HIPAA-compliant team collaboration for healthcare staff

A staff collaboration tool fits a HIPAA program when the vendor signs a Business Associate Agreement (BAA), IT can control who sees what, and your own policies cover the rest. Chanty puts staff chat, calls, files and assigned tasks in one workspace. A signed BAA is available on the Business and Enterprise plans. Chanty is for internal operational coordination alongside your clinical systems. It is not an EHR, not patient messaging and not a clinical alerting system.

What makes a collaboration tool HIPAA-compliant

No software is "HIPAA-certified," because HIPAA has no certification program. What you can check is whether a tool supports the safeguards your practice is responsible for:

• A signed BAA before any PHI is shared. If staff will discuss patients, schedules tied to names, or insurance details, the vendor must sign a BAA first (45 CFR 164.502(e) requires satisfactory written assurance before PHI is disclosed to a business associate, and 164.504(e) sets out what the BAA must contain) (ecfr.gov).
• Access controls and fast offboarding. You need role-based permissions, strong authentication and the ability to remove a departing employee the same day.
• Encryption, audit and retention. Look for encryption in transit and at rest, plus audit and retention options that match your policies (45 CFR 164.312 covers access control, audit controls, integrity, authentication and transmission security; encryption is an addressable specification, and retention is not addressed there) (ecfr.gov).
• Shared responsibility. The tool supports compliance. Your configuration, policies, staff training and device security complete it.
• Integrations outside the BAA. Connected apps such as cloud drives or automation platforms sit outside the vendor's BAA unless they are separately covered. Treat each one as its own vendor decision.

For a closer look at the messaging side, see HIPAA-compliant chat for staff.

Chat, calls, files and tasks in one staff workspace

Most practices run internal work across email, a personal group chat, a phone tree and a spreadsheet. Chanty replaces that stack with one app.

• Conversations. You get public and private channels, one-on-one messages, threads, mentions and pinned messages. Message history is unlimited and searchable on every plan, including Free.
• Voice and calls. Staff who are on their feet can send voice notes instead of typing. Free includes unlimited 1:1 audio and video calls. Business adds unlimited group calls and screen sharing. See video calls for staff.
• Files and procedures. Store intake checklists, opening and closing procedures, and payer contact sheets where staff already talk. Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and Box integrations show previews in the conversation. Remember that those services are outside Chanty's BAA. More on HIPAA-compliant file sharing.
• Teambook. This hub gathers tasks, files, links, pinned messages and conversations, so a new hire can find the current fax-cover template without asking three people.
• Apps everywhere. Chanty runs on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and web. The messenger-style interface feels familiar to anyone who uses WhatsApp, so training is short.

Browse all Chanty features for healthcare teams.

Turn a conversation into owned work

Collaboration is only useful if a conversation ends with someone responsible for the next step. In Chanty you can create a task from any message in one click and give it an owner, a due date, a status and a priority. Open tasks sit on a built-in Kanban board, so follow-up no longer depends on a spreadsheet or someone's memory.

Three operational examples:

• Broken equipment. A front desk coordinator posts "Check-in printer jammed again" in the #site-north channel. The office manager turns the message into a task, assigns it to IT with today's date, and moves it to Done once the replacement arrives.
• Insurance verification backlog. The billing lead flags that tomorrow's verifications are behind. She creates a task for the float coordinator with a 3 p.m. deadline, and the whole team sees the status change.
• Supply reorder. A medical assistant sends a voice note that exam-table paper is low. The clinic manager converts it into a reorder task for purchasing, with high priority.

Task management in Chanty is basic by design: a list and a Kanban board. It handles follow-up on daily operations. It is not a project-management suite for multi-month initiatives. Details are on task management for clinic teams.

Connect teams across shifts and locations

In a multi-site group, the staff who most need an update are often the ones who weren't in the morning huddle.

• Team channels and pinned information. A change to the phone script, a new payer rule or a holiday schedule stays pinned in the channel, so the evening shift sees it too.
• Company-wide announcements. On Business and Enterprise, you also get scheduled posts, polls and surveys, an employee directory and onboarding tools. HQ can schedule a policy reminder for Monday 7 a.m. at every site, or poll managers on which week works for training.
• Mobile and voice-first design. Front desk and deskless staff can read and reply from a phone, or send a voice note between patients, without logging into a desktop.
• Guest access. Contractors, billing vendors or an outside IT provider join as guests limited to selected conversations, separate from internal teams.
• Moving off personal messengers. Many practices discover work being coordinated in personal WhatsApp or SMS groups. Moving that traffic into a workspace the practice controls means you can remove access when someone leaves, and the history stays with the organization.

For the broader picture of internal communication in clinics, see healthcare communication software for clinics.

Controls for healthcare IT directors

These are the settings IT or your managed service provider can configure:

• Permissions. More than 120 permission settings define what each person can see and do. Business includes customizable roles. Enterprise includes unlimited custom roles.
• Identity and access. Business includes one-time-code login, 2FA and SSO. Enterprise adds SAML SSO, directory sync and SCIM provisioning. IP allowlisting is also available Business also includes IP allowlisting and location-based access. (chanty.com).
• Retention and governance. Retention is customizable on Business and Enterprise (chanty.com). DLP and governance controls are on Enterprise.
• Encryption and hosting. Data is encrypted in transit with TLS 1.2+, and file storage is encrypted. Chanty is hosted on Amazon Web Services. US, EU or APAC data residency and an on-premise option are available on Enterprise only.

Certifications and audit reports are listed on the security, HIPAA and BAA details page Chanty displays HIPAA, SOC 2 and ISO 27001 badges on its pricing page, but no audit scope or report dates are published, so request reports directly from Chanty. (chanty.com).

Which plan you need for HIPAA

Plan	BAA	Key points for healthcare
Free	Not available	Up to 5 members, 10 integrations and 20 GB per team. Do not use for PHI.
Business	Signed BAA included	HIPAA-compliant with a signed BAA. Customizable roles, SSO, 2FA, unlimited group calls and screen sharing, and internal communications tools and 99.9% guaranteed uptime (chanty.com).
Enterprise	BAA plus negotiated MSA	Adds SCIM and directory sync, SAML SSO, DLP, data residency, an on-premise option, and AI agents.

AI agents on Enterprise. Staff can mention an AI agent in a thread the same way they mention a teammate. The agent reads the context, does the job and reports back in the conversation. Admins control which roles each agent takes orders from, can revoke an agent at any time, and can review every agent action in a real-time audit trail. AI agents and the external models you connect are outside the standard BAA; using agents on PHI requires a separate written agreement with Chanty covering those models. Until that is confirmed in writing, keep PHI out of agent workflows.

For current prices, see the pricing page on chanty.com (https://www.chanty.com/pricing/) (chanty.com).

How to compare healthcare collaboration software

Use objective criteria and check each vendor's current documentation:

Criterion	What to ask	Chanty
BAA availability	Which plan includes a signed BAA?	Business and Enterprise
Admin controls	Roles, SSO, SCIM, offboarding	120+ settings; SSO on Business; SCIM on Enterprise
Guest access	Can externals be limited to specific conversations?	Yes; 3 free guest seats per paid member on Business
Mobile and voice	Native apps, voice notes	iOS, Android, desktop, web; voice notes on all plans
Task follow-up	Can a message become an owned task?	Yes, with list and Kanban
Integrations	Native catalog, automation options	About 28 native (chanty.com), extended by Zapier, Make and n8n
Data residency	Regional hosting or on-premise	US, EU or APAC and on-premise on Enterprise

Common alternatives:

• Microsoft Teams and Google Chat come bundled with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace and both vendors offer a BAA, but coverage applies only to services on each vendor's covered-services list, so confirm chat is included (knowledge.workspace.google.com).
• Slack offers a BAA on certain plans Slack supports HIPAA only on Enterprise Grid, with a signed BAA, its HIPAA entity requirements (DLP, SSO, backups), and no patient communication. (slack.com).
• Spruce Health leads with patient communication and also offers team chat, phone and fax for independent practices ; its BAA is automatically part of the terms of service for eligible organizations at no extra fee (help.sprucehealth.com).
• Mattermost and Rocket.Chat emphasize self-hosting for regulated industries (mattermost.com).

Where Chanty is a weaker fit:

• Practices standardized on Microsoft 365 that want Teams-native meetings and telephony.
• Buyers who need hundreds of native integrations.
• Teams looking for built-in shift scheduling, time tracking or HR functions. Chanty has none of these.
• Teams that need complex project management inside chat.

For vendor-by-vendor checks, see team chat tools compared for HIPAA.

What Chanty is not

Being clear about scope matters in healthcare:

• Not an EHR or EMR. Chanty does not replace clinical documentation.
• Not patient-facing. It is not patient messaging, telehealth or a patient portal. It is for staff only.
• Not a clinical alerting tool. It is not a validated clinical handoff or urgent clinical alerting system. Use your established clinical channels for those.
• Runs alongside your existing systems. Chanty works next to your clinical, scheduling and billing systems for operational coordination. No integration with those systems is listed.

Get started

1. Choose Business if staff will discuss PHI. Sign the BAA before any PHI enters the workspace.
2. Configure before inviting. Set up roles, SSO, 2FA and a written offboarding step, such as removing access on an employee's last day.
3. Invite staff in waves. Start by team and location, with channels like #front-desk-north and #billing.
4. Agree on ground rules. Decide what belongs in Chanty, what stays in the EHR, and which integrations are approved.

Create your Chanty workspace

FAQ

Is Chanty HIPAA-compliant?

Yes, with a signed BAA on the Business and Enterprise plans. The Free plan has no BAA and should not be used for PHI.

Does using Chanty make my practice HIPAA compliant?

No. Chanty supports compliance under a BAA. Your configuration, policies, training and device security remain your responsibility.

Can staff share patient information in Chanty?

On Business or Enterprise with a signed BAA, messages, files and voice notes may contain PHI under your policies. Keep PHI out of third-party integrations unless they are separately covered.

Is Chanty end-to-end encrypted?

No. Data is encrypted in transit with TLS 1.2+, and file storage is encrypted.

Can we message patients through Chanty?

No. Chanty is for internal staff communication only.

Can contractors or vendors join?

Yes, as guests limited to selected conversations. Business includes 3 free guest seats per paid member.

Are AI agents included in the Business plan?

No. AI agents and the agent audit trail are available on Enterprise only.

Does Chanty integrate with our EHR?

No EHR integration is listed. Chanty runs alongside your clinical systems.