Ways To Avoid Medical Identity Theft

I’ve written about medical identity theft before, and the dangers that can come from having your identity stolen in that fashion.  But avoiding medical theft can be very tricky, unless you know how.  Medical identity theft can be one of the most disastrous, as it perverts your credit, insurance information, and even medical information.  This can take years to reverse, and can lead to numerous troubles down the line.  Anything from receiving incorrect medical treatment, to insurance guideline headaches.

The first step to protecting yourself is staying on top of your current medical bills.  Any statement that you receive from your insurance company needs to be carefully combed by you, so that you may ensure all information is correct.  A great way to spot identity theft, is identifying fraudulent charges that haven’t come from you.  So check those statements carefully!

If you’re filling out an information form at a hospital, while waiting to see the doctor, never leave the form anywhere.  Even if you’re told to leave the form on the desk upon completion, always hand the form to the receptionist.  Anyone getting a hold of that form has all the info they would ever need to steal your identity.

When you’re actually in an exam room, between the nurses visit and waiting for the doctor, typically they will leave your chart in the hall for the doctor.  It’s not very common, but sometimes these can be stolen, giving a thief access to all of your vital information.  Avoid this by asking the nurse if your chart can be left inside the room with you.

Finally, destroy all information appropriately.  Any medical bill, insurance statement, etc should be handled carefully.  The only way to properly dispose of these, is to use a shredder so that the information cannot be pieced together by a thief raiding your trash can.  Following those guidelines you should keep yourself pretty safe from identity theft.