Is Vercel HIPAA compliant?

Vercel is a cloud platform for frontend developers that provides tools to deploy, scale, and manage web applications and serverless functions.

With Vercel, organizations can build and ship fast, globally distributed web applications with zero-configuration infrastructure, automated deployments, and a global edge network. This helps businesses reduce time to production, improve application performance, and maintain secure, scalable digital experiences.

Is Vercel HIPAA compliant? Yes, based on our research, Vercel can be HIPAA compliant.

Will Vercel sign a business associate agreement (BAA)?

Yes, Vercel will sign a business associate agreement, which can be reviewed here. Pro customers can purchase the HIPAA add-on through their dashboard. Enterprise customers should contact their Customer Success Manager or Account Executive to execute a signed BAA.

What does the Vercel BAA cover?

The Vercel BAA covers the use and disclosure of protected health information (PHI) across its entire global infrastructure. Their HIPAA compliance guide states that Vercel supports HIPAA compliance as a business associate by "implementing and maintaining appropriate technical and organizational security measures designed to safeguard a customer's Protected Health Information (PHI)."

Their BAA covers:

• Vercel Edge Network and CDN for secure, global content delivery
• Vercel Functions for secure serverless application logic
• Edge Config and KV storage for managing configuration and data
• Build and deployment pipeline with security controls throughout
• Environment variable management for secure credential handling
• Breach notification to customers without undue delay
• Annual independent HIPAA audits, documented in Vercel's Trust Center

What does the Vercel BAA exclude?

HIPAA compliance on Vercel is a shared responsibility, and Vercel is explicit that signing a BAA does not automatically ensure an organization's compliance. Customers remain responsible for configuring security features, managing team access, and validating any third-party services or database integrations they connect to Vercel.

Vercel's enhanced security feature, Secure Compute, which provides isolated cloud networks, dedicated IP addresses, and VPC peering, is available only on Enterprise plans and is not included in the Pro HIPAA add-on. Healthcare organizations with more sensitive workloads should factor this into their plan selection.

External database providers connected to Vercel are not covered under Vercel's BAA. Covered entities must execute separate BAAs with those providers and verify that encryption at rest, in transit, and proper backup procedures are in place.

Conclusion

Vercel signs a BAA and is therefore HIPAA compliant, though covered entities should note that compliance is a shared responsibility and that Secure Compute, recommended for the most sensitive healthcare workloads, is limited to Enterprise plans.

Learn more: HIPAA Compliant Email: The Definitive Guide

FAQs

What is a business associate agreement?

A business associate agreement (BAA) is a legally binding contract establishing a relationship between a covered entity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and its business associates. The purpose of this agreement is to ensure the proper protection of personal health information (PHI) as required by HIPAA regulations.

What is HIPAA?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) sets national standards for protecting the privacy and security of certain health information, known as protected health information (PHI).

HIPAA is designed to protect the privacy and security of individuals' health information and to ensure that healthcare providers and insurers can securely exchange electronic health information. Violations of HIPAA can result in fines and penalties for covered entities.

Who does HIPAA apply to?

HIPAA applies to covered entities, which include healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses. It also applies to business associates of these covered entities. These are entities that perform certain functions or activities on behalf of the covered entity.