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A Health Information Management professional, I survived a life-threatening emergency with information that only a person of my professional experience would know. And I’m sharing it!

Thursday, September 4, 2014

What to do if Medical ID Theft Happens to YOU!

B'SD

9 Elul, 5774

It's been a difficult summer with high heat and humidity plus the On-Again-Off-Again war upon Israel and her Jews. I'm relaxing as much as I can and plan to enjoy some live theater this evening, to recharge my joie de vivre.

But first, I want to share a miraculous medical story with you:

Surgery Unlocks Muscles For Boy Trapped In His Own Body



The other news I want to share with you is for editors of news publications and websites. A longtime journalist (and newly certified medical coder), I've been aware of identity theft problems for years. They usually involved credit cards. But now that the financial stakes of medical insurance are so high, and so many people are suffering economic poverty, there's a whole new development: Medical ID theft!



FBI: Malicious Actors Targeting Protected Healthcare Information




I'd addressed the need to protect personal medical information in the EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge book.

Now I've prepared a feature story about preventing and minimizing the Medical ID theft problem. 

Here's an excerpt of the article, for editors to sample. I can tailor the content per publication specifications:

THE Medical Back-up Plan: What to Do if Medical ID Theft Happens to YOU!

That’s not a typo in the headline, it’s an emphatic reminder: You, and only you, are able to back up your medical record files with a safety technique that nobody else can perform. We’ll explore the method soon. First you need to know why the action is necessary.

Hack Attack: Your Life, Financial Information and Medical Realities
Natural disasters (storms, fires, etc.) can cause the accidental and/or physical loss of your medical information in the doctor’s office or at home. So can a careless action such as forgetting where you aimlessly put printouts, discs and letters. But in the Digital Age, when medical records are also known as Electronic Health Records (EHRs), you have another concern regarding the potential loss of your medical information, even your very identity: Hackers.

Hackers abuse online security systems for personal benefit. Some of them steal the medical identities of vulnerable people from security systems and from record-keepers who weren’t careful to prevent thefts in the first place. The information can be used to steal your health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid information plus your credit card numbers. The thief can make doctor appointments, receive medical services (medication, surgery, therapy, etc.), and insurance reimbursements in your name. They can buy things with your money even if you struggle to prove that the real you didn’t buy the purloined stuff. The problem can grow even uglier.

This item from Bloomberg news cites what I call Medical ID Thieves Have All Kinds of Reasons for their Crimes.
Medical ID theft became a growing problem with the development of technology. Digital copies of vital patient information and history are stored in computer files and on CDs, also known as Electronic Health Records (EHRs)...

... Minimizing, Possibly Preventing All-Out Disaster
Here are several medical record safety tips, excerpted from EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge:

A Five-Step Plan to Organization:
Simple suggestions for keeping your papers
and yourself organized:

STEP ONE: 
 ... What to Do if Medical ID Theft Happens to You
How can you convince the world at large it is YOU who are the patient, not the impostor? You need to know the proven recovery techniques for persons whose medical ID was stolen.

Notify... 


Buy the story for your readers by contacting yocheved.golani @ gmail.com (eliminate the spaces to make that address work).



Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge

Psst - you'll learn some valuable tips for preventing all-out medical theft ID disaster that way.

Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism. 

Fill your life with safe, sensible thoughts and action.

 

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