How to Label PHI in SharePoint Automatically

SharePoint supports sensitivity labels via Microsoft Purview—but it cannot detect PHI, so it cannot apply labels to PHI-containing content. Without PHI detection, labels remain inconsistent or completely missing.

SharePoint limitations include:

• No automatic identification of PHI
• No PHI-specific labeling or categorization
• No detection inside PDFs, scans, or images
• No OCR for medical document uploads
• No HIPAA-focused metadata tagging
• No classification of historical content
• No automatic label enforcement triggered by PHI

This leads to massive blind spots in PHI governance.

What PHI Classification Looks Like Inside SharePoint

PHI is embedded across nearly every healthcare workflow, often inside documents users do not realize contain sensitive data. Files requiring PHI labeling include:

• Patient intake packets
• Insurance member documents
• Medical claims
• Lab reports and test results
• EOBs (Explanation of Benefits)
• Treatment plans
• Provider notes and clinical summaries
• Prescription order sheets
• Telemedicine screenshots
• Images of insurance cards or ID cards
• Spreadsheets containing medical identifiers

Strac identifies and labels PHI including:

• Patient names
• Dates of birth
• Medical Record Numbers (MRNs)
• Insurance policy numbers
• Member IDs
• Clinical details, diagnoses, and treatments
• Service dates
• Lab values and results
• Provider information
• Health-related identifiers inside images, PDFs, scans, and spreadsheets

Every instance of PHI must be consistently labeled to remain HIPAA compliant.

✨What It Means to Label PHI in SharePoint

Labeling PHI is essential for:

• Access control
• HIPAA-governed sharing rules
• Risk scoring
• Governance and retention
• Audit preparedness
• Downstream DLP enforcement
• Preventing unauthorized sharing
• Triggering remediation actions
• Identifying PHI hotspots across repositories

When PHI is properly labeled, organizations can:

• Prevent external sharing
• Restrict user access
• Auto-redact or delete based on policy
• Apply retention rules
• Prioritize high-risk documents
• Monitor PHI flow across departments

SharePoint cannot do this on its own without automated PHI detection.

Strac’s PHI labeling engine enables:

• Auto-labeling on upload or modification
• PII/PHI category labeling
• Enhanced metadata tagging
• Sensitivity labels powered by Purview integration
• Workflow-based PHI control (block, delete, redact)
• Historical PHI labeling
• Tenant-wide PHI exposure mapping

How to Automatically Label PHI in SharePoint with Strac

Strac scans all SharePoint content—documents, images, PDFs, spreadsheets, and synced OneDrive files—to detect PHI and apply appropriate labels instantly.

How Strac labeling works:

• AI + OCR extracts PHI signals across structured and unstructured files
• Applies PHI-specific classification tags
• Updates file metadata for HIPAA compliance
• Supports custom labels for high-risk PHI
• Relabels files when new PHI is added
• Labels files across all SharePoint sites and libraries
• Integrates with Microsoft Purview for sensitivity labels
• Supports automated downstream enforcement

Organizations can configure:

• “PHI – High Sensitivity”
• “HIPAA – Restricted”
• “Clinical Data – Confidential”
• Library-specific labeling
• Label-triggered remediation (redact, delete, block)
• PHI-only labels for compliance reporting

This ensures PHI is consistently labeled and governed across the environment.

Real Examples of PHI Labeling in SharePoint

Example 1 — Clinic uploads lab report PDF
Strac detects PHI fields and applies a “PHI – High Sensitivity” label.

Example 2 — Insurance team uploads member claim form
Insurance ID, DOB, and patient name trigger PHI classification.

Example 3 — Employee uploads scanned treatment notes
OCR detects PHI and labels the file immediately.

Example 4 — Spreadsheet of patients imported into a shared site
Strac labels each row’s PHI and tags the file accordingly.

Labels ensure proper downstream governance and HIPAA compliance.

Why Strac Is the Best Way to Label PHI in SharePoint

• Automatically classifies PHI across SharePoint + OneDrive
• AI + OCR detection for medical scans, PDFs, images, spreadsheets
• HIPAA-specific PHI category support
• Seamless integration with Microsoft Purview sensitivity labels
• Supports redaction, blocking, deletion, and alerts triggered by labels
• Real-time + historical labeling
• Zero-agent deployment
• Complete audit visibility for HIPAA regulators

Spicy FAQs on How to Label PHI in SharePoint

Does SharePoint automatically label PHI?

No. SharePoint cannot detect PHI and therefore cannot auto-label it.

Does Strac support labeling PHI inside scanned medical forms or images?

Yes. OCR extracts PHI from visual formats and labels the file.

Can labels trigger workflows like blocking or redaction?

Yes. Labels can initiate automated remediation.

Does Strac integrate with Microsoft Purview?

Yes. Strac can trigger Purview sensitivity labels based on PHI detection.

Can Strac label historical PHI?

Yes. Strac can scan and label existing content in all libraries.

Try Strac for SharePoint PHI Labeling & DLP

Strac helps healthcare, insurance, and clinical organizations automatically detect, classify, and label PHI across SharePoint libraries, folders, and synced OneDrive content—ensuring HIPAA compliance and complete data governance.