Tips on Detecting Medical ID Theft
FTC Offers Advice on Steps to Take"Medical identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's name or insurance information to get medical treatment, prescription drugs or surgery," the report says. "It also happens when dishonest people working in a medical setting use another person's information to submit false bills to insurance companies."
Organizations that suspect a patient may have been a victim of medical identity theft should promptly conduct a thorough investigation to, for example, confirm a patient never received services for which they received a bill or look for inconsistencies in a medical record, the report advises.
The report also advises healthcare organizations to:
- Periodically review data security practices and HIPAA compliance efforts;
- Properly notify federal and state authorities of any health information breach;
- Inform patients of their rights under the HIPAA privacy rule, including the right to obtain copies of their records, have records amended and obtain an accounting of certain disclosures of information.