The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): 1) improves portability and continuity of health insurance coverage for groups and individuals, 2) combats waste, fraud, and abuse in health insurance for health care delivery, and 3) simplifies 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.