Health Information Management

Identity thefts in the healthcare industry on the rise

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, August 11, 2008

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Experts at the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) say the number of identity thefts during the first half of 2008 (342) represent an increase of more than 69% over the first half of 2007, Identity Theft Daily reported July 17.
 
The number of breaches is probably even higher because of underreporting and because some incidents affect multiple businesses but are reported as single events, according to the article.
 
The ITRC study found that 14.9% of identity theft occurred in the health and medical field in 2008, a 1.9% increase since 2006.
 
ID Analytics, an on-demand identity intelligence company that cooperated with ITRC in the 2007 study, attributed 25% of the incidents that year to “malicious intent,” evidence of increasing awareness of the economic value of personal identity information. ID Analytics also found that 39% of the data exposures were linked to lost or stolen devices, according to Identity Theft Daily.
 
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