Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/220320
Health Tips Continued JOBS for TEAMS "What makes it so difficult is you have to go provider by provider, hospital by hospital, office by office and correct each record," said Sam Imandoust, a legal analyst with the Identity Theft Resource Center."The frustrating part is while you're going through and trying to clean up the records, the identity thief can continue to go around and get medical services in the victim's name. Really there's no way to effectively shut it down." Some forms of identity theft can take as little as a few days to resolve, since banks and other financial institutions are generally equipped to handle the complaints. But medical identity thieves typically get treatment at five facilities or more, and the system isn't set up to fix those kinds of errors. In another case, a man received a $44,000 bill for surgery he never had. "The hospital actually thought that I was going make this $44,000 payment, and here I was proving to them I had no scars from a surgery," he said."And they said, 'No, we're going to go ahead and pursue this.' I said,'Are you kidding me?'" Complicating the process of fixing one's medical records is that some victims face resistance in obtaining files from doctors.The physicians' reason? The files contain sensitive health information about the imposter. A few individuals, however, are doing what it takes when it comes to making hospitals accountable. According to CBS/ New York, 12 people filed a $50 million lawsuit against a New York City hospital after medical records with their personal information were stolen.They claimed since the Fall of 2010, medical records with full names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, medical histories and other information were stolen from the hospital. "If the public cannot trust North Shore University Hospital and its hospital network to safeguard and secure their private identity and health, confidential, sensitive information, how can they trust them with their lives?" said plaintiffs' attorney Bonita E. Zelman. According to the Bloomberg News website, here are the most common types of Medical ID Theft scams to watch for: • Illegal and bogus treatment. Medical ID thieves bill your health plan for fake or inflated treatment claims.Thieves buy patient information and set up fake clinics to make bogus claims. • Buy addictive drugs. Medical personnel with access to your data may use your identity to obtain prescription drugs to sell, or feed their own addictions. Dishonest pharmacists might bill your policy for narcotics, or nurses may call in prescriptions in a patient's name but pick it up themselves. • Obtain free treatment. Medical ID thieves who don't have their own health coverage often receive free medical treatment, courtesy of your policy.They assume your identity at a hospital or clinic, and your policy receives the bills. The price you pay? • Ruined credit.Thieves often ring up large hospital bills in your name.This can ruin your credit. • Inaccurate records.A thief's treatment history can end up on your medical records.This could include the wrong blood type, or medicine to which you're allergic.Your life thus could be on the line if you receive the wrong treatment based on the thief's treatment.Your records also could be falsely saddled with damaging—and inaccurate—diagnoses such as mental illness. • Legal troubles. A pregnant woman | WWW.CHANGINGLANESDIGITAL.COM 38 JobsForTeams1113_HealthHelp.indd 2 | APRIL www.jobsforteams.com CHANGING LANES 2 11/4/13 9:43 AM