HIPAA Compliance Insights

HIPAA Certification

HIPAA Certification: Why "Free" Isn't What You Think

That Google Search Could Cost You More Than You Saved I watched a 14-person cardiology practice in Texas get hit with a $160,000 settlement

Carl B. Johnson · Apr 15, 2026

Sunshine Act

What Is the Sunshine Act? A HIPAA Guide for 2026

A surgeon in Ohio walks into her office one morning and discovers her name on a public database — listed alongside $47,000 in payments from

Carl B. Johnson · Apr 14, 2026

HIPAA Authorization

What Is a HIPAA Authorization? A Practical Guide

The Form That Stops Lawsuits — or Starts Them A surgeon's office in Texas faxed a patient's psychiatric records to an employer.

Carl B. Johnson · Apr 14, 2026

HIPAA Compliance Certificate

HIPAA Compliance Certificate: What It Really Means

Last year, I watched a small behavioral health clinic in Ohio hand OCR investigators a framed HIPAA compliance certificate during an audit — as if it

Carl B. Johnson · Apr 13, 2026

HIPAA Forms

What Is a HIPAA Form? The Real Answer Beyond the Jargon

Last month, a medical office manager in Ohio called me in a panic. She'd just been told by a patient's attorney

Carl B. Johnson · Apr 13, 2026

HIPAA Telehealth

HIPAA Compliance Requirements for Telehealth in 2026

The Zoom Call That Cost a Psychiatrist Everything A solo psychiatrist in New England conducted therapy sessions over a consumer-grade video app for two years.

Carl B. Johnson · Apr 12, 2026

HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices

HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices: What You Must Get Right

That Binder Gathering Dust at Your Front Desk Could Cost You Six Figures I walked into a dermatology practice last spring and asked to see

Carl B. Johnson · Apr 12, 2026

HIPAA Refresher Training

HIPAA Refresher Training: Why Annual Reviews Save Millions

A hospital in New York paid $4.8 million to settle HIPAA violations after a former employee — who had been terminated — still had active access

Carl B. Johnson · Apr 11, 2026

Google Hangouts HIPAA

Is Google Hangouts HIPAA Compliant? What You Need to Know

Google Hangouts Died — But the Compliance Question Didn't A behavioral health clinic in Oregon called me last year after a therapist conducted three

Carl B. Johnson · Apr 11, 2026

How to Protect PHI

How to Protect PHI: A Field Guide from the Frontlines

A Stolen Laptop, a $3 Million Fine, and a Lesson in How NOT to Protect PHI In 2016, the University of Mississippi Medical Center paid

Carl B. Johnson · Apr 10, 2026

HIPAA Rules and Regulations

HIPAA Rules and Regulations: What Actually Matters

A hospital employee in South Carolina pulls up her ex-husband's medical record to see if he really went to that appointment he mentioned.

Carl B. Johnson · Apr 10, 2026

HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA Compliance for IT Professionals: A 2026 Guide

The Server Room Where $4.3 Million Disappeared In 2023, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center lost a Supreme Court appeal after OCR

Carl B. Johnson · Apr 9, 2026