6% of adults have been victims of stolen health info
March 3, 2010 by Sam NarisiPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Security
It’s not just financial documents identity thieves are after. A new survey pinpoints another highly sought-after source of personal information:
Medical records.
About 5.8% of people have been victim of some sort of fraud involving their medical info, according to Poneman Institute survey of 150,000 adults nationwide.
The crimes typically involve stealing insurance-card data to get medicine and services delivered in the victim’s name. The average cost per incident, according to the survey: $20,160.
That includes the efforts required to sort out problems with doctors and insurance companies.
This will likely become one of the big issues as medical institutions are pushed by the government to move to electronic recordkeeping. IT departments will be charged with making sure those electronic documents are protected.
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March 4th, 2010 at 10:59 am
I guess thats why Mass has been so bullish on its data protection laws.