Emergency preparedness and recovery planners are interested in the availability of information they need to serve people in the event of an emergency. For example, planners seek to meet the special needs of the elderly or persons with disabilities in the event of an evacuation. The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule protects individually identifiable health information held by “covered entities.” The information protected is referred to as protected health information or PHI. The HIPAA Privacy Rule permits covered entities to disclose PHI for a variety of purposes. This tool presents avenues of information flow that could apply to emergency preparedness activities. The rules regarding the use and disclosure of PHI apply to all individuals; no special rules apply to particular populations, such as persons with disabilities. We anticipate that emergency planners may organize their activities in a variety of ways; we hope this guidance will provide useful information to a range of potential programs.