Administrative redundancy

[vanillabean]

I have noticed, and maybe you have too, that you can sign up for myFICO or sometimes get a credit card without a social security number or that in setting up a bank transfer you need what’s only strictly necessary such as checking information. Yet in the health care insurance sector, every time a dentist submits something as trivial as a basic claim, your birthdate needs to be on it, or when you go to the doctor you are constantly asked to verify your address, which may be lost in the system. So I was wondering if the bank sector requires less redundancy for the simple reason that bank systems are more reliable or it's because the bank world is less regulatory?

[Moneyklutz]

Interesting premise

If I had to guess the difference its due to the perceived liability in the medical field vs the banking industry. A mistake in banking or credit is simply (sometimes) corrected but a medical mistake can be irreversable and possibly life changing. Every surgery I've been through I've been asked a personal identifier by the last nurse before going under as a double check. It's not an infallible way to prevent things like this from occuring but I think it's meant to help prevent errors that can't easily be undone. Perhaps the additional data asked by doctors and dentists is simply a spillover in their attempt to make sure you are actually 'you'?

Curious what others may think as well...

(edited due to beer fingers)