We've been getting asked by customers and prospects about Mandrill and their ability to use it in a HIPAA compliant manner. We know the HIPAA industry is vast so we can empathize with just how many people need to use cloud-based services in this sector.
In previous posts, we’ve covered the following cloud solutions and their capabilities for HIPAA compliance:
Today, we will determine if Mandrill offers HIPAA compliant email service or not. SEE ALSO: HIPAA Breaches and Cloud Providers
Mandrill is a transactional email API for MailChimp users. A competitor to SendGrid, Mandrill is also used for sending data-driven emails. Mandrill is a product created and owned by MailChimp.
We’ve previously talked about how a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is a written contract between a Covered Entity and a Business Associate. It is required by law for HIPAA compliance. We checked Mandrill's site and could not find any mention of their ability to sign a BAA. Since Mandrill is a product owned by MailChimp, we next checked MailChimp's site. We found what we were looking for on the MailChimp Terms of Use page. On their Terms of Use page, they state:
20. Compliance with Laws You represent and warrant that your use of MailChimp will comply with all applicable laws and regulations. You’re responsible for determining whether our Services are suitable for you to use in light of any regulations like HIPAA, GLB, EU Data Privacy Laws, or other laws. If you’re subject to regulations (like HIPAA) and you use our Service, then we won’t be liable if our Service doesn’t meet those requirements.
The Business Associate Agreement is a key component to HIPAA compliance between a Covered Entity and a Business Associate. While Mandrill's site made no mention of HIPAA or their ability to sign a BAA, their parent company MailChimp clearly states they will not sign a BAA or be liable for supporting HIPAA compliance.
Mandrill is not a HIPAA Compliant email solution.