Dive Brief:
- Identity theft protection company ID Experts has launched a new service which sends SMS text or e-mail updates to smartphones when a healthcare transaction is submitted.
- The service, MIDAS (Medical Identity Alert System), will then investigate to see if the claim is legit.
- ID Experts, which describes the new service as "credit monitoring for healthcare," has announced that it's working with Moda Health as a customer, and says it will divulge working relationships with several payers shortly.
Dive Insight:
Enlisting consumers in the fight against healthcare fraud is an intriguing idea. Now, the question becomes whether consumers will actually take the role that ID Experts hope they will; after all, protecting your credit is a life-and-death activity but protecting health plans doesn't do anything direct and concrete for patients. It's also unclear whether enough payers will come on board to support the service, as there will be trust and financial issues involved in making these partnerships work. Still, on the whole, MIDAS sounds like a very good idea.