Keeping your own personal health records is critical when it comes preventing Medical Identity Theft. This record can be paper or electronic. Also there are a number of online solutions. The American Health Information Management Association can help you in creating your own records. Their web site is www.myphr.com. Portable storage devices, CD’s or flash drives even a smart phone can be used to create your electronic record. The disadvantage is it may be lost or damaged and physician offices may not be able to read your records.
The following components should be included: Personal identification; emergency contacts (including phone numbers); health care providers (including specialists, dentists, pharmacists and their phone numbers); health insurance information; living will, advanced directives or power of attorney; organ donor authorization; current medications and dosages; allergies; immunizations; significant surgeries or illnesses; results from recent exams; and family history.
There are a number of resources and advocacy groups that help patients navigate the health care systems, an example being Guardian Nurses Healthcare Advocates.
If you have your own information always available to you, if someone tries to steal your medical identity you have your own records that are up to date and safe in your hands, thus preventing the HIPAA nightmare of trying to change what never really belonged to you. Be proactive in your health and all records involved with your care.

There will a 1/2 day conference in Las Vegas for the American Association of Preferred provider Organizations, where Linda Vincent, RN.PI. of the Identity Advocate will be presenting a workshop on Medical Identity Theft. Check the registration form for other topics and speakers as well as added value information: http://www.fchn.com/documents/RegistrationFormB%20non-members.pdf

Thieves are always looking for an easy way to steal your identity. Credit card monitoring companies are great if someone steals your information and tries to open an account. But what if you already have an account in place. You are receiving your new card in the mail. The thief steals the new card and activates it. Your account exists. She or he can go out and begin charging that day.
Now consider a locking mailbox. Safe, secure, and no one can reach in, to take your mail. Read this special report and rethink about reasons why you should have a locking mail box. http://www.mailcase.com/american-express. Don’t get caught up in the scam for loosing your credit cards.

See Fox News clip on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz__DUISB6E&feature=player_embedded

Despite the law stating medical breaches involving more than 500 people must be listed on the Health and Human Services (HHS) breach list, the Identity Theft Resource Center recorded medical breaches which never made the list. Do you know why? The HHS list allows the loophole of “risk of harm” without requiring federal law enforcement verification. One state has reported more than 200 breaches. Most are not included in the Identity Theft Resource Center Breach Report because they did not include sufficient pertinent details regarding the event. Some states now harbor a protected breach list which is not made public at all, or is only accessible by exercising the Freedom of Information Act. Doesn’t this make you wonder why is it all so protected? Read the entire article from the Office of Inadequate Security
http://www.databreaches.net/?p=12436

Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and South Carolina–will pay a combined $9.4 million to settle a whistleblower suit by two former employees of the company responsible for the therapy–Kyphon, Inc., and now part of Medtronic Spine LLC. The Department of Justice announced the hospitals were accused of keeping patients overnight after having kyphoplasty, typically an outpatient back procedure, merely so that they could bill Medicare at a higher rate.
Read entire article from Fierce Healthcare at: http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/nine-hospitals-pay-9-4-million-medicare-fraud-settlements/2010-05-18?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

There are 73 various health plans that are not truly legitimate, are being investigated and are worrisome; not only with today’s economy, but the new health care reform. These plans are there to take your money, but not pay your claims. Follow the link to the web site of the Coalition against Insurance fraud and make sure you don’t have one of them: http://www.insurancefraud.org/healthplan_watchlist.htm

Oaks Diagnostics of Beverly Hills, California, has paid the federal government $647,000 to settle allegations that it filed false claims with Medicare for unnecessary radiological tests, reported the U.S. Attorney’s Office Central District of California. They have settled without admitting any wrong doing. See article at HealthImaging.com:
http://www.healthimaging.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=23030:california-rad-provider-settles-whistleblower-case-for-647k

It is happening again, a large corporation has the potential loss of data due to a security breech. this means medical records, social security numbers even credit card information may have been exposed. The threat of Medical Identity Theft is even greater in a a case like this. Read California Health Line article at: http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2010/6/30/wellpoint-breach-could-have-exposed-enrollees-medical-financial-data.aspx

Data breeches, mismanagement of files, lost hard drives, health plans are more at risk, not just hospitals for identity theft. Last month, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Tennessee revealed that up to 1 million patients could be impacted by the theft of 57 computer hard drives that were encoded but not encrypted.
Read article by Caralyn Davis at: http://www.fiercehealthpayer.com/story/data-breaches-another-opportunity-bad-publicity/2010-05-17?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal#ixzz0oEOm6c5P