Medical Identity Theft Protection

While most of us have become increasingly aware of identity theft and follow reasonable precautions to safeguard our credit cards and bank accounts, we must now pay closer attention to health information and medical identity theft protection. The next year will see implementation of electronic medical records in full force which places medical records breach an ever increasing possibility.  Identity theft protection companies such as Identity Hawk will become crucial participants in monitoring information breach.

Consequences of Medical Identity Theft:

• Life threatening errors:  Erroneous medical information, laboratory and other test results may not only result in the wrong diagnosis and treatment but in life threatening drug interactions, wrong procedures and medications.  
• Financial consequences to the individual as well as to the public in general: The Ponemon Institute, a watch dog agency which conducts research on security breach estimates that in 2010, there were 1.5 million victims of medical identity theft at a total cost of $26 billion or $20,000 per victim.  In 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services allocated $1.7 billion for fraud detection.  
• Individuals have been billed for services they have never received.  Identity theft has resulted in erroneous caps in medical insurance and the victim becoming liable for large co-payments when insurance benefits are maxed out.  Victims have suffered denial of medical insurance due to false medical information. (Medical Identity Theft:The Information Crime that Can Kill You)
• Limited victim recourse: While bank and credit card companies offer some degree of fraud protection to the victim, there is very little recourse available to the medical identity theft victim.
• Increased cost of medical care:  Protection measures essential to the security of protected health information will certainly add to the administrative cost of medical care which gets passed on to the consumer.
• Loss of reputation:  Damming false medical information once entered into the medical record may follow a victim

Consumer should utilize the same precautions with their medical insurance and social security information as they do with their credit card and bank information.The Department of Health and Human Services has proposed certain safeguards to the implementation of the HITECH Act of 2009 (Health Information and Clinical Health Act) to include the right and ability of the consumer to request a record of who has accessed his protected health information.