The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 (Public Law 104-191) provides for the protection of an individual's health information, which includes medical records and other identifying health-related documentation. It protects all "individually identifiable health information" held or transmitted in any form, including electronic, paper and verbal, by a covered entity. See 45 C.F.R. Section 160.103. A goal of HIPAA's standards and rules is to allow the flow of health information necessary to provide high-quality health care, while at the same time protecting an individual's privacy. For example, a patient may want her treating providers to exchange information related to her treatment to ensure the best care possible but will also not want other people to have access to it.