Is your medical history safe from prying eyes? Do you trust your doctor? Where is your data most vulnerable? Why would thieves want your health history? How can you protect yourself? 
Table of Contents
Medical history thieves want your data.
Is your doctor’s office a gateway to stored medical information? How do you protect yourself?
Medical records hold an average black market value of $50 per record. He also cited other surveys that said 94% of health care organizations have had at least one breach in the previous two years.
Identity theft makes headlines but mostly when it concerns credit. When was the last time you read about thieves targeting your medical history?
Did you hear about the breach at Stanford? In the most recent compromise 57,000 medical records were accessed.
This was the third time in as many years that Stanford patient data was hacked.
Why do thieves want your medical history?
Amednews gives you a clue.
Your records are worth $50 to a thief. Now multiply that by 57,000 medical records and suddenly you are talking about a lot of money.
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Is your medical history safe with your doctor?
Doctor’s offices can be a primary source or a gateway to even bigger game. Medical records stored on site are only the beginning.
Because data can now reside in multiple locations, including unsecured smartphones, laptops and tablets, and can be transported to an infinite number of locations, thieves, whether they be outside hackers, device stealers or people who try to use staff to share sensitive information, have more areas to target.
A thief that hacks your records at your doctor’s office can use the doctor’s passwords to get your records and those of others stored in hospital data banks.
How can you protect your medical history?
The sad news is, you can’t. Thieves have many ways to access your medical data that is beyond your control.
Most insurance plans no longer use your Social Security number as your ID, but Medicare has not followed this path. For most individuals, your Medicare number is also your Social Security number.
The best thing you can do is to monitor your medical history. If you have not set up your account at mymedicare.gov do so now. Check your claims on a regular basis (something you should already be doing). Report any suspicious activity to Medicare.
Be proactive when it comes to your medical history.
