How to Protect Your Medical Records: Being Your Own Private Eye

There seems to be no end to the ways that scammers can take advantage of people.

It becomes, for the savvy consumer, a never ending cycle of diligence. There’s a need to protect your banking accounts, passwords, all personal information, your personal pictures, your medical insurance information and now, your medical records.

What? Medical records? Yes! While rare, some people have found that their information has been stolen and are getting treatment courtesy of you without you knowing until it’s too late. 

Don’t confuse this with the reputable services that inquire about your records, such as doctor’s offices, insurance companies, and nonprofit organizations such as HealthTree that have tight security measures in place to protect your records while providing you with valuable resources and education.

Some great ways to determine if a business is legitimate is to review the company’s website and study the address and phone information.

Look for grammatical mistakes on websites. Make sure they have a clearly stated privacy policy, terms of use, and terms and conditions of use.

Make note of the nature of the business and look for business filings/partnerships. This can help you steer clear and root out the bad players.

You’ve probably heard of rare unfortunate instances or have been a victim who received a notice from your health insurer that your personal identification has been breached.

You need to understand what this really means. Your insurance policy, group numbers, social security numbers, and medical data identity can be used in several different ways. The first is you may get bills or notices for treatments that you never received. Sometimes it may be weeks or even months before the real person is aware of the identity theft.

Now, you will have to prove your innocence while you may have damage done to your credit report. You may have problems getting ongoing treatment if a bill isn’t paid by the provider. Reviewing your credit reports with all three agencies, Equifax, Transunion, and Experian can help you stay abreast of your credit or collection status.

The second way you may be hit is when trying to get a prescription filled. The scammer may have mixed your records up. This may lead to delays and missed medical treatment while you are trying to get the problem resolved.

Here are relatively easy ways to protect your medical records, your health, and your wallet.

Safeguard Your Medical Records

Don’t overshare your health information, i.e., take pictures and post them to social media. Be careful of who you give health data information to, even loved ones. Ask why certain medical information is needed. This would include information when asking for ADA accommodations and FMLA requests.

Get a copy of your medical records and review for accuracy. Ask for a digital copy vs a printed one. And, always keep a copy for your records.
Thoroughly review all of your medical statements. Make sure dates of service, billing, prescriptions, and costs are correct.

Recognize Early Signs of Medical Identity Theft

Be cautious of emails that request medical information such as free health screenings, medicare cards, discounts on prescriptions, etc.

Be aware of phishing/scam phone calls from someone asking for your health insurance information. There are fake Medicare phone calls. These get more frequent during enrollment periods. Beware of callers promising cheap or no-cost Medicare insurance. Don’t verify your information to someone claiming to be a Medicare representative. No Medicare staff will reach out to you unless you’ve contacted them. 

Monitor Your Credit and Review Your Credit Report Often

This is probably one of the easiest ways to know if someone is tampering with your medical identity. For instance, if a fraudster receives medical care using your identity, it goes on your credit report as unpaid medical bills you weren’t aware of.

In this instance, you need to file a police report and reach out to all three credit reporting Bureaus. You can also file a medical identity theft compliant with the Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov. 

You can also call the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) hotline at 1-800-Medicare (1-800-833-4227) or TTY 1-877-486-2048.

You can also call the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) hotline: Phone: 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477) or TTY 1-800-377-4950

Mail: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, ATTN:
OIG Hotline Operations, P.O. Box 23489, Washington, DC 20026.

Remember, although medical identity theft is rare, you don’t want to find yourself in a position where you are denied healthcare due to fraud. You must remain diligent and protect your medical health records and identity.  

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