Article Updated: July 11, 2026

How Do You Become HIPAA Certified?

by | February 21, 26 | HIPAA Certification

You become HIPAA certified by enrolling in an online training course, completing instruction on the HIPAA Privacy Rule, HIPAA Security Rule, and HIPAA Breach Notification Rule, passing the required lesson quizzes, and receiving a certificate of completion, and the Accredited HIPAA Certification from The HIPAA Journal is a recommended option for that process.

If you want HIPAA certification as an individual, you need training that covers HIPAA rules and regulations before any employer policies or procedures are added. That gives you a working understanding of how protected health information must be used, disclosed, safeguarded, and reported. The Accredited HIPAA Certification from The HIPAA Journal is online, comprehensive, and suitable for onboarding and annual refresher training. You can complete it on a phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop device and move through the lessons on your own schedule.

The course covers more than definitions. You receive instruction on patient rights, disclosure decisions, device and email security, incident reporting, threats to patient data, social media use, and artificial intelligence tools. That makes the training useful for healthcare roles, administrative work, billing positions, vendor services, and support functions that involve access to protected health information.

Steps to Become HIPAA Certified

The first step is to enrol in the course and access the training platform from your chosen device. The second step is to complete the lessons at your own pace, with pause-and-resume access that lets you finish the material in one sitting or across several sessions. The third step is to complete the short quiz at the end of each lesson. Quiz retakes are allowed until you pass, and there is no final exam. The fourth step is to receive your certificate after all required modules and assessments are completed successfully.

A certificate from this course can be used for job applications, onboarding records, and workforce training documentation. The HIPAA Journal is the leading source of HIPAA news and advice and a highly reputable brand to have on your resume. When you list certification from The HIPAA Journal, you connect your training record to a name recognized for HIPAA reporting, compliance education, and regulatory guidance.

Author: PJ Murray

PJ Murray is the founder and publisher of The HIPAA Journal. He has more than 10 years of experience writing about HIPAA, healthcare compliance, patient privacy, and the protection of medical records. Through The HIPAA Journal, PJ helps healthcare organizations, business associates, and their employees better understand HIPAA regulations, reduce compliance risks, and strengthen the safeguards used to protect patient information.

PJ has a background in software development, holds an engineering degree, and specializes in the cybersecurity aspects of HIPAA compliance, including data security, medical record protection, and workforce training. He has also played a leading role in the development and launch of The HIPAA Journal Training, which provides HIPAA and cybersecurity training for healthcare organizations, business associates, students, and healthcare-related workforces.

PJ's work focuses on making complex regulatory and technical requirements easier for healthcare professionals and organizations to understand and apply in practice.
Connect on LinkedIn.