5 HIPAA Compliant Telehealth Platforms for Small Medical Practices (2026)

All telehealth platforms used for patient visits involving protected health information (PHI) require a signed HIPAA Business Associate Agreement. OCR’s COVID-era enforcement discretion that allowed flexibility with non-covered platforms ended May 11, 2023. There are no exceptions today.

The five platforms below all include a BAA and meet the baseline Security Rule requirements for encryption and access controls. The right choice depends on your practice size, existing tools, and budget — not on which platform patients prefer.

What a HIPAA Compliant Telehealth Platform Must Have

Before evaluating specific tools, understand what compliance actually requires:

Business Associate Agreement (BAA). A written contract where the vendor agrees to safeguard PHI and notify you of breaches. This is a hard requirement — no BAA means no compliance, regardless of the platform’s technical security.

End-to-end encryption. Video sessions and any transmitted PHI must be encrypted in transit and at rest. Most modern platforms meet this, but verify it explicitly in the vendor’s security documentation.

Access controls. Only authorized participants should be able to join a session. Waiting rooms, unique session links, and host controls are the practical implementations of this requirement.

Audit logging. The platform must maintain records of who accessed sessions and when. This supports both internal compliance monitoring and OCR investigations.

Breach notification procedures. The vendor must have a process for notifying you within the timeframes required by the Breach Notification Rule.

Platform Comparisons

1. Doxy.me

Doxy.me was built specifically for healthcare telehealth. The BAA is available on every plan, including the free tier — which is uncommon. Patients join via a link in any browser; no app download is required. The free plan covers individual providers doing straightforward one-on-one video visits.

The free plan’s limitations become relevant if you need group sessions, patient intake forms, or EHR integration. Paid plans ($35+/mo per provider) add those capabilities. For a solo practitioner or a two-to-three provider practice that just needs compliant video visits, Doxy.me is the lowest-friction starting point.

2. Zoom for Healthcare

Zoom for Healthcare is a distinct product from standard Zoom — it includes an explicit HIPAA BAA and healthcare-specific features like waiting rooms and PHI-aware recording controls. Standard Zoom plans, including Zoom Business and Zoom Pro, do not include a BAA and cannot be used for telehealth involving PHI.

The cost jump is significant. Zoom for Healthcare starts at approximately $150/mo, compared to standard Zoom plans that start much lower. If your staff is already trained on Zoom and patient familiarity is a priority, the premium may be justified. Verify your contract explicitly says “Zoom for Healthcare” before assuming compliance.

3. SimplePractice

SimplePractice is a practice management platform, not a standalone telehealth tool. Telehealth is bundled into the subscription alongside scheduling, billing, and clinical notes. This is a meaningful advantage for therapy and mental health practices that want everything in one system — the BAA covers the full platform, and video visits are tightly integrated with session documentation.

For medical practices that already have an EHR and need only video visit capability, SimplePractice is likely more than necessary. The platform is well-suited for solo and small group therapy practices where the all-in-one model fits the workflow.

4. Mend

Mend focuses on patient engagement — reducing no-shows through automated reminders, streamlining intake with digital forms, and centralizing patient communication — with telehealth as part of that package. The BAA is included.

The trade-off is cost and complexity. At $100+/mo, Mend costs more than a basic telehealth platform. For practices where no-show rates and patient intake inefficiency are real operational problems, the additional features may justify the price. For practices that just need HIPAA compliant video visits, simpler options are available.

5. Google Meet (via Google Workspace)

Google Meet can be used for HIPAA compliant telehealth, but only under specific conditions: the practice must be on a paid Google Workspace for Business plan (or higher), and the account administrator must accept the Google HIPAA BAA in the Admin Console. Free Google accounts — including @gmail.com — are never covered.

If your practice is already running on Google Workspace, Google Meet adds no incremental cost and requires no new vendor relationship. The limitation is the absence of healthcare-specific features: no waiting rooms native to Meet, no patient intake forms, no clinical workflow integration. It works as a video platform; it does not replace a dedicated telehealth tool.

Platform Comparison Table

The table in the frontmatter above summarizes BAA availability, pricing, and best-fit use cases for each platform.

Choosing the Right Platform

For most small practices starting telehealth today: begin with Doxy.me’s free plan. It has a BAA, requires no patient download, and costs nothing. Upgrade to a paid Doxy.me plan or evaluate Mend when you need intake forms or patient messaging automation.

If your staff is deeply familiar with Zoom and patient familiarity is a real factor in your market, Zoom for Healthcare is a defensible choice — but confirm the product tier in writing before signing.

For therapy and mental health practices that do not yet have a practice management system, SimplePractice’s bundled approach makes it the most efficient path to a complete operational setup with telehealth included.

Google Meet via Workspace is a pragmatic option if you are already a Workspace shop and do not need telehealth-specific features. It is not a replacement for a dedicated platform — it is a compliant video call tool.

The one firm answer: FaceTime, standard Zoom, and consumer video apps are not acceptable substitutes. OCR’s enforcement discretion ended. The BAA requirement applies to every telehealth encounter.