Posts Tagged ‘Medical Identity Theft’
Guard yourself from medical identity theft
Friday, February 3rd, 2012
What can the medical community do to prevent medical identity theft?
Monday, October 17th, 2011Recent reports indicate that one-third of health care organizations have reported medical identity theft. It’s the fastest growing form of identity theft.
If the problem of medical identity theft is increasing, what can members of the health care community do to prevent it?
Physicians’ practice employees must be committed to protecting the privacy of patient information, even to the point of going beyond was is required by HIPAA. This includes training employees on how to protect information, while making sure they know how and when to access the information when appropriate.
Some health care systems are set up or are setting up to use biometrics, like fingerprint or eye scanners, to confirm patient identity. But making it standard policy to check photo identification at each patient visit is effective enough, if it’s done each and every time.
Checking IDs seems like such an elementary thing, yet many physicians’ offices don’t check every time, for fear of offending regular patients. But doings so, along with keeping a copy of that ID on file, can go along way toward prevention of medical identity theft.
For physicians, it isn’t just a safety issue – it’s also an ethical issue. Protecting patient information is crucial, but so is treating patients who need care. Doctors have an ethical obligation to treat the sick. Even if their IDs don’t match up. So what does a doctor do in this case – protect the identity of a patient and catch the bad guy, or treat someone who needs it, in spite of issues with identification?
The right thing to do would be to treat the thief, and contact law enforcement. Treat a cold – call the cops. Protecting patients from medical identity theft is too important.
When it comes to medical ID theft, what you don’t know can kill you
Friday, September 16th, 2011Stolen medical information could cost more than just your good credit
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010When Joanna Saenz opened her mail several years ago, she got quite a surprise. She had delivered a baby girl, born in Nebraska, and she’d just received the hospital bill.
But here’s the glitch – Saenz doesn’t have a daughter, and she’s never been to Nebraska.
The child’s mother had stolen Saenz’s identity, using a birth certificate and Social Security card stolen 10 years ago from Saenz, when she was 17 and in Mexico visiting relatives.
Saenz says her situation consumed 10 years of her life. She is now the founder of Identity Recovery of Colorado, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping victims of identity theft. Saenz says in her case, the thief had obtained an education, houses and cars in her name.
In the realm of identity theft, medical identity theft is a small slice, compared with incidents of theft stemming from stolen credit card information. But because medical records are so complete, they can pose an even greater risk. These records often include payment data, leading to financial and credit fraud. Payment information is worth a lot when sold on the black market.
But even more frightening is the possibility that a life-threatening error can be made as the medical histories of thief and victim become intertwined over time. A person with an allergy can be given the wrong medication or the wrong blood type.
To protect yourself, ask for your medical records, and review them for any inaccurate or false information. Work with providers and your insurance company to correct them. This will take time…but it could save not just your good name, but your life as well.
Medical identity theft will cost you – big time
Friday, October 22nd, 2010A Texas woman has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for orchestrating a scheme to steal the personal information of patients while she was employed by a medical billing contractor.
Katrina Candrick, 34, of LaGrange, Texas, was sentenced in early October on charges of conspiracy to commit identity theft and for unlawful possession of fraudulent identification documents. She has also been ordered to pay more than $163,000 in restitution.
Candrick was employed as a patient account representative at MedAssets, a Richardson, Texas-based health care billing company, from July 6 to Nov. 13, 2009. While employed by the company, Candrick illegally obtained the personal information of more than 1,200 individuals from billing accounts she handled. Many of the victims were patients at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
When Candrick was arrested Dec. 14, 2009, she was using the name of a person whose identity she had stolen, and was using stole information to pay for living expenses, vehicles and other items.
This case highlights the rise of insider threats to personal information. These types of crime are committed by employees who have access to sensitive data and more often than not, the employer does little or nothing to perform any monitoring.
Medical identity theft has been on the upswing in recent months, partially due to the wealth of information available in medical records. Thieves can use this information to obtain medical treatment or prescription drugs that they otherwise would not have had access to. Medical records contain not only names and addresses, but also employer and financial account information. Information is also shared between doctors’ offices, insurance companies and other health care facilities.
According to a Ponemon Institute study, nearly 1.5 million Americans have suffered from medical identity theft. It is estimated that the cost of medical identity theft totals $29 billion, approximately $20,000 per victim.
When it comes to medical ID theft, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010You’ve just been in an accident and you’ve been rushed to the emergency room. You’re unconscious.
As the attending physician examines you, she reviews what she thinks is your medical record, which shows you’re not allergic to any medications. She prescribes and administers medication to help you with your pain. The problem is that you’re severely allergic to it.
The bigger issue is that the medical records the doctor reviewed aren’t yours.
This scenario is repeating itself again and again. Not only is medical identity theft a criminal offense, but it puts the lives of thousands of people in jeopardy every day.
About 250,000 people are victimized by medical identity theft each year in the U.S. Add that to the potential instances that occur during reported and unreported data breaches, and the number climbs into the millions.
In addition to the possibility of receiving treatment with life-threatening consequences, medical identity theft is one of the most dangerous forms of identity theft.
And in addition to being a danger to your health, medical identity theft can have other consequences, including false medical and pharmacy bills, false health insurance claims, denial of claims, coverage denial, and the expense and time spent of correcting falsified records.
Each of us must take steps to protect our medical information. Just as you faithfully check your credit report, you should also check your medical records, paying particular attention to invoices and insurance claims.
Remember: a little monitoring now can save a lot of work later – and perhaps even your life.
Take steps to prevent medical identity theft
Thursday, July 8th, 2010Could identity thieves be using your personal and health insurance information to obtain medical treatment, prescription drugs or even surgery? Could dishonest people working in a medical setting be using your information to submit false bills to insurance companies?
The answer is a resounding yes. Medical identity theft is a newer twist on identity theft, but it can, just like regular identity theft, affect your finances, your credit and take a toll on your health.
But how would you know if your personal, health or health insurance information has been compromised?
According to the Federal Trade Commission, victims of this type of theft typically receive a bill for medical services they didn’t receive, are contacted by a debt collector regarding medical debt they don’t owe, find unauthorized medical collection notices on their credit reports, are told by their insurance carriers that they’ve reached their limit on benefits when filing a legitimate claim, or are denied insurance because their medical records show a condition they don’t have.
The most worrisome part about this type of theft is that a thief will use your information to get care, and this creates a record which could be mistaken for yours. This could include a different blood type or inaccurate medication information, which could put your life in jeopardy.
While there’s no fool-proof way to prevent medical identity theft, there are some steps you can take to minimize your risk.
• Verify a source before sharing information. Don’t give out personal or medical information on the phone or through the mail unless you’ve initiated the contact and you are sure who you’re dealing with. Be cautious about “free” health services or products from providers who require you to give them your health plan information.
• Safeguard your medical and health insurance information. If you keep copies of these records, make sure they’re secure. Be on guard when you use the Internet, especially to access accounts or records related to your medical care or insurance. If you are asked to supply your Social Security number, ask why it’s needed and how it will be kept safe, and whether it will be shared. If online, look for Web site privacy policies and read them thoroughly. Look for a lock icon on the browser’s status bar or a URL that begins with “https.” Remember that e-mail is not secure.
• Treat your trash carefully. To thwart medical identity theft, shred your insurance forms, and prescription and physician statements. Destroy the labels on your prescription bottles and packages before you throw them out as well.
If you think you’ve become a victim of medical identity theft, order a copy of your credit reports and check them thoroughly. Check your health statements to be sure the statements match the care you received. You should also request a copy of your medical records. You have a right under HIPAA to obtain your records and correct errors in your medical and billing records.
By keeping a vigilant eye on your information and your records, you can reduce your risk of falling victim to medical identity theft. To protect all of your personal information, call LifeLock today. LifeLock will monitor to be sure your information isn’t used to ruin your good name, and if your information is compromised, LifeLock will help restore your credit.
Data breach
Friday, January 15th, 2010Health Net data breach prompts attorney general’s “historic lawsuit”
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said last November that he was “outraged and appalled” upon learning of Health Net’s massive data breach and their keeping it hush-hush for six months. He acted on those feelings this week by filing suit against the insurer and its new owners, United Health Group and Oxford Health Plans.
The data breach occurred May 2009 when a hard drive containing the information of 1.5 million customers went missing. Records were for the period 2002 through 2009. Roughly 446,000 of the members are from Connecticut.
Blumenthal’s lawsuit asserts Health Net gave its employees inadequate supervision and training on appropriate maintenance, use and disclosure of protected health information.
The company explained the six-month lag time between their awareness of the breach and their notifying state officials by saying the time was necessary to complete a “detailed forensic review.” Kroll, a computer forensic consulting firm hired to complete the investigation determined the information wasn’t encrypted or protected in any way from access or viewing. (more…)
What to do if you become a medical ID theft victim
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009Imagine you receive a collections notice from a hospital 1,000 miles away … in a city you’ve never visited … for a surgery you’ve never had … for a health problem you don’t have … and the notice says you owe more money than your house is worth.
You have to take immediate action, but be warned: Whoever had the surgery might be recovering better than you will. (more…)
LifeLock review: No rules for discarded medical records
Friday, April 3rd, 2009Imagine your doctor becomes ill and is no longer able to practice medicine. Imagine he succumbs to dementia or has a stroke. Do you know what happens to your medical records?
If you live in Massachusetts, no one knows the answer because there are no laws governing the disposition of medical records when a medical practice goes under—for whatever reason. (more…)
