December 5, 2011 – 9:30 am
There’s more than one victim of identity theft when a patient’s information is stolen at a doctor’s office. The doctor is also a victim, and until now, doctor’s offices have faced damage to their financial integrity and bad debt in the wake of incidents of identity theft. In addition to patient information, thieves also steal [...]
October 17, 2011 – 8:34 am
According to recent reports, one-third of health care organizations, which includes physicians’ practices, insurers and pharmacies, have caught someone using the identity of another person in order to obtain services.
Although medical identity theft represents only a small portion of the overall among of reported identity thefts, it is still the fastest-growing segment.
One of the [...]
February 7, 2011 – 9:11 am
Medical identity theft is becoming more and more common, with identity thieves stealing the personal information of their victims and using it to obtain medical services. All too often, the victims don’t know their information has been stolen until they receive a bill for services they never received.
The Federal Trade Commission has provided information to [...]
November 12, 2010 – 8:23 am
Police have broken up an identity theft ring that breached emergency room files at Holy Cross Hospital in Florida to steal Social Security numbers and personal details of about 1,500 patients.
Emergency room employee Natashi Orr was among four people arrested as part of an investigation that begin prior to June of this year. After federal [...]
November 10, 2010 – 8:16 am
A Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society survey has revealed that 33 percent of those participating said their organization has had at least one known case of medical identity theft, and some cases may never be reported.
In addition, only 17 percent of respondents working for medical practices said they were likely to report an [...]
October 29, 2010 – 7:41 am
The Arizona Department of Insurance Fraud Unit has busted a suspected medical identity theft ring in Phoenix, Ariz.
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 [...]
September 2, 2010 – 8:05 am
The Council of Medical Societies has filed a motion to intervene in a pending case to prevent the Federal Trade Commission from applying the red flags identity theft rule to doctors.
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 [...]
Identity thieves are in better shape than ever, both physically and financially, thanks to the availability of patient medical records stored on computers. Hackers find their way into databases to find information like Social Security numbers, residence information, insurance carriers, credit card numbers and employment details. Thieves posing as medical office workers also access information [...]
Data breach of medical records enough to make you sick
High-tech computer hacking gets the most attention—especially when it affects big name corporations and millions of consumers. However, the medical data breaches reported in April can be attributed to low-tech, low IQ and low moral standards, or a dangerous combination of those.
It only takes a glance [...]
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