Airtable sits somewhere between a spreadsheet and a database, and clinics often use it to track credentialing, vendor BAAs, and onboarding. The data inside those bases frequently qualifies as PHI. Airtable will sign a BAA — on its Enterprise Scale plan only — and the pricing is not designed for practices under 50 people.
The BAA Problem
Airtable’s HIPAA-eligible tier is its top plan, sold per user with an annual commitment. You also need to explicitly configure which bases fall under the BAA. Nothing about the setup is built for a small clinic.
What Changes With PHIGuard
PHIGuard is built for covered entities. Every tier — starting at $99/month per clinic — includes a signed BAA at signup. You also get:
- Immutable audit trail satisfying HIPAA §164.312(b)
- PHI-aware fields that keep patient detail out of notification channels and logs
- Compliance templates for annual training, risk analysis, incident response, and policy reviews
- Role-based access scoped to clinic roles
Pricing Comparison
| Airtable | PHIGuard | |
|---|---|---|
| BAA included | Enterprise Scale only | Every tier |
| Pricing model | Per user/month (annual) | Per clinic/month |
| HIPAA audit trail | No | Yes, built-in |
| Compliance templates | No | Yes |
| Starting price (with BAA) | Enterprise (custom) | $99/clinic/mo |
Who Should Use PHIGuard Instead of Airtable
If your Airtable bases are mostly clinical trackers — credentialing, licensure, vendor BAAs, incident logs — those workflows belong in a tool that ships them as first-class features, with a BAA and audit trail by default. Airtable remains excellent for non-clinical operational data.