Enable HIPAA readiness for Knowledge Base in Acrobat

Before your organization processes PHI in Knowledge Base, an applicable BAA with Adobe must be in place and Adobe must enable HIPAA readiness for your organization.

Request HIPAA readiness

Contact your Adobe account team and ask to enable HIPAA readiness for Knowledge Base in Acrobat.

Adobe works with your organization to:

1. Determine whether an applicable BAA is already in place.
2. Provide a BAA if one is required.
3. Confirm that the applicable BAA has been executed.
4. Enable HIPAA readiness for your organization.

If your organization already has a BAA with Adobe, Adobe determines whether the existing agreement applies to your use of Knowledge Base.

You don't need to configure any Adobe-controlled HIPAA enablement settings yourself.

Disable access from PDF Spaces

Before ingesting regulated data into Knowledge Base, and before HIPAA readiness is enabled, administrators can manually prevent PDF Spaces from accessing your organization's Knowledge Base collections.

When you enable the setting:

• Users can't link Knowledge Base collections to PDF Spaces.
• Users can't access Knowledge Base collection content from PDF Spaces.
• Other Knowledge Base access methods continue to work, including AI Assistant, supported chatbot integrations, and API-based integrations.

Disabling the integration doesn't disable PDF Spaces itself.

Understand administrator control

Before Adobe enables HIPAA readiness, organization administrators can manage Disable PDF Spaces integration according to their organization's requirements.

Enabling Disable PDF Spaces integration yourself doesn't enable HIPAA readiness or indicate that a BAA is in place.

What happens after Adobe enables HIPAA readiness

After Adobe confirms the applicable BAA and completes HIPAA enablement:

• Disable PDF Spaces integration remains enabled.
• Adobe locks the setting so organization administrators can't re-enable PDF Spaces access to Knowledge Base collections.
• The setting remains visible in Settings > Manage PDF Spaces access.
• Adobe confirms that HIPAA readiness is enabled for your organization.

Your organization may then process PHI in Knowledge Base in accordance with its BAA with Adobe and applicable HIPAA requirements.

Things to know

• Disable PDF Spaces integration is off by default, so PDF Spaces can access Knowledge Base until an administrator or Adobe restricts that access.
• Disabling PDF Spaces integration alone doesn't make your organization HIPAA Ready.
• An applicable BAA must be in place and Adobe must enable HIPAA readiness before you process PHI in Knowledge Base.
• After Adobe enforces HIPAA readiness, organization administrators can't change the PDF Spaces integration setting.
• Your organization remains responsible for using Knowledge Base in accordance with its BAA and applicable HIPAA requirements.

Frequently asked questions

• Is Acrobat Studio for enterprise HIPAA Ready?
  Knowledge Base in Acrobat and Analyzer in Acrobat are HIPAA Ready. The designation applies specifically to these experiences and doesn't extend to other Acrobat Studio for enterprise experiences.
  
• Can we use PHI with Knowledge Base and Analyzer?
  Eligible customers can use Knowledge Base and Analyzer for applicable workflows involving protected health information (PHI) after the required Business Associate Agreement (BAA) and product enablement steps are complete.
  
• Is HIPAA readiness automatically enabled when we purchase or access the product?
  No. Product access alone doesn't enable HIPAA-ready processing. Your organization must have the required BAA in place and complete the applicable product enablement process before processing PHI.
  
• Do I need a BAA?
  Yes. The required BAA must be in place before your organization processes PHI with Knowledge Base or Analyzer.
  
• What happens after the BAA is signed?
  Adobe coordinates the applicable product enablement. After Adobe enables HIPAA readiness, your organization receives confirmation and can begin processing PHI subject to the applicable requirements and terms.
  Product administrators can also verify the corresponding HIPAA readiness state in the product settings.
  
• Does HIPAA readiness apply to all Acrobat Studio for enterprise experiences?
  No. The HIPAA-ready designation currently applies specifically to Knowledge Base and Analyzer. Other Acrobat Studio for enterprise experiences aren't included in the designation.
  
• Why isn't all of Acrobat Studio for enterprise HIPAA Ready?
  Adobe applies its HIPAA-ready designation to the specific products and experiences that meet the applicable requirements. Currently, that designation includes Knowledge Base and Analyzer.
  
• What about PDF Spaces?
  For Knowledge Base, the HIPAA-ready configuration requires PDF Spaces integration to be disabled. After Adobe enables HIPAA readiness, PDF Spaces access to Knowledge Base collections remains blocked, and organization administrators can't re-enable the integration.
  
• When will other Acrobat Studio for enterprise experiences be HIPAA Ready?
  Adobe doesn't have additional timing to share for other Acrobat Studio for enterprise experiences at this time.
  
• Who is eligible?
  Current enablement guidance applies to U.S. healthcare Covered Entities under HIPAA. Contact your Adobe account team for questions about eligibility or contracting.