I'm the kind of individual that believes if I have to spend the night in the hospital, I shouldn't take anything of value with me (iPods, cellphones, laptops, etc.). These only serve as temptations to those with lesser scruples, causing them to wait until I'm out of the room, in the restroom, or fast asleep to sneak in and help these items grow legs. If it's valuable, leave it at home. It's unfortunate that we can't take the same approach with our identities.
Today, some delightful health care billing worker in Los Angeles has been accused of stealing the identities of more than 1,000 patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and using those identities to steal from insurance companies. What a black eye for the medical community. The former employee, James Allen Wilson, is accused of taking around $69,000, but the investigation continues. Read more here, or here.
I can't help but wonder if Mr. Allen was ever properly screened before obtaining employment at the medical center? Even if he was, he may have had a, pardon the pun, clean bill of health prior to this event. Regardless, I hope that Cedars-Sinai Medical Center takes proper precautions in the future to ensure such an event never happens again. Screen, screen, screen.
ID theft is growing rapidly and it can happen any time, any place. Have you taken measures to ensure your identity remains healthy? If not, Merchants Information Solutions identity theft product, SmartIDentity+, can help you protect yourself and your family by offering email alerts, credit monitoring, identity monitoring, and a fully-managed recovery solution in case you ever become a victim. Cover your bases. Make sure someone is watching the watchers.
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3 comments:
How does your product "watch the watchers"?
That's a fair question. Our background screening tools are able to look at an individuals criminal history, credit history, employment history and a variety of other searches. We could even have tested this man's propensity to lie and steal. That would have prevented him from being hired and stealing the identities of the medical centers customers in the first place. Someone placed in a position of trust, including access to sensitive medical insurance information, is someone who is supposed to be on the customer's side, helping them in their time of need. Someone in a hospital may or may not be conscious, and may or may not even be aware of where they are. They may have been in a car accident and in a coma for the last month. The last thing they should have to worry about is whether some nurse in charge of their care, or some accountant dealing with insurance is going to steal their identity or other belongings.
Where our identity theft product comes into play is our ability to monitor a persons credit for unusual activity and send you email alerts so that you are aware that somebody is trying to misuse your information. We provide fully-managed recovery solutions so you don't have to spend hours and hours trying to rectify the situation. An assigned ID Recovery Advocate will work with you and on your behalf to clear up the event and restore your credit and name to its pre-theft status. You can even receive reimbursement to cover additional id theft related costs.
I hope you never have to use it, but it's good to know it's there.
Being victimized is no fun! I'd rather have a plan than deal with the grief that comes later.
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