“We do see healthcare organizations and health plans making moves.”

The lion’s share of medical identity theft victims can expect to pay upwards of $13,500 to resolve the crime. What’s more, about 50 percent of consumers say they would find another healthcare provider if they were concerned about the security of their medical records. How’s that for a business case to take security a little more seriously?

As Ann Patterson, senior vice president and program director for the Medical Identity Fraud Alliance, emphasized, the reputational impacts of medical identity theft for both consumer and provider organizations are huge. Patterson, who will be speaking at the HIMSS Media and Healthcare IT News Privacy and Security Forum in Chicago July 1, pointed to some concerning numbers found in the MIFA-sponsored annual medical identity theft study. Conducted by researchers at the Ponemon Institute, the study underscored a staggering 22 percent increase in medical identity thefts from just last year.

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June 17, 2015 by Erin McCann, HIMSS Media