A Florida woman’s insurance was unknowingly paying a stranger’s ambulance bill for a year — just because they have the same name

“I started pulling up the demographic page, and it gave her address and my birth date,” Valdes told WFLA, a local news station. The other woman’s account was listed as the primary insurance, while Valdes’s insurance was listed as secondary. Their ambulance transport records had been merged into a single account.

Valdes’ insurance paid for the other woman’s ambulance bill, but when Valdes tried to dispute the charge with Digitech — the billing company for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue — she was told that she had to prove it wasn’t her.

Aside from placing the burden of proof on Valdes, it also meant that, until it was cleared up, Valdes’ insurance information was merged with someone else’s. The issue dragged on for more than a year until WFLA reporter Shannon Behnken brought the story to light (1).

How medical mismatches happen

A report from Pew Charitable Trusts found that matching issues within medical records happen most often in urban health systems, where patients are more likely to visit more than one provider (2). Duplication is another issue, where data is split between multiple files for the same patient. That means staff may not have all the information they need at their fingertips to make informed medical decisions.

Mismatches can be the result of data entry errors, such as misspellings or swapped names. But this isn’t just an inconvenience for patients. The consequences can range from billing errors to — in more serious cases — wrong treatments, incorrect medication and denied insurance claims (3).

Indeed, a 2026 study in the journal BMJ Quality & Safety found that patients with duplicate medical records are about five times more likely to die after being admitted to hospital than those with a single record (4).

In Valdes’ case, the error wasn’t just a duplicate — it was a full overlay, where two patient records were merged into one. Most patients have no idea this can happen, or what they can do to protect themselves.

How to protect your medical records

If you’ve had an insured medical service, you’ll receive an Explanation of Benefits (EOB), which is a statement from your insurer that explains payment details, such as what the insurer pays and what you’re responsible for.

It’s not a bill, but it offers valuable information, so it’s important to give it a read and make sure the information is accurate. Mistakes could include being billed for a service you didn’t receive, being double billed or being billed for the wrong amount (5).

By law, you have the right to view your medical records and request amendments if you find any errors. That’s the case even if you haven’t yet paid all of your medical bills (6).

You can request your records by phone or email, though some health care systems have a patient portal you can access. Once you receive your records, make sure your name is spelled correctly and that your phone number and address are correct. This can help to avoid issues if your records are being shared among different providers.

You should also look for inaccurate information about a recent diagnosis or treatment. “For example, if your record says that you have a temporal tumor instead of a testicular tumor, this is completely different and requires correction,” according to Verywell Health.

If your records have the correct name but an unfamiliar address, phone number or Social Security number, that’s a sign there could be a mix-up or overlay. Also, if there’s conflicting medical history, there’s a good chance that something’s wrong.