What regulation was enacted by the Federal Trade Commission on August 1, 2009, to combat medical identity theft?

The Red Flags Rule was enacted by the Federal Trade Commission on August 1, 2009, specifically to address the issue of medical identity theft. This regulation requires specific types of organizations, including healthcare providers, to implement programs that identify and respond to indicators, or "red flags," of potential identity theft.

The concept behind the Red Flags Rule is to enhance protection for consumers by making it mandatory for entities to adopt measures to prevent and mitigate the effects of medical identity theft. This includes recognizing suspicious circumstances that could suggest unauthorized access to health records or misuse of personal information.

In contrast, while the HIPAA Privacy Rule plays a significant role in protecting patients' health information, it does not specifically focus on identity theft prevention efforts as mandated by the Red Flags Rule. The False Claims Act is related to fraudulent claims made to the government, and the Patient Safety Rule is focused more on improving patient safety and healthcare quality rather than addressing identity theft directly.