That first doc does not look legitimate to me - the wording and the terminology is not something I would expect a doctor to write. I would also add that putting an SSN on a document like that would likely be a HIPPA violation.
It is true that many medical insurers still use SSN’s as unique identifiers. HIPPA initially mandated a move away from using SSN’s but it proved problematic especially in transmission of enrollment data (EDI) between employers and insurers and continuity of care across multiple insurers and providers. But in a medical provider’s office, under HIPAA, access to a patient SSN is limited only to those with a need to know basis – typically only to those involved with billing to insurance companies. It would be highly unusual if not an outright HIPAA violation to put an SSN on a document such as that – even a medical transcription record.
FWIW - my professional background is in Payroll and HRIS administration and in employee benefits administration, and I was very involved in the implementation and maintenance of EDI transmissions between employers’ HRIS systems and insurance providers, and prior to that I worked for two 3rd party insurance administrators – one as a client service manager in the COBRA department and one as the head of EDI auditing. In those roles I had to take extensive HIPAA training and was the HIPAA Compliance Officer at one previous employer.
Physicians are not librarians - and they may not stylize patients' complicated names as you or I would.
The document could be a fake, of course, but the way the patient is identified proves nothing.
MORE suspicious is that this is printed out. With a sensitive famous patient, I would suspect that all records would be kept electronically - never printed - and possibly even encrypted or locked with a password.
Of course, older physicians, and ones with small patient loads, may prefer to handle hard copies in paper files. Nothing is really proven one way or the other with this.
It does raise questions that, were this campaign legitimate, it would answer quickly.
