Identity Theft in the News - - Healthcare Industry

Identity Theft knows no bounds. All businesses, big and small, are vulnerable to this complex and rising crime. Any business or organization that gathers any personal information or account numbers are at risk. Although businesses have several choices to dispose of confidential information, on-site shredding is, and always will be, the most prudent and convenient method available. Following are some examples of information handling gone wrong.

Healthcare

Medical records found outside vacant nursing home

Source: online: http://www.wave3.com. 16 July 2004 -- Online Reporter: David McArthur; Online Producer: Roger Seay

LOUISVILLE, KY - Piles of trash from the Melrose Manor nursing home were set out well before any scheduled trash pickup. But the inconvenience of the eyesore was soon overshadowed by privacy concerns when confidential patient records were discovered among the trash. Thousands of pages of confidential medical records for dozens of one-time residents at the former nursing home were found blowing in the wind. The patient files included treatment records, prescriptions, social security numbers, birth dates and signatures -- a potential gold mine for Identity Thieves.

The nursing home closed in 2003 after losing its Medicaid certification for a list of problems. The building has been vacant since. State officials say the former nursing home owner is ultimately responsible for the records. They could not be reached for comment.

Medical records found unshredded in trash bags

Source: online: http://www.kpho.com. 27 October 2004

PHOENIX, AZ - Police discovered confidential medical documents belonging to hundreds of families in a Phoenix motel room. Cin and Sandra Williams not only had dozens of health insurance cards, but also had enough names, birthdates, addresses and Social Security numbers to steal hundreds of victims' identity. More than likely, they were trying to steal fraudulent prescriptions. They obtained the information by diving in the dumpsters behind medical offices where the documents were thrown into garbage bags. CBS 5 News also went through the dumpsters and found nearly a dozen more bags of confidential documents. None of it was shredded.

Medical providers are required by HIPAA regulations to shred all personal and confidential information.

Motorist finds Rex Healthcare records along road

Source: Online. http://www.wral-tv.com. 2 January 2001

Raleigh (WRAL) – A horrifying mishap has some patients of Rex Healthcare wondering who knows their personal business. Saturday, a motorist found admittance records scattered around Old Wake Forest Road in Raleigh .

Rex Healthcare workers cleaned up the records Saturday night, but earlier in the day they were scattered all along the grass on the roadside, some even in the road itself.

In the piles of records, there were hospital admitting forms, prescription cards, and complete patient files with addresses, social security numbers and other personal information. If a criminal had recovered the records, the information could have been misused.

A public relations officer at Rex Healthcare says the records may have been in the process of being transported. They are currently looking into whose records were there, where they were headed, and why they ended up on the side of the road.

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Medical records found not shredded in landfill:

Billing notices contained personal information

Source: Online. www.thecarolinachannel.com 16 July 2004

Greenville, SC – Chris Aiken was taking boxes to the Enoree landfill on Memorial Day weekend when he made a startling discovery. Hundreds of piles of people's personal medical records displaying names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, birthdates, race, marital status, religion and diagnosis, were clogged up in the bins.

"It burns me up that something like this could happen," the man said. "Everyone assumes that their records are being safely kept at the doctor's office." The office on the billing notices is that of Dr. Jennings Pressly. According to Pressly, the records were handled by an outside billing company, which reportedly dumped the paper at the Enoree landfill.

"Simply turning records over to a collection agency to pursue payment is not a violation of HIPAA law," said Attorney Wallace Lightsey. "But if the agent then does something improper, that could run afoul of the federal law."

Senator Ralph Anderson, who serves on the judiciary and medical affairs committee in the South Carolina Senate, said, "I plan to share this information with the Greenville Delegation and also the judiciary staff and to see what we can come up with that will make these people accountable."

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Medical trash used for fraud

Source: (AP) The New York Times

Private insurance carriers have paid over $1 billion in phony medical bills to bogus medical firms in the last few years. Investigators said that companies, using post office boxes as return addresses, list the name of unsuspecting doctors and patients on submitted claim forms. After a few weeks, the companies shut down and move to reopen again under a different name.

The bills include fabricated diagnoses of patients, which are logged into insurance companies’ computers with the patient none-the-wiser.

This is detrimental to the consumer because it affects their future insurability and employability. From the Doctors’ side, the IRS becomes a problem because there is a major discrepancy in their income. Investigators claim that perpetrators of this fraud scour the Dumpsters of hospitals and medical facilities for the information.

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Royal records discovery sparks inquiry

Source: Online. http://news.bbc.co.uk 15 March 99

Police in Scotland launched an inquiry after the British royal family’s confidential medical records were discovered dumped by the side of the road. The papers also contained details of security arrangements of past Royal visits and the blood types and medical details of members of the family.

A police source told the Sun Newspaper it was suspected that the documents may have been weeded out for destruction.

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Are you a target for Identity Theft?

Source: Consumer Reports, September, 1997; http://www.hibernia.com/hibernia_bank/hb_identity_theft_index.shtml

An employee of a medical office where the victim received services obtained the victim's name and Social Security number from the victim's medical file. With this information, the thief allegedly was able to obtain lines of credit in the victim's name worth $10,000, rent an apartment, obtain utility service, and earn income in the victim's name. Prior to this, the victim's credit report was "spotless."

The victim first learned that she was the victim of credit identity theft when she began receiving telephone calls from lenders and collection agencies demanding payment of numerous past-due credit accounts that she had not opened. As reported by the victim, her bank refused to refinance her home mortgage because she was a bad credit risk, and the Internal Revenue Service claimed that she owed taxes on income that the thief apparently had earned.

It took the victim two years to have the negative credit information caused by the thief's activities removed from her credit report. The victim reported that during this time, the thief continued to use the victim's name, and creditors continued to press her for payment.

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How private are your prescriptions?

Source: Online. http://abclocal.go.com. 30 January 2001; Written by: Jennifer Julian

The medicines you take are between your doctor and your drug store. Or so you thought. In our Eyewitness News investigation, we found that a number of pharmacies are treating your secrets like yesterday’s trash.

We found a clear plastic trash bag in the dumpster outside the Eckerd Drugs on Broad Street in Durham, NC. It’s full of information outsiders aren’t supposed to see: receipts, empty pill vials, and lots of labels – labels with names, addresses, phone numbers and birth dates. And we discovered what drugs they take – drugs for depression, high blood pressure, schizophrenia. And we found someone’s prescription for Viagra.

We did a spot check of other pharmacies in the Triangle. Some like this Eckerd in Raleigh’s Cameron Village take “extra” precautions with your personal information. Here, a shoot carries trash directly into the Dumpster. It is never fully exposed, until it lands in the Dumpster.

When we traveled to Cary, we found another bag full of personal information at this Eckerd on Harrison Avenue. It was full of dozens and dozens more names, addresses, phone numbers, and drug information.

At Kerr Drug on Wake Forest Road in Raleigh, we found another bag of your trashed secrets. Kerr Drugs sent a copy of their confidentiality policy which says it requires its pharmacists to give empty containers back to patients and to tear up all paper documents that have a patient’s name printed on them.

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Stray records bring concerns of hospital security

Source: Online. http://www.wral-tv.com/news/. 2 January 2001.

Chapel Hill, NC – An unusual incident involving hospital records has UNC Hospital officials taking a hard look at its security. Friday, someone left a stack of highly confidential hospital records at the Caffe Trio on Franklin Street. Among the papers was a list of patients scheduled for surgery.

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Patient records blown away

Source: The Charlotte Observer

Mental health officials scrambled to find out how hundreds of confidential names and personal details of mental patients were strewn over a three-block are of Charlotte. The files filled at least two large garbage bags and included the names, diagnoses, and other details about the cases.

The files were supposed to be shredded, but got mixed in with regular trash. They blew away from the garbage truck that picked them up.

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Pharmacy records scatter in the wind

Source: The Cincinnati Enquirer

Thousands of prescription records from a closed Rite Aid store blew across Pleasant Avenue in Lindenwald, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. Most of the documents were patient information forms and other material containing private information. Apparently the papers had been disposed of in a large trash bin on the north side of the building, but the wind blew them out and scattered them around Lindenwald’s small downtown.

The papers contained patient’s signatures and Social Security numbers, along with addresses and phone numbers.

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