The comparison of 9 platforms supporting HIPAA-compliant analytics

Selecting the right analytics platform is especially complex for HIPAA-covered organizations. Get it wrong and you either put patient data at risk or end up with reporting you can’t trust, because the identifiers that held it together were stripped out.

The nine platforms in this comparison solve different problems, so we’ve grouped them into three categories:

Web and digital analytics (Piwik PRO, Matomo, Piano Analytics, Adobe Customer Journey Analytics) report on how people use your websites and apps.

Product analytics (Mixpanel, Amplitude, Heap) were built to analyze in-product behavior, and are geared more toward that than toward web reporting.

Data governance and routing (Freshpaint, Tealium) control what data reaches the tools you already use. They don’t report on it themselves, so they need an analytics platform alongside them, and a second licence to budget for.

Signing a business associate agreement (BAA) is the starting point, but it isn’t the whole decision. It’s worth checking which plan the BAA is available on, since most vendors here restrict it to paid or enterprise tiers, including us. Beyond that, the questions that matter are what each platform lets you do with PHI once it’s covered, and what you can still report on afterward.

Google Analytics isn’t in this comparison, because Google won’t sign a BAA. We cover why that matters for healthcare organizations separately.

Below we cover how each platform handles data privacy and security, data collection, processing and connectivity, reporting, and support, so you can see where the real differences sit.

How to find the right platform for HIPAA-compliant analytics

For each platform, we outline and compare features from the following categories:

General overview

The first section includes an overview of each platform’s HIPAA compliance status, privacy and security measures, available plans, pricing, and product capabilities. This helps you quickly understand the overall suitability of the solution for your needs.

Data privacy and security

Data privacy and security features determine how protected health information (PHI) is handled. We cover PHI handling, the availability of business associate agreements (BAAs) and which plan they require, regulatory compliance, access controls, audit logs, server-side tagging, encryption, anonymization, hosting environment, backups, security certifications and consent management integration.

Data collection flexibility

Data collection flexibility determines how different platforms accommodate the diverse technical environments and tracking requirements of healthcare organizations. The availability of JavaScript tags and software development kits (SDKs), support for custom variables and dimensions, data freshness and retention policies, and the number of properties or custom domains that can be tracked show how well the platform can capture relevant user interactions without compromising compliance.

Data processing and connectivity

Data processing and connectivity features such as raw data access, reporting APIs, data sampling methods, and integrations with business intelligence (BI) and data visualization tools enable healthcare organizations to analyze data effectively and integrate analytics insights into broader decision-making workflows. The availability of direct integrations with a customer data platform (CDP) and tag manager further enhances the ability to comprehensively manage and activate patient data.

Reporting features

Reporting features determine how well healthcare teams can derive insights from the collected data. In this section, we outline features like access to detailed reports and metrics, customizable dashboards, event and goal tracking, funnel and product analytics, user flow visualization, session logs, real-time data, calculated metrics, automatic insights, and user-level reporting.

Support and customer care

Support and customer care options play a vital role in successful platform adoption and ongoing compliance. Basic support, such as help centers, community forums, and email assistance, provides foundational help, while more extensive services, like dedicated support specialists, personalized implementation, and onboarding, ensure that organizations can tailor the platform to their specific HIPAA requirements and operational needs.

Overview of the nine platforms

Our comparison includes the following vendors. For a closer look at how several of them handle PHI, see our review of analytics platforms designed for HIPAA compliance.

Web and digital analytics

Piwik PRO

Piwik PRO Analytics Suite is a digital analytics and data activation platform that helps businesses collect, analyze, and put user data into action. The platform includes integrated analytics, tag manager, consent management, and customer data platform capabilities, allowing healthcare providers to safely connect first-party data from various touchpoints. It offers compliant data encryption, secure hosting with Microsoft Azure, customizable BAAs, advanced anonymization options, and more. Our SOC 2 Type II report, carried out under ISAE 3000, includes HIPAA in scope. Piwik PRO is ideal for healthcare institutions seeking actionable marketing insights without compromising HIPAA compliance.

Matomo

Matomo is an open-source web analytics platform. It was founded in 2007 and was known as Piwik until 2018, when it rebranded. Matomo enables organizations to control their analytics data while complying with GDPR and other privacy regulations. Its customizable dashboards, heatmaps, and session recordings provide rich insights into user behavior. Because there is no option to sign a BAA, HIPAA-covered organizations need to self-host their analytics if they choose Matomo. If you’re currently on Matomo and that’s a problem, we’ve written about moving from Matomo to a hosted platform with a BAA.

Piano Analytics

Piano Analytics (formerly AT Internet) is a European-focused analytics platform that emphasizes privacy, compliance, and actionable digital insights. Piano Analytics offers flexible hosting and strong privacy controls, and will sign a BAA. Its focus on digital content and marketing performance makes it a fit for organizations with strict privacy requirements, though its European orientation means US healthcare teams should confirm hosting and support arrangements.

Adobe Customer Journey Analytics (CJA) 

Adobe CJA is an enterprise analytics solution designed to unify and analyze customer journeys across multiple channels in real time. Integrated deeply within the Adobe Experience Cloud, CJA provides advanced segmentation, visualization and reporting capabilities. Adobe lists Customer Journey Analytics as a HIPAA-ready service, which requires the Healthcare Shield add-on and a signed BAA, and Adobe Analytics isn’t covered. Healthcare Shield terms also exclude data associated with substance use disorder, mental health conditions and genetic information. CJA is particularly well-suited for large enterprises that already use Adobe’s ecosystem for marketing and customer experience management.

Product analytics

Mixpanel

Mixpanel is an advanced product analytics tool offering interactive dashboards and experimentation tools that empower product managers and marketers to optimize user engagement and feature adoption. It provides real-time event tracking, cohort analysis, and user segmentation, helping product and marketing teams optimize patient engagement and retention while maintaining compliance. Mixpanel is a good fit for healthcare SaaS and digital health companies that need actionable behavioral analytics combined with HIPAA safeguards. Mixpanel signs a BAA, though only on its Enterprise plan and subject to qualification.

Amplitude

Amplitude provides advanced behavioral analytics designed for growth-driven digital businesses. It enables healthcare organizations to analyze patient journeys, retention, and product usage with advanced segmentation and predictive analytics. Amplitude signs a BAA with regulated customers, though it doesn’t publish which plan this requires. Its privacy controls, data governance and integration options make it suitable for large healthcare enterprises and digital health teams, particularly those focused on product and growth analytics rather than web reporting.

Heap

Heap is a digital insights platform that gives teams a complete understanding of customers’ digital journeys to improve conversion, retention, and customer satisfaction. It automatically captures all user interactions and supports HIPAA compliance through BAAs (available on request), data encryption, and privacy controls. Its retroactive analytics and journey analysis capabilities allow healthcare teams to gain insights without manual event tagging, reducing implementation complexity. Heap is ideal for healthcare organizations seeking fast deployment and comprehensive analytics while ensuring PHI security.

Data governance and routing

Freshpaint

Freshpaint is a healthcare-focused platform built with privacy and HIPAA compliance in mind. It can be used to collect website and app data while preventing the sharing of protected health information (PHI) with non-compliant tools, such as analytics or ad platforms. Using cryptographic hashing and anonymous user IDs, Freshpaint enables organizations to analyze complete visitor journeys without exposing individual identities. At the same time, because it serves as an intermediary to prevent PHI from being sent to non-compliant tools, Freshpaint governs what reaches your tools rather than reporting on it, so it needs an analytics platform alongside.

Tealium

Tealium is an enterprise customer data platform and tag management leader, specializing in secure, compliant, and real-time customer data management across large organizations. Tealium holds an independent HIPAA attestation covering its Private Cloud offering, alongside ISO 27001 and SOC 2. It signs a BAA with Private Cloud customers. It’s the best fit for enterprises needing granular control over customer data and seamless integration across multiple channels.