The Federal Trade Commission has provided information to health care providers and insurers regarding how to help patients minimize the risk of medical identity theft and deal with the consequences if they become victims.

• How do I know if I’ve been a victim of medical identity theft? You may be billed for services you didn’t receive, contacted by a debt collector about a medical debt you don’t owe, or you could see medical collection notices on your credit report that you don’t recognize. You could also be denied insurance because your medical records show a condition you don’t have, or your insurance company could notify you that you’ve reached your limit on benefits.

• What should health care providers and insurers do if they learn a patient may be a victim of this type of theft? Providers and insurers should conduct an investigation, and understand their obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. They should also review their data security practices, and provide any necessary notifications that a breach has occurred.

• What should providers and insurers tell a patient who has become a victim? The patient should be advised of their rights under HIPAA, and should be encouraged to contact their health insurer. The victim should also be encouraged to file a complaint with the FTC, as well as the local police. As with any potential victim of identity theft, the patient should review his credit report for any signs of misuse.

Gevorg Melkonyan and Elina Arutynova have been charged for their alleged role in stealing the medical identity of 128 Arizona patients and falsely billing insurance companies for medical serves never provided, totaling more than $600,000. The duo used the names and tax identification numbers of 12 Arizona physicians as well.

One of the physicians who was victimized, Dr. Scott Bernstein, alerted the state insurance fraud unit. The Scottsdale doctor became suspicious when patients he had never treated contacted him, saying their insurance statements showed he had billed their insurance for treatment.

Melkonyan and Arutynova were indicted on charges of conspiracy, illegally conducting an enterprise, assisting a criminal syndicate, fraudulent schemes and artifices, money laundering, theft and aggravate taking the identity of another person or entity.

The Phoenix and Chandler police departments, Arizona Attorney General’s Office, U.S. Department of Human and Health Services and the National Insurance Crime Bureau aided in the investigation. The U.S. Postal Service also assisted.

Medical identity theft is a growing problem. To be sure your identity is safe, request your medical records and review them. You should also review your insurance records as well.

The regulation requires entities that regularly extend credit to establish formal policies for detecting and preventing identity theft. The council said compliance with the rule imposes a “significant” burden on physicians, particularly those who operate independent practices or work in small groups.

The American Medical Association and two other physician organizations sued the FTC earlier this year to block it from subjecting doctors to the rule. The AMA filed the lawsuit through the Litigation Center of the AMA an the State Medical Societies.
The FTC’s position is that physicians are “creditors” under the law.

Although the ID theft policy requirements are technically in effect, the FTC has said it will not enforce them against doctors until Jan. 1, a deadline that has already been extended several times.

Although doctors have acknowledged that medical identity theft is a growing problem for patients and physicians, they say the added regulation duplicates existing laws.

“Physicians are already ethically and legally responsible for ensuring the confidentiality and security of patients’ medical information,” said AMA President Cecil B. Wilson. “The extensive bureaucratic burden of complying with the red flags rules outweighs any benefit to the public.”

According to the most recent statistics, about 250,000 people fall victim to medical identity theft each year in the United States.

Now, thanks to Jose Amid Juarbe, of Philadelphia, I see that men will also go to extreme lengths to make a big deal out of a small one.

He’s accused of stealing the identities of eight people and racking up $88,000-worth of bills in their names. The lion’s share of the expenditure went for two penis enlargement surgeries—one for him, and one for a friend—and two breast augmentation surgeries for two women friends.

Juarbe, 39, pleaded guilty this week to a whopping 42 counts of ID theft, writing bad checks, forgery and theft by deception. If he’s convicted on all counts and receives maximum sentencing, he could get a prison term of 246 years.

According to authorities, Carniola Santana, 25, stole customers’ information from Dino Melendez Realty, and sold the information to Juarbe. She is facing 14 ID theft and conspiracy charges.

Juarbe’s three enhanced friends also face theft charges. They are: Manuel Delarosa, age 30,; Maria Lopez, age 26; and Bedenissi Feliciano, 33.

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Well, patients from Baptist Medical Center in Montgomery, AL have found an easier, cheaper way to obtain their records: they just go to their local landfill.

Terri Neill and Ricky Holmes first discovered patient folders in and around a garbage truck in front of Cramton Bowl, a sports arena. The folders contained records from the radiology department at Baptist Medical Center, including X-Rays, MRIs ultrasounds—even surgical reports and doctors’ notes.

WFSA reporters then went to the city dump where they found hundreds more medical records that included patients’ names, Social Security numbers and insurance account numbers as well as other personally identifying information.

People whose personal identifying information or medical insurance account information is exposed are place in great jeopardy of becoming identity theft victims. Medical identity theft presents an even greater risk because when stolen insurance information is used erroneous and potentially fatal medical information can be interjected into the victims’ medical records.

Baptist Medical Center uses an outside vendor to dispose of medical records, so it’s unclear who’s responsible for the breach of federal law. A spokesman for the hospital said they will investigate

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With any luck, the Salisbury MD police might be able to provide an answer someday, but for the 100,000 patients who’ve visited Peninsula Orthopaedic Associates in Salisbury MD, there are bigger things to worry about in the immediate future.

The records, stolen March 25, contained extensive personal information, including names and Social Security numbers, as well as financial and insurance information. Patients are now at heightened risk of identity theft, credit fraud or medical identity theft.

Of these, medical identity theft may be the least well known and the most dangerous. Medical identity theft occurs when someone uses the identity of another to receive medical care.

Because erroneous medical information can become part of a patient’s records, the crime carries a significant health risk. The wrong blood type or misinformation about allergies could be deadly. Additionally, patients can be denied insurance coverage if their policies are maxed out by thieves, or if the victim needs a medical procedure their records show they’ve already received, such as an appendectomy.

The practice’s CEO, Brian K. Mathias, advised patients to place fraud alerts on their credit reports, and scrutinize any health benefit statements from their insurers.

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Hospital spokesman Jim Anderson said Kaiser Permanente has warned employees without a legitimate medical purpose to stay away from the records. Anderson also said the company notified the state of the violations. His comments were made during an interview with The Associated Press.

Kaiser’s data breach record is less than stellar.

• In February, the names, addresses, birthdates, and Social Security numbers of 30,000 company employees were discovered on a computer disk in the possession of a man arrested for other crimes.
• November 2006, a laptop containing the names, employee ID numbers, birthdates, gender and physician information of 38,000 patients was stolen from an employee’s car.
• July 2006, another laptop was stolen along with the names, phone numbers and patient ID numbers of 160,000 HMO members.
• June 2005, Kaiser was fined $200,000 for posting confidential medical and personally identifying information of 140 members on the Internet.

This is only the latest in a long string of similar violations of patients’ medical records, including several that affected celebrities who received treatment at UCLA hospitals. Farrah Fawcett, Britney Spears and California first lady Maria Shriver were also victims of similar violations.

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