There can be a lag in reporting that affects the currency of the information available. While it is not uncommon for federal databases to be known by more than one name, the DMF has an unusually large number of other designations driven in part by the many industries who both contribute to and use the file.
Some common names for the file include the following:. In addition to the numerous designations used for the DMF, it is also important to know how access to the data differs. The DMF data is used by a multitude of industries and institutions. However, for the healthcare insurers and institutions, the database is a particularly critical tool for medical research and potential identity fraud:.
Notwithstanding its significant limitations, the public DMF remains a valuable data source for preventing fraud and abuse in other industries as well. Also, it is useful for government agencies, such as SSA and the Veterans Administration, to identify when benefit checks should cease. In the life insurance industry, there has been concern expressed because the SSA does not independently verify all reports of a death before including in the DMF, which may result in inaccuracies that can lead to both individuals as well as the life insurers who are issuing policies With state regulatory agencies combing the DMF data to identify instances in which life insurers have erred in not issuing funds to beneficiaries of those who have died, these inaccuracies can lead to false claims of insurers.
For companies such as Streamline Verify which offer its clients automated screening against state and federal exclusion lists, the DMF is a standard component of its work to rule out discrepancies with regard to employee, provider, vendor and contractor identity found in the course of checking the various federal and state databases.
In the last 10 years, there have been some significant changes to the DMF both in access and usage. The federal government applied a drastic change to the way that it processed data on reported deaths in order to compile the public Death Master File.
In November the SSA reviewed its obligations towards certain state records and announced that it had a statutory obligation to keep that information derived from state records confidential. As a result, SSA removed about 4. The reason is largely due to death data ownership. States have long held and Congress concurs that states own the vital records of people who die within their boundaries.
The sale of those records to the federal government is a source of revenue for states. The primary uses for the SSA DMF in health care include initial screening and monitoring for credentialing of a health care provider to rule out identity fraud. This type of fraudulent activity siphons billions of dollars from payers, providers and health care organizations.
The Death Master File is not conclusive, however, using technology and the science of collecting and aggregating data from thousands of primary source publishers and subsequently matching data records to individuals and entities, it allows one piece of data to contribute to a whole that cumulatively paints a degree view of full transparency on every provider in your organization.
A best-practice approach complies with State and Federal laws, guidelines set forth by multiple standard-setting bodies, and additionally, takes action in response to current threats, epidemics, and fraud schemes in order to provide the highest possible care to patients.
Working towards a more proactive approach to compliance and provider transparency, the health care industry can mitigate fraud and re-direct resources lost in fraud schemes to better patient care. In healthcare, physician credentialing is the process of organizing and verifying the professional records that qualify a doctor to practice medicine.
This includes their board certifications, hospital admitting privileges, education, malpractice insurance, Healthcare organizations are legally responsible for assuring that individuals providing patient care are credentialed, verified, and competent to do so. All Blogs. Information Found in the Death Master File The Death Master File, a searchable database on individuals who had Social Security numbers and whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration SSA , has been available since and contains some 83 million records dating back to ; and also includes those who died prior to who still had active Social Security accounts in Creator of Inspiring Narratives.
For all other questions regarding access to the LADMF data once you are certified, please send an email to subscriptions ntis. If you have any questions, please contact Linda Swan via email: lswan ntis. For questions regarding this database or its data content management, please contact SSA's Office of Communication at or via email press.
Please review Mandatory Requirements as well as Important Notice prior to purchasing. Deaths prior to will not be part of the file.
Leading government agencies, financial institutions, investigative firms, credit reporting organizations, medical researchers, and other industries use the SSA Death Master File DMF to verify death, as well as to prevent fraud.
The DMF is an important tool used for verifying death. Medical researchers, hospitals, and medical treatment programs use the DMF to track former patients and study subjects, while law enforcement agencies, and investigative firms use the DMF, in the course of their investigations, to verify a person's death. Pension funds, insurance companies, Federal, State, and Local government agencies and others responsible for providing benefits or making benefit payments to retirees, recipients, or beneficiaries also use the DMF to verify if someone receiving a benefit or payment is deceased.
Finally, professional and amateur genealogists can use the DMF to search for loved ones, or work toward growing their family trees. The Death Master File is an important tool which can be used by pension funds, insurance organizations, Federal, State and Local governments and others responsible for verifying deceased person s in support of fulfillment of benefits to their beneficiaries.
By methodically running financial, credit, payment and other applications against the Death Master File, the financial community, insurance companies, security firms and state and local governments are better able to identify and prevent identity fraud, and identify customers who are deceased. The USA Patriot Act Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of , requires an effort to verify the identity of customers, including procedures to verify customer identity and maintaining records of information used to verify identity.
Institutions now have the option of subscribing to an online search application or maintaining a raw data version of the file at their location.
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