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Legal & Regulatory Issues 48 FTC Releases New Guidance for Red Flags Rule By Molly Gamble T he Federal Trade Commission has issued revised guidance to help organizations comply with its Red Flags Rule, which requires businesses to watch for and respond to "red flags" of identity theft. "What is deemed 'regularly and in the ordinary course of business' is specific to individual companies," the new guidance states. "If you get consumer reports or furnish information to a consumer reporting company regularly and in the ordinary course of your particular business, the rule applies, even if for others in your industry it isn't a regular practice or part of the ordinary course of business." Hospitals and other healthcare providers that meet the rule's definition of "creditor" must abide by the Red Flags Rule and develop and implement a written identity theft prevention program. Businesses count as creditors if they do the following, in addition to deferring payment for goods and services or billing customers: If they meet the "creditor" definition, hospitals must develop a program that includes four basic elements: • Receive or use consumer reports in connection with a credit transaction. • t must include reasonable policies and procedures to identify the red I flags, suspicious patterns or practices of identity theft that may occur in day-to-day operations. • ive information to credit reporting companies in connection with G a credit transaction. • program must be designed to detect identified red flags. If you A have identified fake IDs as a red flag, for example, procedures must be in place to detect possible fake, forged or altered identification. • dvance funds to or for someone who must repay them, either with A funds or pledged property. This excludes incidental expenses in connection to services the business provided to the consumer. • program must detail the appropriate actions the organization will A take when you red flags are detected. The regulatory obligations in the rule are not triggered by isolated conduct. According to the rule, these activities must be done "regularly and in the ordinary course of business." • program must detail how the organization will keep its policies A current to reflect new threats. n Hospital Review Profiles on 300+ Hospital & Health System CEOs and CFOs Now Available! For listings and biographical information on hundreds of hospital and health system CEOs and CFOs across the country, visit our CEO/CFO Directory at www.beckershospitalreview.com/ceo-and-cfo-profiles.html Latest profiles include: Piedmont Healthcare CEO Kevin Brown Tampa General Hospital CEO Jim Burkhart Catholic Health Initiatives CEO Kevin E. Lofton To request a profile on a hospital or health system leader, email editorial@beckershealthcare.com. CEO and CFO Directory