HHS awards contract for medical identity fraud study

HHS's Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has awarded a $450,000 contract to Booz Allen Hamilton to scope out the size of the medical identity theft problem in the U.S. ONCHIT defines medical identity theft as when a person's identifiable health information is improperly used by another part to obtain medical goods or services, or to submit false medical services claims. To date, note ONCHIT officials, no one is quite sure how widespread the problem is, but it seems likely that it's extensive--and anecdotal evidence suggests that the problem is growing. To address this issue, Booz Allen will assess the scope of the problem, hold a meeting to discuss how to fix it, then produce a report on how to proceed.

To find out more about this issue:
- read this iHealthBeat article

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