Unlike with financial-data theft, where the credit card company or bank picks up the tab and a new card is issued, medical identity theft can be much more costly and time consuming. It took an average of 200 hours to resolve a case, the study found. Health-care providers are also less savvy at fighting cyber criminals than retailers or banks because they haven’t been a target for as long.
“Health-care fraud can get very intricate and very sophisticated, they are smarter and one-step ahead of everyone else, it seems,” said Patterson. “The industry is aware of cyber threats and vulnerabilities but it is a little bit newer to them compared to retail or financial services.”