How to Set PHI Alerts in SharePoint Automatically

While SharePoint manages document storage and access controls, it does not inspect file content for PHI and cannot send alerts when sensitive medical information is uploaded or shared.

SharePoint limitations include:

• No real-time PHI detection
• No alerts for PHI inside PDFs or scans
• No OCR to analyze images, medical forms, or lab results
• No HIPAA-specific monitoring rules
• No tracking of PHI in OneDrive sync folders
• No alerts when PHI is shared externally
• No historical content alerting

Without PHI alerting, organizations face silent HIPAA violations and potential fines.

What PHI (HealthCare Data) Alerts Look Like Inside SharePoint

PHI appears everywhere inside SharePoint, especially in healthcare, HR, insurance, and telemedicine workflows. Alerts need to trigger when PHI is detected in:

• Patient intake forms
• Insurance claim PDFs
• Lab reports
• Treatment summaries
• Diagnostic imaging exports
• Patient communication screenshots
• Billing statements
• Spreadsheets with patient identifiers
• Discharge summaries
• Scanned medical forms
• Uploaded medical ID cards

Strac detects and alerts on PHI including:

• Patient names
• Dates of birth
• Medical Record Numbers (MRNs)
• Insurance member IDs
• Treatment and diagnosis descriptions
• Test results
• Doctor/provider details
• Clinical notes
• Prescription identifiers
• PHI inside images, scanned documents, PDFs, and spreadsheets

Each alert includes severity level, file details, library path, and user identity.

✨What It Means to Alert on PHI (HealthCare Data) in SharePoint

PII alerting is about compliance, but PHI alerting is about patient safety and HIPAA liability. Alerts must be immediate, actionable, and logged.

Effective PHI alerting includes:

• Real-time notifications
• Identification of specific PHI types detected
• Who uploaded the file
• File location
• Severity level (MRN > DOB > Name, etc.)
• Context inside the document
• Whether the file was externally shared
• Whether the PHI was part of a larger pattern

SharePoint alone cannot provide any of this functionality.

Strac supports:

• Department-level alerting
• PHI category–specific alerts
• Alerts for OneDrive sync uploads
• Alerts for external sharing
• Alerts for repeated PHI exposure attempts
• Alerts for specific libraries (ex: public-facing sites)
• Alerts integrated into Slack, Teams, Jira, SIEM, and email

How to Automatically Alert on PHI (HealthCare Data) in SharePoint with Strac

Strac scans every document uploaded, synced, or edited in SharePoint. When PHI is detected, Strac immediately sends alerts and logs the event for HIPAA compliance.

How Strac PHI alerting works:

• Uses AI + OCR + NLP to detect PHI
• Inspects uploads, edits, and OneDrive syncs in real time
• Sends alerts to compliance, security, or IT
• Provides detailed metadata in each alert
• Supports multiple alert channels
• Assigns severity levels based on PHI type
• Triggers optional remediation (redact, delete, block)
• Creates audit logs required by HIPAA

Alert rules can be configured by:

• PHI type (MRN, treatment info, insurance ID)
• Sensitivity level
• SharePoint site or library
• Department
• User group
• Document type
• Sharing context

This ensures PHI exposure is caught immediately.

Real Examples of PHI (HealthCare Data) Alerts in SharePoint

Example 1 — Med tech uploads lab results PDF
Strac alerts instantly on MRN, patient name, and test results.

Example 2 — Call center uploads screenshot with patient details
OCR detects PHI and sends an immediate alert.

Example 3 — Insurance team uploads claim form
Strac detects PHI fields such as policy ID and DOB.

Example 4 — OneDrive sync pushes a scanned medical form
Strac generates a high-severity PHI alert.

Each alert includes file name, user, timestamp, PHI category, and recommended action.

Why Strac Is the Best Way to Alert on PHI (HealthCare Data) in SharePoint

• Real-time PHI detection + alerting
• Works across SharePoint + OneDrive seamlessly
• OCR for images, scans, medical forms, PDFs
• HIPAA-focused PHI classification
• Zero-agent deployment
• Supports PHI alerts for all 18 HIPAA identifiers
• Easily integrates with SIEM tools
• Full audit logs for HIPAA compliance audits
• Optional remediation: redact, delete, block

🌶️Spicy FAQs on How to to Alert on PHI (HealthCare Data) in SharePoint

Does SharePoint alert on PHI automatically?

No. SharePoint cannot detect or alert on PHI.

Can Strac alert on PHI inside images and scanned medical forms?

Yes. OCR identifies PHI and triggers alerts instantly.

Can alerts be customized by PHI type or sensitivity?

Yes. You can create rules for MRNs, insurance IDs, DOBs, diagnoses, and more.

Can Strac alert if PHI is shared externally?

Yes. Strac detects sharing events and alerts immediately.

Does Strac store PHI?

No. Strac processes PHI securely but does not store raw sensitive content.

Try Strac for SharePoint PHI (HealthCare Data) Alerts & DLP

Strac helps healthcare and insurance organizations automatically detect, classify, and alert on PHI across SharePoint libraries, folders, synced OneDrive directories, and shared documents—ensuring continuous HIPAA compliance and eliminating silent exposure.