Identity thieves prey on patients' medical records

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Doctors' offices, clinics and hospitals are a fruitful hunting ground for identity thieves, who are using increasingly sophisticated methods to steal patient information, lawyers and privacy experts say.

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Legal experts say lawbreakers use medical information to get credit card numbers, drain bank accounts or falsely bill Medicare and other insurers.

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In Florida last year, a front-desk coordinator at the Cleveland Clinic was convicted of identity theft, computer fraud and other charges after downloading patient information and selling it to a cousin, who submitted more than $2.5 million in phony bills to Medicare.

In April, a former New York-Presbyterian Hospital employee was arrested for participating in an identity theft scheme in which he allegedly accessed nearly 50,000 patient records over two years.

False information from fake billings can end up in patients' medical files — and creditors might seek payment from the patients. Until the creditors call, patients might not know their medical information has been accessed.

USA Today