Your Medical Records, Stolen! (page 6 of 6)

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So What's to Be Done?

Reining in medical identity theft won't be easy. The Department of Health and Human Services is developing four prototypes of a so-called National Health Information Network that would make electronic health records instantly available in real time to caregivers everywhere. The laudable goal is to speed the flow of lifesaving information. But fraud experts are concerned it could open the door to even more identity theft. Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office noted "significant weaknesses in information security controls" in Medicare and Medicaid claims processing, which has already been digitized.

Meanwhile, the World Privacy Forum is urging regulatory changes that could provide recourse to victims. Among their recommendations are free copies of medical records for victims, more flexible rules to allow the victims to amend their records, and better accounting when providers disclose medical information to other providers, a key way to track down mistakes. The forum is also calling for new ways to track medical care given in a patient's name after a data breach occurs.

For now, says Hollis of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, "our No. 1 defense is the consumer himself. We send out explanation-of-benefits notices, and people round-file those right off the bat. If people would look at those, a lot of theft would get caught."

But not all. Debra Harritt, who paid close attention to her benefits, didn't realize what was going on until Skodnek was arrested. "People think this is about big insurance companies," says Harritt, "but there are real victims -- real people who went through pain."