The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) reforms the health care industry with provisions that: (1) improve portability and continuity of health insurance coverage for groups and individuals, (2) combat waste, fraud, and abuse in health insurance for health care delivery, and (3) simplify the administration of health insurance. To accomplish these objectives, the HIPAA requires specific national standards for coding and tracking medical information, administrative simplification, and security and privacy of individual patient records.