Network Solutions is not HIPAA compliant for HIPAA Covered Entities or Business Associates because Network Solutions does not offer a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement for its email, web hosting, or related services and those services are not positioned for creating, receiving, maintaining, or transmitting electronic protected health information under HIPAA Privacy Rule and HIPAA Security Rule requirements.
HIPAA requires a written HIPAA Business Associate Agreement when a vendor performs functions for a regulated healthcare organization and those functions involve protected health information. The agreement must address permitted uses and disclosures, require safeguards for electronic protected health information, establish breach reporting obligations under the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule, and require subcontractors to apply equivalent protections. Without a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement that covers the specific service in scope, a Covered Entity or Business Associate cannot use the service to handle protected health information.
Email and hosting providers can handle protected health information through mailbox content, attachments, web form submissions, website logs, databases, support tickets, backups, and administrator access. Even limited information can become protected health information when an identifiable person is linked to treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. Common exposure points include appointment requests submitted through contact forms, patient portal links sent through standard email, and web analytics that capture identifiers tied to healthcare service pages.
Network Solutions can be used by healthcare organizations only for non-protected health information use cases that avoid patient identifiers combined with healthcare context. That includes excluding protected health information from website forms, eliminating storage of protected health information in hosted databases, and preventing staff from sending protected health information through Network Solutions email. If a website collects patient inquiries, intake details, or appointment information, that collection should be routed through services covered by a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement and configured to meet HIPAA Security Rule safeguard requirements.
When a healthcare organization needs email, hosting, or web form functionality that involves protected health information, select a vendor that will execute a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement for the services in scope and supports access controls, audit controls, transmission security, retention controls, and incident response procedures aligned with HIPAA obligations.