HIPAA and compliance
Does an AI receptionist for a chiropractic clinic require a signed BAA?
By the Recepta Desk team · Reviewed 2026-07-08
Key takeaways
- A HIPAA-covered chiropractic clinic needs a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with any vendor that could touch patient PHI, before that access starts.
- Recepta Desk signs a BAA with every clinic during setup, filled in with the clinic's details and signed electronically in the dashboard.
- The BAA is the legal basis for a vendor to handle PHI on a covered entity's behalf.
- Ask any vendor for its BAA before sending a single patient text; hesitation is a red flag.
Yes. Under HIPAA, a vendor that could touch a patient's protected health information (PHI) on a covered entity's behalf must have a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA) before that access starts. A chiropractic clinic that lets an AI answer patient texts is a covered entity working with a business associate, and the BAA is the legal basis for that relationship.
Recepta Desk signs a BAA with every clinic as part of setup, before any patient conversation runs. The agreement is filled in with the clinic's own business details and signed electronically inside the dashboard, so a clinic never faxes a PDF back and forth or waits on a sales call to get it done.
Ask any vendor for its BAA before sending a single patient text. A vendor that hesitates, or treats the request as unusual, is telling you something about how seriously it takes PHI.
Sources
Last reviewed 2026-07-08 by the Recepta Desk team. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll correct it.