Healthcare consumers can take several steps to prevent the theft of their medical identity such as “sharing personal and health information only with trusted providers,” according to information from a new practice brief entitled, “Mitigating Medical Identity Theft,” published in the July issue of the Journal of AHIMA (AHIMA, Chicago).
The report identifies nine measures consumers can take to prevent and detect the theft of their medical identity, including questioning “free” medical services or treatments where it’s unclear what services are being offered and who is paying for them, and advises that consumers follow a checklist of recovery steps even if they are victimized by medical identity theft.
The practice brief also discusses the potential impacts of medical identity, which represents three percent of all identity theft cases in America, according to a report by the Federal Trade Commission released late last year.
