How do you handle empty prescription bottles? What medical information do you receive, such as your interpretation of benefits? Careless treatment of your personal medical information can be dangerous, and theft of these invaluable data can be fatal.
About 1.5 million Americans are victims of medical identity theft each year, a crime that costs $41.3 billion a year. Prescription fraud is a growing form of medical identity theft that is not only extremely expensive and time consuming; it can also put your health at risk or even life-threatening. Unfortunately, many Americans do not generally know about medical identity theft and usually cannot detect it until it is too late. If we do not take precautions to prevent prescription fraud and other forms of medical identity theft, we will fall into the danger of becoming another victim.
What is prescription fraud?
Prescription fraud occurs when an identity thief uses your personal information to fill out a prescription in your name. They use your medical identity to receive treatment at hospitals and doctors. Office, get medicines, and get other health care services.
Prescription fraud not only costs you a lot – it can also put your health at risk. You may find false information added to your personal health record, such as blood type changes or allergies. Every medical procedure received and a prescription filled out by an identity thief is part of your medical history, which means you may not be able to get the lifesaving treatment you need in an emergency medical situation.
It is also difficult to detect and resolve medical identity theft. You may not find yourself a victim until the pharmacy refuses to fill out a prescription because it conflicts with other medications you are taking. To make matters worse, fixing errors in records can be very challenging due to medical privacy laws. The irony is that the same laws that are enforced to protect your privacy and health information are now protecting medical identity thieves. This restricted access to medical records extends the duration of the theft, giving you countless hours, money and frustration.
How to prevent prescription fraud
One of the easiest ways to avoid this type of medical identity theft is to know what you throw into the trash. The prescription label carries sensitive information such as your full name and address, prescribing physician, drug type, prescription number and pharmacy contact information - all the thieves need to perform prescription fraud. Do not throw empty prescription vials into the trash can, including the medication information form, but remove the label and shred. Other ways to prevent prescription fraud:
• Review each benefit interpretation [EOB]. Check the cost of medical visits or prescriptions that you have not received and report any suspicious activity immediately.
• Never simply throw medical information into the trash. If you don't shred the documents, the trash diver can easily access your personal information.
• Protect medical records. Keep your medical records in a safe place in your home or in a safe, away from the peeping eyes of visitors. Believe it or not, friends and relatives who have easy access to personal information are often the culprit.
• Protect prescription bottles. Hide or lock your medication instead of leaving it in a visible line of sight or medicine cabinet. This will prevent anyone from leaving with your prescription drugs and future status.
• Manage written prescriptions. Do not discard them or discard them where they may be stolen. These documents are all identity thieves who need to fill out a prescription on your behalf, so that you don't use drugs, steal your medical identity, or even put your life at risk.
• Seek help with identity theft protection services, such as identity theft solutions, which can proactively help prevent the theft of medical identities and even restore your identity when stolen.
Protecting your identity is a constant process of vigilance. By taking some common sense precautions, you can avoid the excessive cost and health risks of medical identity theft.
Orignal From: Prevent the correct prescription for medical identity theft
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