Health Hungary Organization World
6-7 April 2010, Paris, France.
Health 2.0 Europe, a conference dedicated to how Web 2.0 and social media are transforming healthcare systems in Europe, has finalized its agenda and speaker list. Encompassing all aspects of the healthcare chain, the interactive program will address healthcare on both country- and European-wide levels, with local experts from converging industries.
"Health 2.0 Europe will show that Europe is producing creative e-health solutions to address the diversity of its 23 languages and 27 markets," said Denise Silber, president of Basil Strategies, organizer of the Paris event with Health 2.0's founders, Matthew Holt and Indu Subaiya.
Three keynote speakers will present government's perspective on Health 2.0 and national IT strategies on health and wellness:
- Morten Elbæk Petersen, sundhed.dk (Denmark)
- Etienne Caniard, National Authority for Health (France)
- Pieter Vos, Council for Public Health and Health Care (Netherlands)
Panel topics include:
- Search and content
- Patients online communities
- Physician online communities
- Health 2.0 tools
- Pharma and Health 2.0
- Hospitals, payers and Health 2.0
- Looking ahead for Health 2.0
Panel participants include influential members of Europe's eHealth community from 12 countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK). Panel structures will differ from traditional conference formats to encourage interactive participation. Speakers will perform a demo of their organization's 2.0 tool and discuss the impact of each tool nationally and in Europe. The agenda also features Launch, Health 2.0 Europe's segment for showcasing European eHealth start-ups.
For further information and registration, please visit:
http://www.health2con.com/paris2010
About Health 2.0 Europe
Health 2.0 Europe is the premier conference dedicated to how Web 2.0 and social media are transforming healthcare systems in Europe. The conference brings together professionals in the converging industries of healthcare, the internet, mobile applications and social media. Health 2.0 Europe is organized by pioneering experts from Europe and the U.S. with decades of combined experience in health- and Web- related business and consulting, Matthew Holt and Indu Subaiya, founders of Health 2.0 in San Francisco, and Denise Silber, president of Basil Strategies in Paris. Please visit www.health2con.com/paris2010 for more information.
Medical identity theft is an alarming and often undetected offense affecting today’s consumers, according to a recent survey conducted by The Ponemon Institute and sponsored by ProtectMyID.com™, Experian’s multilayered identity theft detection, protection and fraud resolution product. According to the study, nearly 1.5 million Americans have been victims of medical identity theft. For many, the notion of identity theft is both upsetting and daunting, but few individuals realize the specific severity and potential repercussions of medical identity fraud. It is estimated that the costs associated with this type of theft total about $28.6 billion — or approximately $20,000 per victim. Not only is resolution of medical fraud an especially arduous endeavor, but the difficulty of recognition and the potential associated costs also make it particularly dangerous.
“We are proud to sponsor this groundbreaking study because when people are informed, we find that they are empowered to take steps to protect all their valuable information.”“We are pleased to work with Experian’s ProtectMyID.com for this first-of-its-kind study,” said Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of Ponemon Institute. “This is the first empirical study that attempts to measure the size and scope of the medical identity theft, and our results underscore the importance of informing the public why the protection of their medical records is of the utmost importance. This study confirms that there is not only a significant financial impact to medical identity theft, but that there is a very real danger of erroneous diagnosis and treatment because of medical records that contain false information. All this adds up to the need for urgency on the part of consumers to self-educate and take the proper steps to ensure the integrity of their medical identity.”
One of the most common instances of medical identity theft is the use of a stolen insurance ID card in order to receive medical services. The main problem in combating the theft is the time it takes to recognize that it has occurred. According to the study, more than 50 percent of consumers didn’t discover that they had been victimized until at least a year after the incident or incidents had occurred. Only 6 percent received a timely notification that their medical records had been breached. These unsettling figures indicate that a significant number of consumers are currently and unknowingly being targeted by medical identity thieves.
Adding to the number of those affected are the individuals who choose not to report wrongdoings to the authorities. In fact, 46 percent of respondents elected not to report incidents to law enforcement officials or other legal authorities. Within this group, the predominant reasoning for withholding such information is even more surprising: 49 percent of those surveyed said that they were close to the thief and did not wish to subject him or her to legal trouble. With so many unreported cases of medical identity theft, it is clear that the reach of such fraud goes far beyond the total number of documented incidents.
“The difficulty in detecting medical identity theft makes it a particularly dangerous form of fraud,” said Jennifer Leuer, general manager of ProtectMyID.com. “Arming yourself with the tools provided by a fraud protection product such as ProtectMyID.com can prove invaluable in early detection and resolution, especially knowing that if something does happen you won’t be alone in getting the matter resolved.”
The potential consequences of medical identity theft have proved to be extremely damaging. Forty-eight percent of respondents said they lost their health care coverage completely, and 32 percent noted an increase in their insurance premiums. Of those surveyed, nearly 80 percent suffered negative ramifications as a result of the theft.
In order to combat these risks, ProtectMyID.com offers coverage specifically designed to aid consumers who are victims of medical identity theft. The following features will be available this month:
- Ongoing and daily monitoring for identity theft using insurance policy numbers. This will flag suspicious Internet activity involving personal medical information and keep customers informed along the way.
- Dedicated resolution agents who are trained to notify and work with health care providers on behalf of customers to resolve any theft-related issue. This removes the mystery and uncertainty from dealing with providers and delegates the responsibility to a trained agent.
- A lost wallet feature allows the consumer to make one call to a trained agent and receive assistance in the cancellation and reordering of lost wallet items, including credit cards and medical and dental insurance cards.
- Alerts inform members when medically related collection actions occur.
“At ProtectMyID.com, we want to educate consumers about the risks associated with medical identity theft and give them the tools to better protect themselves against this crime,” said Leuer. “We are proud to sponsor this groundbreaking study because when people are informed, we find that they are empowered to take steps to protect all their valuable information.”
Source The Ponemon Institute®
