Research - IDTheft & Biometric Tech
Dear Family and Friends,
My name is Cruz Cerda and I am researching factors that influence the adoption of a new technology in a healthcare context. Palm vein authentication is a biometric technology that I am investigating as a potential tool to manage medical fraud and identity theft. As a 'military brat', I attended schools in England, the Philippines, and the USA. I am the first in my family to graduate from college and earn a Master's degree.
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved my application for the study entitled, "Medical Identity Theft, Palm Vein Authentication: The Manager’s Perspective"
IRB Approval # is 06-22-16-0048517
expires on June 21, 2017
The purpose of this quantitative correlational study will be to understand the effectiveness of palm vein authentication technology as perceived by healthcare managers and doctors. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology established the theoretical framework. The research questions will investigate the relationship between palm vein authentication technology and perceived usefulness, ease of use, awareness, peer influence, resource facilitating conditions, technology facilitating conditions, self efficacy, security, compatibility, relative advantage, and complexity. 
Although we make positive contributions to society daily, this is a unique opportunity to make a positive difference in healthcare safety. It is not an understatement to say that this research made possible through your donation, may help save a life by reducing medical errors based on incorrect information resulting from identity theft. How?
"Imagine you’re rushed to the hospital while unconscious.
As the doctor in the emergency room assesses your condition, she quickly reviews what she believes to be your medical record on file at the hospital. The doctor reads that during a previous admission you indicated you’re not allergic to the medication she believes will be most beneficial for your current diagnosis. Relying on the prior medical record, the doctor administers that drug which – in reality – you’re severely allergic to.
Unknown to you and the doctor, someone previously stole your identity for the purpose of receiving medical treatment without paying and created a false medical record.
The result?
You’re fighting for your life because you’re the victim of medical identity theft." - Excerpt from Rob Douglas
You can be a part of this initiative and, in the process, possibly save lives across the only planet we have.
Full text of the Institutional Review Board(IRB)-approved Study on
ResearchGate 
Healthcare: The Most Frequently Attacked Industry 
SlideShare Oral Defense Presentation
Additional information
http://www.slideshare.net/cruzcerdaphd/data-breaches-in-2015
2016 YTD Data Breach Summary 06282016 
Kern County Mental Health Reports Potential Breach 
University of New Mexico Hospital breach stems from technical issue 
The Privacy Crime that Can Kill You 
The Third Cause of Death in US, behind Heart Disease and Cancer 
Stolen Identity: 2.3 Million Americans Suffer Medical ID Theft
After paying the SurveyMonkey Enterprise fee , I was able to use the SurveyMonkey Audience Tool and arrive at a baseline cost estimate for accessing the required target market of the research proposal. The estimated cost is approximately $3330. In addition, I will need to purchase a statistical software package to analyze the data and report the results. The high cost of the SurveyMonkey Audience Tool was an unpleasant surprise. However, a Facebook friend recommended that I explore gofundme.com as a fundraising tool to defray the cost of these expenses.
Here's how your donation would help:
Potential benefits
Healthcare Consumers (All of Us)
An increase of awareness about tools to manage identity theft would be a boon to healthcare consumers because the probability that they would receive inappropriate medical treatment and that they would sustain financial hardship would decrease.
Healthcare Providers
Although the expense may be passed on to the consumer, the healthcare provider initially absorbs the cost of the services rendered when medical fraud occurs. This study may minimize legal risk and public image risk for healthcare providers.
Insurance Providers
For insurance companies, the inclusion of false information can change the loss history of a given data sample of consumers and may increase the premium prices of experience-rated insurance products; this could create an inaccurate representation on the financial statements of the insurer. This study may minimize financial risk that occurs when investment decisions are based on inaccurate financial statements.
Please donate and post this campaign link on your https://www.facebook.com timeline, tweet this campaign link on your twitter homepage https://twitter.com, and USE THE CAMPAIGN as an icebreaker at a social event.
Campaign Link - Post and Like! Tweet and Retweet! Tell!
https://www.gofundme.com/CruzCerdaPhD2016
Together We Can!
I've written the 130+ page, IRB-approved research study, and with your collective help over the next month or two, we can raise enough funds to make our contribution to the existing body of knowledge. Words can’t express fully how important your donations are at this point in my multi-year doctoral program. And I fully appreciate how hard you work daily. I hope that this research can contribute to important reductions in healthcare expenses that will be passed to you in the form of lower insurance premiums.
Thank you so much,
Cruz Cerda III
BA, Harvard University - Economics
MA, New York University - Education
PhD Candidate, Walden University - Applied Management and Decision Sciences - Information Systems Specialization
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7449-0837
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cruzcerda
https://twitter.com/cruzcerda3 
IN THE NEWS
Stolen Identity: 2.3 Million Americans Suffer Medical ID Theft
Botnets that mimic humans being used by cybercriminals to access accounts
Why Hackers Love To Hit Small Businesses -- And How To Stop Them
Hackers stole millions in third attack on global banking system
Survey: Customers Lose Trust In Brands After A Data Breach
P.S. These are the same resources mentioned at the top. Placed here for easy access :)
Full text of the approved research proposal on
ResearchGate
Video introducing benefits of this research https://vimeo.com/cruzcerda/pvafundraising
Oral defense presentation
SlideShare Oral Defense
Additional information
http://www.slideshare.net/cruzcerdaphd/data-breaches-in-2015
2016 YTD Data Breach Summary 06282016 
C
