Health IT

Moda Health looks to ease members minds on medical data theft

In lieu of the proliferation of data breaches across all sectors, but particularly in healthcare, […]

In lieu of the proliferation of data breaches across all sectors, but particularly in healthcare,  a Portland-based health insurer is offering what it says is deeper protection against medical ID fraud for members with the launch of its MIDAS alerts with ID Experts.

Moda Health members can sign up for the free program, which the company said will alert them via text or email “any time a claim is made against their identity.” Members can then approve the claim or flag it if they don’t recognize who or what is making the request. If fraud has occurred, ID Experts will work to resolve the matter.

The added layer helps fill a void for consumers faced with health data breaches, according to Christine Arevalo, vice president of healthcare fraud solutions at ID Experts.

“Credit monitoring services do very little to help individuals at risk for medical identity fraud, as these services only monitor financial transactions, with no visibility into a victim’s medical ID,” she told MedCity News in an email. “MIDAS is the first service that goes beyond financial accounts to provide visibility into a consumer’s actual healthcare transactions and medical identity.”

Such data breaches have now impacted some 40 million individuals, the company said, citing HIPAA figures collected by HHS. The use of stolen medical records “ can corrupt the information in a patient’s file, leading to future misdiagnoses, prescription confusion or inappropriate treatment decisions,” according to Moda.

And with more consumers singing up for insurance online through the federal or state-based exchanges, security is all the more important, the company said. At present, 56 percent of patients do not check their health records and explanations of benefits statements for accuracy, according to a Ponemon Institute study.

While MIDAS is free for users, pricing for the insurers varies on a number of factors, including the size of their member base and the markets in which they operate, Arevalo said, noting different areas of the country have significantly different fraud rates.

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