This article explains how healthcare clinics and medical practices can use Bunkor as a HIPAA-compliant secure patient portal to safely share sensitive patient files—such as X-rays, imaging, medical records, and referral documents—without relying on email attachments or consumer file-sharing tools.

Why Use a HIPAA-Compliant Secure Patient Portal?

Healthcare organizations routinely handle protected health information (PHI), including medical records, diagnostic imaging, and treatment documents. Using email attachments, unsecured links, or consumer file-sharing platforms creates unnecessary security and compliance risk.

Many clinics move to a secure patient portal for healthcare in order to:

• Protect patient privacy and confidentiality
• Support HIPAA-aligned workflows
• Keep patient files encrypted and access-controlled
• Securely share large files such as X-rays and imaging (hundreds of MBs to multiple GBs)
• Avoid PHI residing in inboxes or unsecured cloud links
• Maintain clear control and accountability over patient data

Two Ways a Secure Patient Portal for Healthcare Shares Files

Bunkor provides two primary methods for securely exchanging files with patients. The right option depends on whether you need ongoing patient access or one-time delivery.

Option 1: Vaults (Secure Patient Portals)

Best for: Ongoing patient access and longitudinal medical records

Vaults function as secure patient portals, allowing clinics to provide controlled, ongoing access to patient documents in an encrypted environment. Many clinics create one Vault per patient to store imaging, reports, and historical records.

How Vaults Work

• Each Vault can be dedicated to a single patient
• Files remain available until access is removed or files are deleted
• If a file is deleted, it is no longer accessible to anyone
• Access does not expire automatically, making Vaults ideal for ongoing care and record access

Sharing a Vault

You can share a Vault in two ways:

1. Invite by Email

• Share the Vault with a specific patient email address
• Assign a role (e.g., Viewer or Uploader)
• The patient creates a Bunkor account and accesses the Vault under “Shared with me”

2. Secure Share Link

• Share a private URL to the Vault
• Enable password protection in the Vault settings for added security
• Passwords cannot be reset, so clinics often use patient-specific information already on file rather than storing passwords separately

Receiving Files from Patients

Vaults also support secure patient uploads:

• Assign the patient the Uploader role so they can submit documents
• Create a File Drop page connected to the patient’s Vault

File Drop pages can be branded with your clinic’s logo, and any files uploaded through the link are automatically saved to the correct Vault.

Option 2: Secure Email (Time-Limited Access)

Best for: One-time or time-sensitive file delivery

Secure email allows clinics to send files as protected attachments with built-in expiration controls.

How Secure Email Works

• Files are sent as encrypted secure attachments
• You choose when access expires (after download, or 1–14 days)
• Once expired, the patient can no longer access the file
• The file and its audit record remain visible in your sent folder

Secure email is ideal when ongoing patient access is not required.

Recommended Secure Patient Portal Setup for Healthcare Clinics

For most healthcare clinics looking for a HIPAA-compliant secure patient portal:

• Use Vaults as patient portals for ongoing access to records and imaging
• Pair Vaults with File Drop pages so patients can securely upload documents
• Use Secure Email for one-off or time-limited file delivery

This setup supports HIPAA-aligned workflows today while scaling as your clinic grows.

Get Help Setting Up a Secure Patient Portal for Healthcare

If you’d like help:

• Structuring patient Vaults
• Sharing large imaging files securely
• Setting up File Drop pages
• Confirming HIPAA-aligned workflows

Our team is happy to help you get started.

Bunkor
A secure, HIPAA-ready patient portal built to protect sensitive medical data

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