The Audit Trail is a running, tamper-evident record of everyone who touches patient information in FrontDesk. HIPAA's Security Rule requires this kind of access logging, and FrontDesk records it automatically — you don't have to switch anything on.
Open it from Settings → Audit Trail.
What's logged
Every entry captures who did what, and when:
- User & email — the team member who took the action
- Action — a view, an update, or an export
- Resource & patient — what was accessed
- Time & IP address — when and from where
- Outcome — whether it succeeded
Actions fall into three groups, color-coded in the list:
| Group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Views | Opening a record, searching, listening to a recording, reading a transcript |
| Updates | Creating or changing a record |
| Exports | Exporting, downloading, printing, or sharing |
Find what you're looking for
- Tabs — filter to All, Views, Updates, or Exports.
- Date range — Last 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, or All time.
- Search — narrow by name or resource.
Entries are grouped by day so you can scan activity date by date.
Export the log
- Export CSV — download the current audit log (with time, user, email, action, resource type, patient, IP, and outcome) for your own records or an auditor.
- Export all account data — owners and admins can request a full export across chosen locations and data types (patients, appointments, call logs, and more, with optional call-recording audio). FrontDesk builds a secure ZIP in the background and emails a download link that expires in 72 hours. The export itself is recorded in the audit trail. See Data retention and deletion.
Good to know
- It can't be edited. The trail is a record of what happened; entries aren't editable.
- It supports patient-rights requests. When you delete or export a patient's data, that action is logged here too.