Could EMRs Put Your Benes At Risk For Identity Theft?

WASHINGTON, DC (Managed Care Wire): Electronic medical records (EMRs) can provide many benefits to our health-care system, but experts fear they may open the door to identity thieves, reports the New Jersey Star-Ledger.

Typical identity theft threatens your bank account and your credit score, but medical identity theft threatens your insurance, your health and your life. How does this happen? Hackers and thieves access your benes EMRs for insurance fraud schemes, to receive medical care in your bene's name or to obtain prescription drugs illegally, the Star-Ledger reports. As a result, your benes could be misdiagnosed or mistreated based on their compromised medical records.

And it's happening more often than you might imagine: "Any database can be compromised - and unfortunately, as we have spent the past two years looking on, almost every database has been compromised in one manner or another," Adam Levin, co-founder of identitytheft911.com, told the Star-Ledger.

The U.S. government is currently working to protect your members' privacy, with a "comprehensive and integrated approach to ensure the privacy and security of health information," said Robert Kolodner, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. But critics are skeptical about the Bush Administration's protective efforts so far, reports the Star-Ledger.