What’s worth more on the black market—a credit card number or a health plan number? You’ve probably guessed by now, it’s the health plan number. Why? Because it’s tied to so much personal information.

The information is known as Protected Health Information (PHI), individually identifiable health information, including demographic and genetic information, that relates to the health of an individual or the payment for health care services. Some types of PHI include:

• Name
• Address
• Health plan number (e.g., UMI)
• Social Security number
• Claim number

Together, we can protect member privacy and information.

When sending PHI to BCBSND via email you can protect it by:

• Encrypting the email
• Avoiding PHI in the subject line, which is never encrypted

Please contact your BCBSND account representative if you believe you have received PHI in error or if you have questions on how to protect it.