Electronic health records ripe for theft

Another disaster is lurking in the shadows of cyberspace.

This times it's about all your medical records being condensed onto a database that makes it easier for doctors and medical facilities to track your problems and your financial data and just about anything.

Security experts say your info is worth big money and "security" is vulnerable.

Thieves and professional ID theft con artists could be on the verge of a breakthrough that will steal millions of ID's.

Buyer beware applies. I think the ACA Obama.Care has some "friendly" requirements about this large database, but maybe not so much about the "security" issues.

America’s medical records systems are flirting with disaster, say the experts who monitor crime in cyberspace. A hack that exposes the medical and financial records of hundreds of thousands of patients is coming, they say — it’s only a matter of when.

As health data become increasingly digital and the use of electronic health records booms, thieves see patient records in a vulnerable health care system as attractive bait, according to experts interviewed by POLITICO. On the black market, a full identity profile contained in a single record can bring as much as $500.

Electronic health records ripe for theft

Thieves and professional ID theft con artists could be on the verge of a breakthrough that will steal millions of ID's.

There are NO bigger thieves than those shills on capitol hill.

That is their whole SOP create a crisis to offer the 'solution'.

Rinse, and repeat.

a reply to: xuenchen

“Agents in the El Paso and Laredo sectors are getting sick,” said Shawn Moran vice president of the National Border Patrol Council.

“We’re working in close proximity doing medical screening on people and seeing cases of H1N1 swine flu, chicken pox, measles, lice and tuberculosis.

People who are supposed to be cleared are being released into the community.

Given the dormant period of some of these diseases there is a concern.”

SOURCE

Hmmm .... OBSERVATION:

What better way to monitor the ...

(success of?) ... Southern-Border-Diseases ???

-
DISCLOSURE: Sorry for today's ... "NEGATIVE"-OBSERVATION.
.

a reply to: xuenchen

I have warned of this from the beginning. What little financial security many enjoy will be placed further at risk at the hands of the government. But of course, those with means will not be affected, since the wealthy will retain their private options for now.

Obamacare proponents are so blind.

a reply to: loam

But of course, those with means will not be affected, since the wealthy will retain their private options for now.

I gotta disagree was that is the whole idea behind FACTA, and offshore accounts.

Swiss, and what not.

www.irs.gov...

a reply to: neo96

I did not mean to imply the wealthy would not be under assault from other directions. But with respect to Obamacare, and its associated provisions, the other 99% have already been largely screwed.

you are missing something else that could be used with electronic medical records. not only can the data be stolen, it can also be changed.

someone can have mental problems added to their file after they do something the government doesn't like. someone has guns and they are worried? no problem just insert mental issues in and presto, you can take their guns with the mental disorder clause they want in gun control. someone needs to be taken out? no problem they just have a heart attack, and to throw off suspicion, heart problems can easily be added into their medical records. "Joe Blow died today due to heart attack, not surprising with his history of heart problems. just look at his medical records.

Well.

Although my health records are certainly at risk here.....what good are they to anyone?
They will have my name, address and DOB.....but they will not have my SS# or a copy of my driver's license.

So far, and this goes back years before unACA, I have refused to allow my DL to be photocopied. I have refused to allow a picture of me to be put in my records.
And, AFAIK, doctors no longer ask for SS#s.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
.....but they will not have my SS# or a copy of my driver's license.

Are you covered by private insurance? Even so, you'll likely lose the option to refuse such disclosure moving forward. The healthcare and insurance industry largely spins it this way:

January 1, 2014 Federal Mandates for Healthcare: Digital Record-Keeping Will Be Required of Public and Private Healthcare Providers

A key provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is about to go into effect, and healthcare providers across the country are preparing to comply. As of January 1, 2014, all public and private healthcare providers and other eligible professionals (EP) must have adopted and demonstrated “meaningful use” of electronic medical records (EMR) in order to maintain their existing Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement levels.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act also includes financial incentives for healthcare providers who prove meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR). EHR is not only a more comprehensive patient history than EMR, the latter of which contains a patient’s medical history from just one practice, but also the end-goal of the federal mandate. “Meaningful use” of EHR, as defined by HealthIT.gov, consists of using digital medical and health records to achieve the following:

Improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities
Engage patients and family
Improve care coordination, and population and public health
Maintain privacy and security of patient health information

Penalties also exist for non-compliance. EP’s who haven’t implemented EMR/EHR systems and demonstrated their meaningful use by 2015 will experience a 1% reduction in Medicare reimbursements, and rates of reduction will likely rise annually thereafter.

Not that EMRs were the only reason DLs and SSNs were being requested... See for example:

Why Does My Doctor or Hospital Need My Social Security Number?

With the federal EMR mandate...and they way the software now facilitates collection of this personal identifying information...such privacy will be a thing of the past. Mark my words on this.

In fact, as medical fraud increases, the response will be to lessen your privacy options. Biometrics will be the next step mandated by the government to fix the identity theft problem they seemed to have largely created with Obamacare and the EMR mandate.

Speaking of identify theft...

The Rise Of Medical Identity Theft In Healthcare

Last month, the Identity Theft Resource Centerproduced a surveyshowing that medical-related identity theft accounted for 43 percent of all identity thefts reported in the United States in 2013. That is a far greater chunk than identity thefts involving banking and finance, the government and the military, or education. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that since it started keeping records in 2009, the medical records of between 27.8 million and 67.7 million people have been breached.

The definition of medical identity theft is the fraudulent acquisition of someone’s personal information – name, Social Security number, health insurance number – for the purpose of illegally obtaining medical services or devices, insurance reimbursements or prescription drugs.

See where this is going???

In short order, we will all be required to provide photo, fingerprints and even possibly DNA in order to receive healthcare.

Let's check back in a few years to see if I'm right.

a reply to: loam

I have unACA insurance through Blue Cross.
Obviously, the .gov website has my SSN....but my doctors don't...and that your link here
patients.about.com...
says for now they don't have to make a patient provide it.

My one doctor does require showing ID...but that was because folks started sharing insurance cards.