Is ChatGPT HIPAA compliant?

HIPAA does not certify software. A practice can send PHI to an AI vendor when the vendor has a BAA with the practice, the product is eligible, and the feature is covered. OpenAI says accepting its BAA does not by itself make an application compliant. For the other AI tools, see HIPAA compliant AI: which tools sign a BAA.

Which OpenAI products can be covered

• ChatGPT for Healthcare, with central administration for several users.
• ChatGPT Enterprise with Regulated Workspace; sales-managed Enterprise or Edu accounts obtain the BAA through sales.
• ChatGPT for Clinicians, free at launch for verified US physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and pharmacists. Each clinician signs an individual BAA.
• The OpenAI API with Modified Retention. An organization admin accepts the standard BAA in API Platform settings or obtains custom terms.
• ChatGPT FedRAMP and the API FedRAMP with Modified Retention for government workloads.

Covered products still have uncovered features

OpenAI lists improved memory, Sites, Codex in the cloud, and internet access in canvas and code blocks outside the BAA. Features missing from its covered list are not automatically covered, and third-party GPTs and connected apps have their own terms. Administrators must keep PHI out of uncovered features. Read where AI data goes.

What to verify before PHI goes in

1. Hold a copy of the accepted or signed BAA with its date and named workspace or API organization.
2. Confirm the product is eligible and the API organization has Modified Retention.
3. Confirm every feature staff use is covered and switch the rest off.
4. Train staff and include the tool in the practice’s risk analysis and AI use policy.
5. Review audit records on a schedule and keep the review record. See proving who did what.

Which ChatGPT plans meet HIPAA's requirements

HIPAA certifies no software, so no plan meets its requirements alone. As of October 7, 2026, OpenAI's eligible list names ChatGPT for Healthcare, ChatGPT Enterprise with Regulated Workspace, ChatGPT for Clinicians, and ChatGPT FedRAMP, plus the OpenAI API with Modified Retention. Free, Plus, and Pro are absent from the list, and OpenAI says it offers no BAA for Business.

Model training and PHI

A training setting and a BAA are separate protections. Consumer content is eligible for model improvement when the user's setting allows it. Business workspace and API inputs and outputs are excluded from training by default, and Business still has no BAA. Turning training off does not make a plan eligible for PHI. See Is ChatGPT safe for work? for training and retention by plan.

Role-based access control

ChatGPT for Healthcare includes central administration for several users. Before PHI goes in, ask the workspace admin which roles can use each covered feature, limit access to staff whose work needs it, and record the role list in the risk analysis. Do the same for who holds keys in an API organization.

When the tool has no BAA

Staff can use ChatGPT for work with no PHI: policy drafts, template letters and patient education written from a blank page. Text is de-identified under Safe Harbor only when all 18 identifiers are gone for the patient and relatives, employer and household, and the practice has no actual knowledge the remainder identifies the person. Partial removal leaves PHI.

Keep patient work on a model you control

SUPERWISE® BAA details. Hosted by SUPERWISE in a secure cage at 365 Data Centers, Nashville, Tennessee. The model is gpt-oss-120b. Subject to change as models advance.

• Any covered entity can sign, including practices, hospitals, and health systems.
• Covered: Chat on the hosted model under a custom contract; Sentinel routing to the hosted model.
• Not covered: Self-serve Chat plans; The platform (AMP); Outside models a customer chooses; Web search.
• If we confirm a security incident that affects your data, we notify you within 72 hours.
• The BAA carries the same 72-hour notice.
• We sign a BAA with healthcare customers; ask for our template. Request the BAA template. Trust center.

Sentinel replaces the identifiers it recognizes before a prompt leaves the PC and records only check metadata for each inspected interaction. Names and most dates reach the AI tool as written, so keep patient work on a covered plan or on the hosted model. It can backstop a no-PHI policy. Each organization determines its own HIPAA compliance, a BAA for an outside tool comes from that tool's vendor, and Safe Harbor de-identification follows its own HHS method. Sentinel is one safeguard inside that program. Sentinel replaces email addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers in the 123-45-6789 format, credit card numbers, IBANs, IP and MAC addresses, full-length OpenAI keys, and AWS secret keys when labeled. Bank account numbers, tax IDs and EINs, national IDs, VINs, dates of birth, and medical record numbers are replaced only in the labeled formats the gateway recognizes.