HIPAA-Compliant Architecture on AWS
If you are building a HealthTech product that touches patient data, HIPAA compliance is not optional. It is the cost of doing business. Every API endpoint that processes a patient record, every database that stores a diagnosis code, every log file that captures a user ID linked to health data -- all of it falls under HIPAA's regulatory reach.
The challenge for HealthTech companies building on AWS is not whether AWS can support HIPAA workloads -- it can. The challenge is knowing exactly how to configure your infrastructure, applications, and operational processes so that your entire stack is compliant, not just the pieces AWS manages for you. A single misconfigured S3 bucket, an overly permissive IAM role, or a missing audit log can turn a compliant architecture into a breach notification.
This course gives you the complete architecture playbook for HIPAA on AWS. It covers everything from signing the BAA and selecting eligible services to implementing encryption, access controls, network isolation, and automated breach response. Every pattern comes from real HealthTech engagements where compliance was validated by third-party auditors.
Key Requirements​
The Three HIPAA Rules​
- Privacy Rule -- Establishes standards for who can access PHI and under what conditions. Requires minimum necessary use and disclosure.
- Security Rule -- Requires administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect electronic PHI (ePHI). This is where architecture decisions live.
- Breach Notification Rule -- Requires notification to affected individuals, HHS, and (for large breaches) the media within 60 days of discovering a breach.
What Counts as PHI​
Any individually identifiable health information, including names, dates, medical record numbers, diagnoses, treatment information, and payment details when linked to an individual. PHI exists in more places than most teams realize -- application logs, error messages, analytics events, and backup snapshots all count.
Business Associate Agreement (BAA)​
Before you can use AWS for PHI workloads, you must accept the AWS BAA through AWS Artifact. Without a signed BAA, using AWS for PHI is a HIPAA violation regardless of how well your architecture is designed.
HIPAA-Eligible Services​
AWS maintains a list of HIPAA-eligible services covered under the BAA. Not every AWS service is on this list. Using a non-eligible service for PHI creates a compliance gap. Your architecture must be designed around eligible services only.
What This Course Covers​
| Module | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | HIPAA fundamentals and the Security Rule -- administrative, physical, and technical safeguards mapped to AWS controls |
| 2 | BAA setup and HIPAA-eligible service selection -- establishing the compliance foundation and choosing the right services |
| 3 | PHI data classification and handling -- identifying where PHI exists, tagging strategies, and data flow mapping |
| 4 | Encryption architecture for PHI at rest and in transit -- KMS key policies, S3 encryption, RDS encryption, TLS enforcement |
| 5 | Access control and audit logging for PHI -- IAM policies, least privilege patterns, CloudTrail configuration, and log protection |
| 6 | HIPAA-compliant VPC and network design -- network isolation, PrivateLink, security groups, and data flow controls |
| 7 | Breach notification automation and incident response -- detection, containment, notification workflows, and post-incident procedures |
Complete HIPAA Architecture Guide
Get the complete HIPAA architecture guide with CloudFormation templates, IAM policies, and audit-ready configurations for HealthTech on AWS. Includes PHI data flow diagrams, encryption key policies, VPC reference architectures, and incident response runbooks validated by third-party auditors.