Peter Swire.

Last December, CVS Health and Aetna Inc. announced plans to merge—combining one of the nation's largest health insurers with one of its biggest retail pharmacies. The companies' hope is to leverage the massive data pool that would be created by the deal, which currently is under review by the U.S. Department of Justice, to deliver more personalized and efficient health care.

And last month, Amazon.com announced that it would be teaming up with Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to create an independent health care company for the companies' employees. Around that same time, Amazon also posted a job listing for a professional experienced with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to work on health care-related compliance matters. And, in another consolidation believed to be linked to impending disruption by Amazon, the Albertsons Cos. Inc. supermarkets chain on Tuesday announced it would merge with drugstore chain Rite Aid Corp.

(A privacy rule enacted in 2000 set national privacy standards for protection of personally identifiable health information. HIPAA is enforced by the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services.)