As identity theft becomes increasingly common, Heartland Regional Medical Center is following other health care facilities in taking measures to guard against it.

Beginning earlier this year, the hospital and its primary-care physicians' offices began requiring patients to show ID at registration desks each time they come for treatment and also, just once, to allow their insurance cards to be scanned into their electronic medical records.

"It's mainly the coasts seeing a lot of insurance fraud, and with the rising cost of health care, that's inevitable," said Sara Weir, Heartland's team leader of patient access services. "At Heartland, we're just trying to be proactive."

False claims concerning medical insurance by far make up the majority of insurance fraud cases, according to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. And according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, more than one-third of physicians say patients have asked them to deceive third-party payers in order to help patients obtain coverage for medical services.

Although these individuals might think they're looking out for their own best interests, lying about their identity in order to receive medical care might actually be harmful for them.

"We want to make sure we have the exact right treatment plan attached to the right patient," Ms. Weir said. Patients who present themselves as someone with an entirely different medical history run the risk of receiving treatment that isn't exactly right.

Although Heartland has had some questions from patients in the beginning, the measure has overall been well-received, she added. The hospital tries to be flexible to some extent, accepting a credit card or other form of identification in place of a driver's license when necessary and always treating people in cases of emergency, even when their identities can't be verified.

"We're doing this for them," Ms. Weir said. "We want to provide the best care possible to the patient."

Erin Wisdom can be reached at

ewisdom@npgco.com.