Leaders from the American Dental Association, American Medical Association, American Osteopathic Association and American Veterinary Medical Association have written a letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking the agency to exclude healthcare professionals from the Red Flags Rule, which aims to prevent identity theft, according to an AMA news release.
According to the Red Flags Rule, all entities defined as "creditors" or "financial institutions" that have "covered accounts" are required to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs to help identify, detect and respond to patterns, practices, or specific activities — known as "red flags" — that could indicate identity theft. Enforcement of the rule has been delayed several times, and it is now scheduled to take effect on June 1, 2010.
The organizations state that the FTC's interpretation of the regulation imposes an unjustified, unfunded mandate on health professionals for detecting and responding to identity theft, according to the release.
The organizations asked the FTC to make it clear that the rule will not apply to their members given the result of recent litigation brought by the American Bar Association against the FTC, in which the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia ruled lawyers should be excluded from the requirements imposed by the rule, according to the release.
"Congress did not intend the original red flags legislation to apply to small businesses, but rather it was intended to encourage large businesses like banks, credit firms and national retailers to implement best practices to protect customers' from identity theft," ADA President Ronald Tankersley, DDS, said in the release.
Officials from the organizations further stated that the burden placed on healthcare professionals did not outweigh the benefit that could be seen from the rule and that healthcare professionals should be excluded if lawyers were as well. AMA President J. James Rohack, MD, said in the release that the FTC needs to re-evaluate the broad application of the Red Flags Rule.
Read the organizations' letter to the FTC (pdf).
Read the AMA's release on the Red Flags Rule.