HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is a law that regulates how healthcare organizations manage and protect personal medical data. From the perspective of IT professionals, HIPAA defines how you keep your managed clients’ identifiable information safe, secure, and, most importantly, private.
HIPAA is comprised of five sections called titles. For the purposes of this best HIPAA cloud backup services guide, we will focus on Title II, which covers how securely data is kept to prevent fraud, abuse, and any other medical liability. To be clear, we will not discuss each HIPAA factor but only how your IT business can ensure privacy and security with its HIPAA-compliant cloud backup solution.
Table of Contents
Introduction
- Definition of terms
- HIPAA rules for business associates
- HIPAA requirements for data backup and recovery
- Finding the best HIPAA-compliant cloud backup
Top 5 HIPAA-compliant cloud backup services
Definition of terms
HIPAA has rules and terms that IT leaders who provide services for healthcare businesses should understand.
- Protected Health Information (PHI) refers to any information relating to a patient’s condition, treatment options, and payment for any medical service. However, non-health information may still be considered PHI if it can be used to discern identifiable medical data.
- Electronic PHI. This is any PHI that is held, kept, or transferred electronically.
- Covered entities. These are the “actors” that each title covers. Essentially, these cover healthcare providers (e.g., doctors, clinics, nursing homes, etc.), health plans (e.g., HMOs. government programs, etc.), and healthcare clearinghouses (including entities that process nonstandard health information).
- Business associate. This is an organization that handles PHI to some degree. IT enterprises and MSPs that provide remote monitoring and management (RMM) fall under this category. All business associates must comply with HIPAA rules and secure PHI under specific compliance regulations.
- Business associate agreement (BAA). This is a written agreement by a business associate that guarantees that their specific software solution appropriately safeguards PHI. Choose a vendor that can supply a BAA when you work with them. This assures you that you are operating at the highest level of security.
NinjaOne provides BAA upon request. If you’re ready to start, schedule a 14-day free trial today.
HIPAA rules for business associates
If you are a managed services provider for clients in the healthcare industry, you are likely a business associate. Any service requiring you to create, receive, maintain, or transmit PHI (or electronic PHI) must follow HIPAA guidelines. This is true even if you are “only” storing PHI. You are bound by HIPAA rules as long as you handle personal and sensitive information.
It is worth noting that there is no actual HIPAA certification, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) does not recommend any specific cloud storage provider for HIPAA. Instead, to be HIPAA-compliant, your cloud and backup service must provide a HIPAA-compliant BAA that meets the terms of the BAA and applicable requirements of HIPAA rules.
This allows for more flexibility for healthcare organizations and the MSPs that serve them. Aside from your BAA, you may also want to specify certain HIPAA guidelines in your service level agreement (SLA), such as:
- System availability and reliability
- Backup and disaster risk recovery
- Disclosure limitations
- Security protocols
It can get overwhelming if you are not familiar with all of the terms. That is why the HHS has published its Guidance on HIPAA & Cloud Computing, which lists key factors to consider when using or building HIPAA-compliant services.
HIPAA requirements for data backup and recovery
HIAA Security Rule (or Title II) lists three types of safeguards required for compliance: administrative, physical, and technical. When choosing the best HIPAA-compliant cloud backup service, your chosen vendor must meet different security standards for all three types. It must be noted that each standard identifies “required” and “addressable” requirements. As their names suggest, the former are specifications that must be adopted and administered, whereas the latter is more flexible in its implementation. In summary:
- Administrative safeguards cover how well IT companies respond to any issue or vulnerability that threatens the integrity of PHI. Some examples include creating and enforcing security policies, periodic risk review and analysis, and providing training.
- Physical safeguards establish protocols that limit access to computer systems where PHI is stored. This includes limiting access and control of facilities like workstations and data processing centers.
- Technical safeguards implement mechanisms so that PHI is only accessed by authorized users. Some examples are using unique user identification numbers and solid data encryption and decryption strategies.
Finding the best HIPAA-compliant cloud backup
On its own, no software can make you HIPAA-compliant. However, finding a trusted vendor can help you meet HIPAA requirements and make managing data from your healthcare clients easier and more efficient. Ideally, look for a software provider that offers:
- Encryption. According to the HHS, encryption is not mandatory, but any vendor that does not offer it must “document” their reason for not doing so and provide an equivalent alternative. This means that while vendors don’t “have” to encrypt, they must have an excellent reason why they believe they don’t need it.
- Data backup and recovery. Data protection is paramount, and you cannot afford to lose any data that may compromise your clients. At the bare minimum, when searching “Which cloud backup service is best for healthcare?” find a vendor with a proven track record in backup management.
- Reporting. Your vendor must offer real-time monitoring and visibility so that you can track who accessed your data and when. If possible, look for a vendor that offers customizable reporting templates so that you can easily generate appropriate reports in the format you want.
- Native security. Look for a HIPAA-compliant backup service with built-in security protocols. This will offer you peace of mind when considering the administrative, personal, and technical safeguards required by HIPAA.
We’ve reviewed leading review sites, such as G2 and Capterra, evaluated each vendor’s pros and cons (including how well they comply with HIPAA guidelines), and now offer this guide to the top HIPAA-compliant cloud storage in the market today.
Top 5 HIPAA-compliant cloud backup services
All G2 & Capterra data as of April 2024.
1. NinjaOne
NinjaOne is an integrated RMM that offers many out-of-the-box features that help keep you HIPAA compliant. As a leader in IT management catering to thousands of clients in the healthcare industry, NinjaOne takes pride in offering a comprehensive platform that empowers IT business leaders to grow their organizations while offering clients superior data backup and recovery services.
Specifically, it provides a market-leading backup solution built for ransomware recovery. This protects your critical business data in a single pane of glass and allows you to meet your data protection goals and recovery time objectives (RTOs).
Its backup solution provides Windows, Mac, and server backups, which you can store locally or offsite in the cloud.
Explore NinjaOne’s HIPAA-compliant backup and start a free trial.
Why choose NinjaOne?
- Single-pane management. NinjaOne backup is built seamlessly into the management dashboard, allowing you to perform various tasks from a single console for easier visibility and control.
- Flexible and hybrid plans. NinjaOne offers cloud-based, hybrid, and customizable backup plans to suit every business need and budget.
- Incremental block-level backup. NinjaOne is a lightweight and powerful solution that minimizes storage, network, and device resource utilization.
- Secure restore options. NinjaOne backup utilizes web-based file restores, bare metal restores, and active endpoint image restores to keep your data safe.
- Proactive alerting. Ninja immediately notifies your IT technicians of any performance threshold changes or other technical issues that require attention.
Why choose NinjaOne
NinjaOne is trusted by over 20,000 satisfied clients worldwide because of its ease of setup, use, and management. Designed by IT for IT, the company makes every effort to ensure that its customers meet their business goals, including offering excellent HIPAA-compliant cloud backup to their managed organizations.
What users say
The Cancer and Hematology Centers use NinjaOne to stay HIPAA compliant. In addition to its backup solution, the group also uses Ninja to patch various endpoints in a single dashboard. With Ninja, the Center is assured that it can easily manage all its patient information.
NinjaOne also helped Georgia Bone & Joint Surgeons maintain tight and lean operations with its HIPAA-compliant solution. “You can go and quote me: every medium or small-sized clinic should have Ninja in their toolbox – because of HIPAA,” exclaims Nick Cappello, IT manager. “If you are a small to medium clinic, flock to Ninja. You will have such an easier way to go ahead and get every single thing that HHS is going to ask you to do on a daily basis. It’s gonna be automated, it’s going to be there, and it’s gonna be easy to find.”
NinjaOne reviews on G2
| Category | NinjaOne Rating |
| Overall | 4.8 out of 5 (1,106) |
| Has the product been a good partner in doing business? | 9.6 |
| Quality of support | 9.4 |
| Ease of Admin | 9.3 |
| Ease of Use | 9.3 |
NinjaOne reviews on Capterra
| Category | NinjaOne Rating |
| Overall | 4.8 out of 5 (207) |
| Ease of Use | 4.8 |
| Customer Service | 4.8 |
| Features | 4.5 |
| Value for Money | 4.7 |
| Likelihood to Recommend | 93% |
2. ArcServe
ArcServe offers unified data resilience solutions that protect data from ransomware. For this comparison, we reviewed the ArcServe Unified Data Protection (UDP) recommended for small to medium-sized businesses looking to achieve or maintain HIPAA compliance.
ArcServe UDP helps MSPs neutralize ransomware attacks, restore data, and perform effective disaster recovery from a single console. Additionally, its UDP solution combines deep-learning server protection and scalable onsite and offsite business continuity plans to deliver better IT resiliency.
What users say
While ArcServe UDP is a feature-rich software, its UI has a learning curve. Additionally, the company could improve its customer support team’s speed, accuracy, and technical knowledge.
ArcServe reviews on G2
| Category | ArcServe Rating |
| Overall | 4.8 out of 5 (16) |
| Has the product been a good partner in doing business? | 8.8 |
| Quality of support | 8.9 |
| Ease of Admin | 7.9 |
| Ease of Use | 8.8 |
NinjaOne reviews on Capterra
| Category | ArcServe Rating |
| Overall | 4.8 out of 5 (6) |
| Ease of Use | 4.5 |
| Customer Service | 4.0 |
| Features | 4.0 |
| Value for Money | 3.6 |
| Likelihood to Recommend | 82% |
3. Cove Data Protection
Cove Data Protection, from N-able, is a cloud-first backup and disaster recovery service for servers, workstations, and Microsoft 365 in a single web-based dashboard. It helps IT teams back up more restore points, and more often, which may contribute to HIPAA compliance.
What users say
Cove Data Protection is easy to deploy, set up, and use. However, some G2 users say that the platform could improve some of its features, such as enabling users to restore data files from previous backup versions.
Cove Data Protection reviews on G2
| Category |
Cove Data Protection Rating |
| Overall | 4.4 out of 5 (280) |
| Has the product been a good partner in doing business? | 8.7 |
| Quality of support | 8.3 |
| Ease of Admin | 8.7 |
| Ease of Use | 8.9 |
Cove Data Protection reviews on Capterra
| Category |
Cove Data Protection Rating |
| Overall | 4.7 out of 5 (37) |
| Ease of Use | 4.5 |
| Customer Service | 4.5 |
| Features | 4.5 |
| Value for Money | 4.2 |
| Likelihood to Recommend | 85% |
4. Barracuda Backup
Barracuda Backup is an all-in-one solution that offers ransomware protection, recovery, and cloud-based management. It can help you become HIPAA-compliant with its backup tool that protects physical, virtual, and hybrid environments.
Barracuda offers flexible backup options, including the Barracuda Backup Appliance for physical devices and onsite data protection; Barracuda Virtual Backup; and Barracuda cloud-to-cloud backup. It also offers email protection for MSPs looking for more comprehensive backup security.
What users say
Barracuda Backup is recommended for smaller MSPs because it may start to lag when it handles multiple large files. It is also not as user-friendly as expected.
Barracuda reviews on G2
| Category |
Barracuda Rating |
| Overall | 4.4 out of 5 (50) |
| Has the product been a good partner in doing business? | 9.1 |
| Quality of support | 9.1 |
| Ease of Admin | 8.9 |
| Ease of Use | 9.0 |
Barracuda reviews on Capterra
| Category |
Barracuda Rating |
| Overall | 4.7 out of 5 (21) |
| Ease of Use | 4.3 |
| Customer Service | 4.3 |
| Features | 4.5 |
| Value for Money | 4.9 |
| Likelihood to Recommend | 81% |
5. Carbonite
Carbonite markets itself as a “smarter, simplified way to protect your business.” It offers many HIPAA-compliant products that help reduce risk, preserve trust, and keep your business cyber-resilient.
Carbonite offers two HIPAA-compliant cloud backup solutions, the Carbonite Safe Backup Pro and the Carbonite Safe Server Backup. All plans include 250 GB of storage for automatic computer backups, external storage devices, and network-attached storage devices.
What users say
Carbonite does not have the most intuitive interface in the market and may take time to learn and understand. It is a straightforward product that does what it claims to do but offers no add-ons.
Carbonite reviews on G2
| Category |
Barracuda Rating |
| Overall | 4.5 out of 5 (75) |
| Has the product been a good partner in doing business? | 9.0 |
| Quality of support | 8.5 |
| Ease of Admin | 8.8 |
| Ease of Use | 8.7 |
Carbonite reviews on Capterra
| Category |
Barracuda Rating |
| Overall | 4.3 out of 5 (167) |
| Ease of Use | 4.2 |
| Customer Service | 4.0 |
| Features | 4.2 |
| Value for Money | 4.1 |
| Likelihood to Recommend | 77% |
Comparison of best HIPAA-compliant cloud backup services (G2)
| Vendor | Final Score | Summary |
| NinjaOne | 4.126 | NinjaOne is a great choice for IT enterprises looking to achieve or maintain their HIPAA compliance. It’s an all-in-one solution that helps you become more efficient from day one. In fact, 70% of NinjaOne clients reduced vulnerabilities in their environment by 75%. |
| Carbonite | 1.034 | Carbonite is a good alternative for smaller MSPs that don’t need too much data backup. Its solution doesn’t come with any bells and whistles and offers decent HIPAA-compliant services. |
| Cove Data Protection t | 1.202 | Cove Data Protection is an easy-to-use cloud backup software that can help you reach and maintain your HIPAA compliance. |
| Barracuda Backup | 0.710 | Barracuda Backup is an efficient solution for your backup needs. Nevertheless, its solution may not offer highly rigorous HIPAA-compliant services, and may require you to look for other vendors to supplement your Barracuda solution. |
| ArcServe | 0.595 | ArcServe is a reliable and versatile solution that offers real-time recovery and data backup. However, many users claim that the tool is not as flexible or customizable as needed. This may be limiting in maintaining your HIPAA compliance. |
Our rankings formula
To derive the final score for each vendor, we employed a weighted formula that takes into account various metrics. Here’s how it breaks down:
Final Score = w1 * G2 Overall Star Rating + w2 * Capterra Overall Star Rating + w3 * G2 Good Partner in Doing Business + w4 * Capterra Likelihood to Recommend + w5 * G2 Total Number of Reviews (Scaled) + w6 * Capterra Total Number of Reviews (Scaled) + Other Factors
Where:
W1 = .25 * G2 score (% of 5 stars)
W2 = .25 * Capterra score (% of 5 stars)
W3 = .2 * Number of G2 reviews (converted to 100 – move the decimal over to the left twice)
W4 = .2 * Number of Capterra reviews
W3 = .1 * Number of G2 awards (% of 10)
Which cloud storage is HIPAA compliant?
Data standards are non-negotiable in healthcare. Medical centers and healthcare organizations must keep their patient information secure and ready for access. When looking for the best HIPAA-compliant cloud backup, it is crucial to do your due diligence and look for a vendor that prioritizes security and data recovery.
