Vigilance is your best defense against Medical ID theft. Always review
any medical bills and insurance notices for charges that seem suspect.
Online, there are a few key principles to follow. (See Chapter 13 for
more detailed information on ID theft.)
➟ Don’t personally identify yourself if discussing your
health online, either in your own blogs, or in discus-
sion forums; this includes making sure your screen
name does not give you away.
➟ Make your blog private if you intend to publish any
health-related information.
Never take online health quizzes or forward e-mails
with such surveys or quizzes.➟ Never provide information such as your insurance
policy number, doctor’s name and location, or
medicare/Medicaid policy numbers to anyone online.
Not in e-mail, IM, or any other online communica-
tion tool. You may need to provide some pieces of
this information when logging into your insurance
company’s or doctor’s Web site, but be extremely cau-
tious to ensure you are on their legitimate site.
➟ Check your health insurance provider’s Web site (see
Figure 14-6) for advice on avoiding medical ID theft.
Unlike credit information, which is held by the three
credit reporting bureaus, medical records are often
scattered all over, in doctor’s offices, insurance compa-
nies, and pharmacies, so it’s hard to track false infor-
mation. Under HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act), the federal law that addresses
medical privacy, you’re entitled to a copy of medical
record documents, although you may have to pay for
it. If there’s an error, you can add a correction to the
record, but you can’t have information deleted.287Chapter 14: Healthcare That Makes You Feel Better