Report: HHS must lead medical identity theft fight

Medical identity theft poses a serious challenge for providers, who are increasingly finding that both outsiders and employees may steal patients' financial and insurance information. However, a new report suggests that providers shouldn't try to handle the issue alone, and suggests that the federal government should lead these efforts instead.

The report, which was funded by HHS and prepared by Booz Allen Hamilton, argues that the federal government should take medical identity theft as seriously as the interoperability, governance and privacy/security issue concerns already on the table. After all, the authors note, medical identity theft poses not only financial risks to patients, but can also harm their health, as compromised records could contain inaccurate health information.

The consulting firm makes 31 recommendations for national policy on medical theft, including one that says government should create a public-private task force addressing medical identity theft concerns. It also recaps standard precautions health IT managers should take, including developing automated audit trails listing who accessed records and flagging users who use data inappropriately.

To learn more about the report:
- read this Government Health IT piece

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