Medical Identity Theft Resources

Medical identity theft and fraud are the fastest growing crimes in the industry today and protecting patient identity against these crimes continues to present many challenges. Healthcare organizations are particularly vulnerable to identity theft due to the wealth of patient, personal, demographic, and financial information collected, transmitted, and maintained in the course of daily operations.  Medical identity theft unlike identity theft can have a much more detrimental outcome to the consumer because not only can financial information be taken, but medical information can be altered and lifetime insurance maximums used.  In addition, medical identity theft has the potential to significantly increase cost in the healthcare industry.  The World Privacy Forum estimates that as many as half a million patients have been the victim of identity theft, with an estimated increased cost to the organization of $200.00 per event.

HIM professionals must have the knowledge to ensure preventive safeguards are in place to protect the privacy, security, and integrity of personally identifiable health information.  Policies and procedures for balancing patient privacy protections and the reporting of identity theft events to victims, law enforcement officials, and federal agencies need to be clearly defined. AHIMA has multiple resources addressing medical identity theft.