Health Information Management

Poll finds 4% of Americans believe their medical information has been lost, stolen

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, July 28, 2008

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The Harris Poll #74 reports that 4% of Americans (approximately 9 million) believe that their medical information has been lost or stolen. Another 3% believe that their family members may be victims, according to a summary on the Harris Interactive, Inc., Web site.
 
The poll also found that:
  • 69% of adults have either read or heard about medical records with personal health information that was lost by or stolen from healthcare providers.
  • 47% of adults believe computerized records are lost or stolen more often, 16% believe paper records are a more frequent target, and 23% believe both electronic and paper records are equally at risk
The poll summary identifies the University of Miami, WellPoint, the National Institutes of Health, the Cleveland Clinic, CVS, J&J Home Health, and Baptist Health as providers that have recently experienced lost or stolen medical information. The summary also references the Identity Theft Resource Center, which reports more than 50 healthcare information breaches during the first six months of 2008.

Click here to read a summary of the poll results.

For more information on the Identity Theft Resource Center, click here.



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