ENTtoday
  • Home
  • Practice Focus
    • Allergy
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
  • Departments
    • Issue Archive
    • TRIO Best Practices
      • Allergy
      • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
      • Head and Neck
      • Laryngology
      • Otology/Neurotology
      • Pediatric
      • Rhinology
      • Sleep Medicine
    • Career Development
    • Case of the Month
    • Everyday Ethics
    • Health Policy
    • Legal Matters
    • Letter From the Editor
    • Medical Education
    • Online Exclusives
    • Practice Management
    • Resident Focus
    • Rx: Wellness
    • Special Reports
    • Tech Talk
    • Viewpoint
    • What’s Your O.R. Playlist?
  • Literature Reviews
    • Allergy
    • Facial Plastic/Reconstructive
    • Head and Neck
    • Laryngology
    • Otology/Neurotology
    • Pediatric
    • Rhinology
    • Sleep Medicine
  • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Audio
  • Events
    • Featured Events
    • TRIO Meetings
  • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
    • Triological Society
    • Advertising Staff
    • Subscribe
  • Advertise
    • Place an Ad
    • Classifieds
    • Rate Card
  • Search

Medical Identity Theft: Under-Reported, Under-Researched, More Common than Generally Known

by Margot J. Fromer • May 1, 2007

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version

Medical identity theft is stealing health information for personal profit. If that sounds like a strange thing to do, it is-but it is more common than generally thought. What is known about it remains sketchy because it is the most poorly documented of all identity theft crimes, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which estimates that there are 250,000 to 500,000 victims, but the real number is probably triple that.

You Might Also Like

  • Few Medical Errors are Reported
  • Mobile Devices in the Medical Setting Can Lead to Distracted Doctors and Medical Error
  • Get Out There: Optimize your web identity to sell your otolaryngology services
  • Electronic Health Records: The National Perspective
Explore This Issue
May 2007

The FTC speculates that 1.5% of all Americans are victims of medical identity theft each year, and the crime increased almost 200% between 2001 and 2005.

Kurt Long, CEO of EpicTide, a company in St. Petersburg, FL, that markets corporate security, said that there are probably a half million victims to date, a number that will probably increase now to 250,000 each year.

Here’s how it works: A thief uses a victim’s name and/or other identifying information without the person’s knowledge or consent to obtain medical services. Or, the thief uses the stolen data to make false claims for medical services. The victim, or the insurance company, is billed for services not received. Even more frightening, the victim can end up with false information entered on his or her medical record, or an entirely new fictitious medical record can be created.

It can be notoriously difficult to uncover, according to a report issued last May by the World Privacy Forum (WPF), a nonprofit, public-interest research group in Cardiff, CA, that describes itself as focusing in a nonpartisan way on research and consumer education in the intersecting areas of technology and a range of privacy matters, including financial, medical, employment, and Internet privacy.

Medical identity is well hidden in large electronic payment systems and in widely dispersed databases and medical files, the report, titled Medical Identity Theft: The Information Crime that Can Kill You, noted. Medical identity thieves are usually professionals adept at making sure victims do not detect the crime-ever.

Organized crime rings are heavily involved, almost always in collusion with health care employees such as office and medical records personnel and insurance claims clerks. These rings are very organized and highly sophisticated, and they depend heavily on insiders, said Pam Dixon, the organization’s executive director and the author of the report.

The four most vulnerable types of patients are those with cancer, diabetes, and AIDS, and residents of inpatient drug treatment centers.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 | Single Page

Filed Under: Articles, Features, Legal Issue: May 2007

You Might Also Like:

  • Few Medical Errors are Reported
  • Mobile Devices in the Medical Setting Can Lead to Distracted Doctors and Medical Error
  • Get Out There: Optimize your web identity to sell your otolaryngology services
  • Electronic Health Records: The National Perspective

The Triological SocietyENTtoday is a publication of The Triological Society.

The Laryngoscope
Ensure you have all the latest research at your fingertips; Subscribe to The Laryngoscope today!

Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology
Open access journal in otolaryngology – head and neck surgery is currently accepting submissions.

Classifieds

View the classified ads »

TRIO Best Practices

View the TRIO Best Practices »

Top Articles for Residents

  • Do Training Programs Give Otolaryngology Residents the Necessary Tools to Do Productive Research?
  • Why More MDs, Medical Residents Are Choosing to Pursue Additional Academic Degrees
  • What Physicians Need to Know about Investing Before Hiring a Financial Advisor
  • Tips to Help You Regain Your Sense of Self
  • Should USMLE Step 1 Change from Numeric Score to Pass/Fail?
  • Popular this Week
  • Most Popular
  • Most Recent
    • The Dramatic Rise in Tongue Tie and Lip Tie Treatment
    • Vertigo in the Elderly: What Does It Mean?
    • Is There a Crisis in the Otolaryngology Match?
    • Experts Delve into Treatment Options for Laryngopharyngeal Reflux
    • New Developments in the Management of Eustachian Tube Dysfunction
    • New Developments in the Management of Eustachian Tube Dysfunction
    • Vertigo in the Elderly: What Does It Mean?
    • Eustachian Tuboplasty: A Potential New Option for Chronic Tube Dysfunction and Patulous Disease
    • Some Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Resists PPI Treatment
    • Post-Tonsillectomy Taste Disorders Rare but Present
    • 10 Novel Ways to Disseminate Scientific Information
    • How to Work with Sales and Marketing Representatives in Your Medical Practice
    • How Medicine Helped Surgeon Prepare for Career as Writer
    • Best Practices for Emergency Surgical Airway
    • Spare Roof Technique Can Improve Patient Quality of Life after Rhinoplasty

Polls

Will registry information and data science improve patient care?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Polls Archive
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Visit: The Triological Society • The Laryngoscope • Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology

Wiley
© 2019 The Triological Society. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN 1559-4939

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
This site uses cookies: Find out more.