Under a newly awarded contract from the Health and Human Services Department, a consulting firm will assess the extent of medical identity theft in the United States and how health information technology might thwart it.
Booz Allen Hamilton won the $450,000 contract awarded by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. The company will produce a report after reviewing the existing studies of the problem and holding a town hall meeting in October.
Not much is known about the extent of medical identity theft, according to ONC officials. They define the problem as the use of someone else’s insurance ID or medical records to obtain medical care or submit false claims for medical services.
“The prevention and detection of medical identify theft, along with actions to address problems that may occur as a result of medical identity theft, are necessary steps to build consumer trust in electronic health information exchange,” the national coordinator for health IT, Dr. Robert Kolodner, said in a statement.
He said health IT may provide opportunities to prevent, detect and remediate medical identity theft.
ONC contracted for reports on how health IT can prevent and detect medical billing fraud in 2006 and 2007.
Government Health IT will present Liesa Jo Jenkins, executive director of CareSpark, in an eSeminar at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, where she will share her experiences and insight into building a health information exchange that enhances community health, rewards regional collaboration and drives economic progress.
