Everyone has heard of hacking. It’s in the news all the time, often related to large corporations being hacked for their data. Since the reports are about corporations, as individuals it can seem like someone else’s problem.

But the information being stolen could be yours. Your Social Security number, credit card information, medical information—and pretty much any other personal data you can think of—can be hacked. If it does, your identity could be used to rack-up thousands of dollars of debt that you only find out about months later. On average, restoring your good name can take as much as 6,000 hours as well.

One of the most devastating and potentially deadly forms of data breaches involves stolen electronic medical records and the resulting medical identity theft. Hackers can wreak havoc by stealing your personal health information to either sell or use themselves to impersonate you when they need medical treatment. If an identity thief gets medical treatment using your name, the thief’s medical information—such as test results, allergies, blood type, or illnesses—will become part of your medical file. Certain conditions or procedures performed using your good name can prevent you from being able to get health insurance or even receive the medical help you need.

Here are a few of the many medical data breaches where hackers have left their indelible mark:
• A December 2011 report by the Privacy Right Clearinghouse Sensitive estimated that three of the six largest data breaches in 2011 compromised 11 million patient records and healthcare organizations
• According to the Ponemon Institute, healthcare data breaches alone were up 32 percent and the average data breach loss cost $7.2 million in 2010
• The Identity Theft Resource Center stated that the theft of medical data increased by 50 percent in 2011
• 385 protected health information (PHI) breaches have affected over 19 million records since 2009
• Medical records accounted for more than one third of all records lost to data breaches in 2011
• According to Redspin, there was a 97 percent increase in medical records breached in 2011 compared to 2010

These statistics are scary, to say the least. From individuals to private practices to large corporations, medical identity theft can do irreparable harm. But it doesn’t have to. One of the most effective ways to protect yourself and your business from medical identity theft is to be proactive. Enrolling in a service such as Entrust America, the only identity theft prevention and recovery service with a 100% track record of recovering stolen identities over the past five years, is the best way to safeguard your identity.

Entrust America’s medical identity theft prevention and recovery services include:
• A 24/7 hotline to call if you suspect you have been a victim of medical identity theft. Entrust America’s on-call identity theft specialists quickly determine whether a fraud has occurred and, if so, which of the over forty different kinds of identity theft have been committed.
• Overnighting an ID Theft Resolution Kit that includes forms to be submitted to the IRS, DMV, Social Security Administration, and the three credit reporting agencies to notify them that a theft has occurred.
• Reporting the medical identity theft to your local authorities and creditors, requesting that creditors cancel existing cards and issue new ones, and placing a security freeze on your credit records that lasts for seven years.
• Contacting you with status updates whenever there is activity on your case, and following-up with creditors to ensure they properly repair your accounts.
• Recovery specialists who are all law enforcement professionals. They have the time and expertise to immediately launch a full investigation into your medical identity theft, completely reverse damages, and bring the identity thieves to justice.
• Recovery of your identity to pre-theft status. No other identity theft prevention and recovery company has a better track record of reducing the likelihood of your identity being compromised. Entrust America gives you total peace of mind.

Entrust America is not just for individuals. Professional medical practices and corporations alike can protect themselves from data breaches that can cost millions of dollars and put patients and employees at risk.

This Entry was posted by Linda Vincent

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012 / Medical IdentityTheft.
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