Zendesk is a customer experience platform that provides tools for customer support, ticketing, live chat, and help center management.

With Zendesk, organizations can manage customer inquiries across multiple channels, automate support workflows, and gain analytics-driven insights to improve customer experience. It is widely used across industries, including healthcare, where teams use it to manage patient communications and support operations.

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

 

What changed this year?

As of April 2026, our review did not identify any publicly disclosed changes to Zendesk's HIPAA-related policies or BAA terms.

 

Will Zendesk sign a business associate agreement (BAA)?

Yes, Zendesk will sign a business associate agreement, which can be reviewed and signed via DocuSign here. HIPAA compliance is only available on Zendesk's Suite Enterprise plan or higher; lower-tier plans, including Suite Team, Growth, and Professional, do not support HIPAA compliance regardless of configuration. In addition to the Enterprise plan, organizations must purchase the Advanced Data Privacy and Protection Add-On, which includes the BAA, advanced encryption features, access logs, redaction capabilities, and data retention policies.

 

What does the Zendesk BAA cover?

The Zendesk BAA covers the use and disclosure of protected health information (PHI). Their Advanced Compliance help page states, "Because personal health information may exist within Zendesk service data, the Advanced Compliance feature helps you fulfill your HIPAA obligations."

 

What does the Zendesk BAA exclude?

Depending on how the platform is used, it may also be necessary to disable third-party apps and integrations or enter into separate BAAs with third-party software vendors. Zendesk's AI-powered features, which draw on multiple large language model providers including OpenAI, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Bedrock, and Google Cloud Platform, should be carefully reviewed by compliance teams before use with PHI, as coverage under the Zendesk BAA for these integrations may vary.

Additionally, secure agent authorization must be enabled through additions like single sign-on (SSO) or by setting Zendesk default password settings to "high" and enforcing two-factor authentication (2FA). HIPAA compliance on Zendesk requires over 50 specific security configurations across multiple products, making implementation a massive undertaking for healthcare organizations.

 

Conclusion

Zendesk signs a BAA and is, therefore, HIPAA compliant, though compliance is limited to Enterprise plan customers with the Advanced Data Privacy and Protection Add-On and requires extensive security configuration before handling any PHI.

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.