Why be worried about medical identity theft?
As per data released by the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) , during 2015 (as of December 1, 2015), out of the total data breaches reported, around 35 percent were from the medical/healthcare industry. Although, the total breaches stood at 717, and the medical/healthcare industry saw breaches of 248 during the year, what is worrying is that from the total number of records compromised, almost 68 percent of records were medical data. A whooping 120,077,576 medical records were compromised out of the total 176,275,271 data during the period. Obamacare has encouraged health data, relying heavily on patient information, passed on through electronic media. It has, subsequently, opened a channel for cybercriminals to steal unprotected sensitive data from various health / medical channels including hospitals or insurers. Electronic medical records thefts and data breaches are a reality in today's healthcare industry. How is medical identity theft denting the industry? The i...