record is encrypted individually, with decryption authority kept separate from the data. Records stay encrypted wherever they are stored, accessed, or shared and decrypt only during authorized use under policy for an approved person, device, application, or AI agent.
Does Seald Healthcare require us to replace our EHR or existing infrastructure?
No. Seald Healthcare is designed to deploy alongside your existing healthcare infrastructure. For outbound workflows, it can sit at the egress point where patient data leaves your environment, encrypting PHI before it reaches third parties without replacing your EHR or requiring EHR vendor cooperation.
How long does integration take?
It depends on the workflow. Your first workflow, such as files in OneDrive, Google Drive, or S3, can be protected in minutes. Native integrations with vendors roll out vendor by vendor, with help from our forward-deployed engineers.
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.