Stop rebuilding the HIPAA audit binder from spreadsheets every year.
Spreadsheets are where most healthcare governance starts: a PHI inventory here, a risk list there, policy approvals in email. Here's how that compares with keeping it all in Tracewell, so you can decide which fits your team.
Cost and effort, side by side
| Spreadsheets and shared drives | Tracewell | |
|---|---|---|
| Software cost | $0, but staff time grows with every audit, new system and new location | $499/month founding price, whole organization, month to month |
| Getting started | Already in place | Import the spreadsheets you have, then assign owners |
| Where PHI goes | A list of systems; flows between them live in people's heads | A lineage map of ETL, API, file and report flows, flagging PHI that moves into a looser classification |
| HIPAA control evidence | Collected by hand into a binder or folder before each audit | A Security, Privacy and Breach Notification scorecard that updates as you map policies and assets to controls |
| Policy approvals | Email threads and signed PDFs; review dates are easy to miss | Named reviewers, a final approver, timestamps and reminders 30 and 7 days before reviews |
| Risk register | A tab that's current the week it's made | Likelihood and impact scores, owners, mitigation plans, target dates and a 5×5 heat map |
| Access requests | Granted by email; rarely revoked | Approve, deny or revoke, with an expiry date on every grant |
| Audit trail | File version history, if anyone kept it | An append-only activity log of every decision |
| Audit prep | The audit-season scramble: chase evidence across inboxes and drives | Pull the scorecard, lineage and approvals from one place |
When spreadsheets are enough
If you're a single-location practice, one person owns compliance and nothing changes much year to year, a well-kept spreadsheet and the free HHS Security Risk Assessment Tool may be all you need. Our 25-point checklist will tell you where the gaps are.
When it's time to move
- Several people update the same files, and no one is sure which version is current.
- You've added locations, systems or vendors, and nobody can say end to end where PHI goes.
- Policy reviews or access reviews have lapsed because the reminder lived in someone's calendar.
- A hospital customer, payer or auditor has asked for evidence, and gathering it took weeks.
For how to structure and score risks either way, see our guide to building a HIPAA risk register.
Frequently asked questions
Can we keep using spreadsheets for HIPAA compliance?
Yes. HIPAA doesn't require a specific tool or format for your documentation. Spreadsheets can work for a very small practice with one person keeping them current. They tend to break down once several people edit them, approvals need a record, or you have to produce evidence quickly for an audit or investigation.
How long does it take to move from spreadsheets to Tracewell?
Tracewell has spreadsheet import, so you start from the inventories you already have instead of retyping them. Most of the work is deciding owners and mapping your existing policies and assets to controls, which you'd need to do for an audit anyway.
What does Tracewell cost compared with spreadsheets?
Spreadsheets cost nothing in software but a lot in staff time, especially before an audit. Tracewell's founding price is $499 a month for your whole organization, month to month, with every module included.
Does Tracewell replace our HIPAA consultant?
No. Tracewell is the system of record; a consultant helps you decide what goes in it and runs the analysis. Many teams use both, and Doss Business Solutions offers fixed-fee consulting alongside the software.
Be ready the day the auditor asks.
Claim one of 20 founding Tracewell seats, or book a free 30-minute call to map your next three governance moves, whether or not we work together.