Medical identity theft a complex problem for patients
HIPAA Weekly Advisor, June 30, 2008
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Whether due to misplaced wallet or an intercepted exchange of electronic data, medical identity theft is a complex problem for healthcare patients, The Wall Street Journal reported June 24.
Medical identity theft is particularly complex because of a thief’s ability to obtain care and submit false claims. Consider the affects of a corrupted medical record after a thief with different allergies, blood type, or medical history seeks care using someone else’s identity, says The Wall Street Journal. Victims could experience difficulty obtaining insurance or employment based on medical problems they do not have.
"In the U.S. we have a serious and significant problem with medical identity theft," Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, told the newspaper. "With persistence and sometimes with legal help you can clear up the financial piece of this, but the changes to your health-care file, if you don't know those have been put in place you can get health care that's inappropriate or life-threatening in some cases."
Some victims report difficulty sorting out their medical identity after a theft. "Because of the fractured nature of the healthcare sector, it's not so easy to get positive change moving for victims," said Dixon.
Lawrence Hughes, assistant general counsel for the American Hospital Association, says that hospitals are giving victims the necessary access to their medical records. "Under the HIPAA privacy rule, patients have a right to access their health information and they also have a right to request corrections to their information," he told The Wall Street Journal. "Those rights are explained in the notice of privacy practices, which every patient receives."
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