With an estimated two million victims each year, medical identity theft is one of the fastest growing types of identity theft. Even though the media focuses primarily on patients as potential victims, medical identity theft can have extremely damaging implications for physicians. Los Angeles-based internist Anne Peters learned the hard way…

In 2006, Peters received several phone calls from patients she never treated. An international crime ring had stolen her medical credentials and set up shop under her name, collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars. It took Peters six years and countless hours to clear her name. Today, she is high in demand as a speaker on medical identity theft prevention and helps raise awareness among her colleagues.

Physicians should work with patients and employees to help prevent and detect medical ID theft. Here are 4 preventive measures to reduce the risk of medical identity theft:

1.     Pay attention to claims and payments from patients you’ve never treated.  Follow up and don’t just assume it’s a mistake, especially if it happens more than once.
2.     Review your Medicare remittance notice, and watch out for listed services you’ve never performed or payments you never received.
3.     Do routine checks of your Medicare provider’s enrollment to see if any other practices have been set up with your Medicare identifier.
4.     Check your credit reports for accounts you don’t recognize. If you see accounts you didn’t open, or debts on your accounts that you can’t explain, follow up and contact the bureau.

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When you vacation, your risk of exposure to identity theft often increases. Identity thieves know that travelers tend to let their guard down while on vacation.  So it’s important to take some precautions before you let loose or hang ten:

Travel light and keep your wallet thin:
Before you take on your summer adventure, go through your wallet and remove unnecessary credit/debit cards, as well as anything displaying your personal information. We also recommend you make copies of important documents before you leave, such as passport, driver’s license and travel tickets, in case something should happen to them.

Stay away from unsecured networks:
Public hotel computers and unsecure Wi-Fi connections are easy targets for hackers and identity thieves. If you need to check your email, always ensure that you’re using a secure network. NEVER access sensitive information, such as your bank account, on these networks!

Make use of hotel and room safes:
While you shouldn’t carry personal documents with you when you’re out and about, hotel rooms aren’t necessarily the safest option. Smartphones, tablets and laptops contain a huge amount of valuable data, so use room or hotel safes to lock these valuable documents and electronic items away.

Avoid stand-alone ATMs:
Stand-alone ATMs are more likely to have skimming devices, so stay on the safe side, and stick with bank ATMs whenever possible. It’s always a good sign when there are cameras nearby. This will help to keep you safe from ATM skimmers, as well as criminals who may attempt to rob you at the machine.

Beware pickpockets:
It sounds old school, but this DOES still happen. Pickpockets prey on you in high traffic areas such as malls, amusement parks and sporting events. Some are only interested in cash, but others are out for your driver’s license and SSN. Keep your credit cards and ID’s in a secure place, preferably a money belt that’s more difficult to grab than your wallet.

Leave checkbooks at home:
Checking account fraud is one of the most difficult types of identity theft from which to recover, and being far from home will only add to your frustration. When traveling, use cash, traveler’s checks, or credit cards for purchases.

Don’t let the world know you’re on vacation:
Naturally, you want to share your excitement and plans with Facebook friends and Twitter followers, but keep in mind that when you tell the Internet that your home will be unattended for the next couple of weeks, there’s no better opportunity for a burglar to empty out your house. Share travel plans only with close friends!

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