Medical Identity Theft Is Up, Affecting 1.84 Million U.S. Victims: Report

There is also a need to look at the broader issues, such as enrollment and authentication, she says. “There isn’t one-size-fits-all when it comes to this. It’s very complex and it’s going to take a variety of people working together to make an impact,” she says.

“There is tremendous value in sharing information,” says Slade, who has a background in the financial services industry. She sees a parallel between the financial services’ experience in coming to terms with e-commerce and the healthcare industry’s challenge in coming to terms with medical identity theft. Healthcare can leverage some of the technologies, best practices, and procedures the financial services industry has put in place, she says.

That’s not to underestimate the difficulty of the challenge: “Healthcare has got complex issues, including regulations that vary from state to state, that make it more difficult to make sure we are looking at the issues from the right perspectives,” she says. “Healthcare is a fragmented industry and we need to do a better job of getting together and communicating.”