How can I prevent medical identity theft?

June 15, 2008

A rising trend of medical identity theft – where a patient’s personal information is used fraudulently to obtain or to bill for medical services – is raising tricky legal issues for medical providers.

When misinformation finds its way into the medical file of the identity theft victim, doctors and hospitals must juggle the competing interests of the patient’s demands, federal privacy requirements and their own liability.

Here’s a look at what experts suggest:

• Require patients to provide a photo I.D.

• Change the way prescriptions are labeled.

• Restrict inside access based on an employee’s role.

• Track who has access to audit logs.

• Use electronic records.

• Work directly with patients.

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Comments

One Response to “How can I prevent medical identity theft?”

  1. Electronic Medical Records on July 7th, 2008 7:25 am

    I have one piece of advice on this which is best to prevent medical identity theft, that is using “Electronic Medical Records” isn’t it?
    Coming to other stuff, I like your experts’ suggestions, which are really helpful. Thank you very much for sharing.

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