How to Block PHI in SharePoint Automatically

SharePoint is widely used across hospitals, insurance companies, health tech, and telemedicine, but it has no built-in PHI blocking capabilities. SharePoint does not inspect content for HIPAA-sensitive information, leaving healthcare organizations exposed.

SharePoint limitations:

• No content analysis to identify PHI
• No blocking of uploads containing PHI
• No OCR for medical scans, images, or ID cards
• No PHI-based restrictions on OneDrive sync
• No blocking rules for clinical PDFs or forms
• No HIPAA-compliant DLP enforcement
• No prevention of externally shared PHI
• No historical blocking for existing content

This means staff can unknowingly upload highly sensitive medical data into SharePoint libraries—even into publicly accessible folders—without any safeguards.

What PHI Uploads Look Like Inside SharePoint

PHI enters SharePoint constantly through common healthcare workflows. Strac’s PHI blocking rules need to trigger for:

• Patient intake forms
• Insurance claims and member forms
• Diagnostic summaries
• Lab results (PDFs or scanned images)
• Treatment plans and physician notes
• Patient communication screenshots
• Clinical spreadsheets
• Prescription documentation
• Medical ID cards
• Radiology or pathology image exports
• Compliance or billing files containing PHI

Strac blocks PHI categories such as:

• Patient names
• Medical Record Numbers (MRNs)
• Insurance policy numbers
• Member IDs
• Dates of birth
• Dates of service
• Treatment details
• Diagnostic information
• Clinical identifiers
• Prescription numbers
• Provider information
• PHI inside scanned forms, images, PDFs, or spreadsheets

These uploads must be blocked to prevent accidental exposure.

✨What It Means to Block PHI in SharePoint

Blocking PHI means stopping the file before it touches SharePoint storage, preventing HIPAA violations and unauthorized access. Unlike alerting or redaction, blocking ensures the PHI never enters an unapproved location.

Strac’s PHI blocking applies to:

• Real-time uploads
• File edits and new versions
• OneDrive syncs
• External shares
• Guest uploads
• Bulk folder uploads
• Automated workflow imports
• File movements to shared libraries

Blocking actions include:

• Preventing file upload
• Preventing file version updates
• Preventing external sharing
• Breaking existing share links
• Blocking risky sync activity
• Logging incidents for HIPAA compliance

Blocking is essential when SharePoint is not designated as a HIPAA-compliant storage location.

How to Automatically Block PHI in SharePoint with Strac

Strac inspects each file as it is uploaded, synced, created, or updated in SharePoint. If PHI is detected, Strac blocks the action instantly—before the sensitive data is stored or accessed.

How Strac’s PHI blocking works:

• AI + OCR + NLP analyze file contents
• Identifies PHI in PDFs, Excel files, Word docs, images, and scans
• Blocks uploads or edits before the file is saved
• Blocks OneDrive sync activity if PHI is detected
• Prevents external shares containing PHI
• Logs all blocked actions for HIPAA audits
• Supports per-department or per-library blocking policies
• Enables custom blocking for specific PHI categories

Organizations can configure blocking based on:

• PHI type (MRN, diagnosis, insurance ID, etc.)
• Document type
• Library or SharePoint site
• User group or department
• Severity level
• Ban-list or allow-list conditions

Real Examples of PHI Blocking in SharePoint

Example 1 — Clinic staff uploads a PDF lab report
Strac blocks the upload and prevents PHI from entering the library.

Example 2 — Insurance team tries to sync scanned member forms via OneDrive
Strac blocks the sync and logs the incident.

Example 3 — HR department uploads employee medical documents
Upload is blocked due to PHI detection.

Example 4 — A contractor attempts to share a patient document externally
Strac blocks the share action and revokes access.

Every blocked action includes a full log entry with user, file name, timestamp, and PHI category.

Why Strac Is the Best Way to Block PHI in SharePoint

• Real-time PHI blocking across SharePoint + OneDrive
• AI + OCR detection for medical images, scans, PDFs, spreadsheets
• HIPAA-compliant PHI classification
• Automatic enforcement + historical scanning
• Zero-agent deployment
• Supports all 18 HIPAA PHI identifiers
• Full audit trail for HIPAA auditors
• Optional remediation: redact, delete, quarantine

🌶️Spicy FAQs on How to Block PHI in SharePoint

Does SharePoint block files containing PHI?

No. SharePoint cannot detect or block PHI natively.

Can Strac block PHI inside scanned medical forms or ID cards?

Yes. OCR detects PHI in images, scans, and layered PDFs.

Can Strac block PHI from OneDrive sync folders?

Yes. Strac blocks PHI before it reaches SharePoint storage.

Can we block only high-risk PHI like MRNs and insurance IDs?

Yes. PHI blocking rules can be targeted by data category.

Does blocking support HIPAA compliance?

Yes. Blocking prevents PHI from being stored in unauthorized systems.

Try Strac for SharePoint PHI Blocking & DLP

Strac helps healthcare, insurance, and clinical organizations automatically detect, classify, and block Protected Health Information (PHI) across SharePoint libraries, folders, synced OneDrive directories, and shared environments—preventing HIPAA exposure before it happens.