HIPAA compliance is woven into nearly every aspect of healthcare operations — from employee training and internal audits to patient consent forms and network security testing. But one area that’s often overlooked is accounting software.
That oversight can be costly.
A single breach involving billing or financial data tied to patient information can expose electronic protected health information (ePHI), triggering regulatory penalties, reputational damage, and loss of trust. According to the HIPAA Journal, hundreds of large healthcare data breaches are reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services each year, affecting millions of individuals and resulting in penalties that can exceed $1.5 million per violation.
For healthcare organizations, HIPAA compliance isn’t just a technical requirement — it’s a financial and operational imperative.
HIPAA-compliant accounting software is designed to protect electronic protected health information (ePHI) that may exist within financial, billing, or operational data. This includes systems that store, process, or transmit patient-related financial information such as billing records, insurance data, or identifiers linked to payment activity.
If your accounting platform touches patient-related financial data, it must apply the same HIPAA safeguards required of clinical systems and electronic health records (EHRs).
HIPAA protects patient medical records and any data that can identify an individual when linked to healthcare services. In accounting and billing systems, this often includes:
With nearly all healthcare organizations now using electronic health records (EHRs), the HIPAA Security Rule extends protection beyond clinical systems to any platform that stores or transmits ePHI — including accounting software, payment systems, and integrated financial tools.
HIPAA defines three categories of safeguards that apply to any system handling ePHI. Accounting software is no exception.
Any vendor or service provider with access to ePHI — including accounting software providers — is considered a business associate and must support HIPAA compliance obligations, including breach notification requirements.
Not all accounting platforms marketed to healthcare organizations are built with HIPAA in mind. When evaluating solutions, these features are essential.
A complete, tamper-evident audit trail tracks who accessed data, what changes were made, and when. This is critical for HIPAA audits, internal controls, and reducing fraud risk as organizations grow.
Granular user permissions ensure only authorized staff can access sensitive billing or financial data tied to patients. This reduces exposure risk and supports the principle of least privilege.
Healthcare organizations are frequently exposed to risk through third-party vendors. Accounting software should support:
Data should be encrypted both at rest and in transit, with secure APIs for integrating EHRs and other healthcare systems. Reducing manual exports and imports helps minimize exposure to ePHI.
Healthcare organizations operating multiple locations, clinics, or legal entities need secure, centralized financial oversight without duplicating data or increasing compliance risk.
A true multi-entity accounting system allows organizations to:
Gravity’s healthcare accounting software is built on the Microsoft Power Platform, providing a secure, enterprise-grade foundation for healthcare financial operations.
By leveraging Microsoft’s security architecture, Gravity supports:
Microsoft’s Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) ensures that Gravity’s platform adheres to rigorous security and privacy standards, helping healthcare organizations maintain compliance as regulations and threats evolve.
Healthcare finance teams often outgrow entry-level accounting tools that weren’t designed for regulated environments or multi-entity complexity.
Gravity helps healthcare organizations:
Unlike small business accounting software, Gravity is built to support complex healthcare structures, growing organizations, and long-term operational needs.
See how Gravity supports HIPAA-compliant, multi-entity healthcare accounting.
Schedule a personalized demo to explore how it fits your organization’s structure and workflows.
Gravity Software.
Better. Smarter. Accounting.