Government is allowing our medical records outsourced overseas for Transcription ?????

Government is allowing our medical records outsourced overseas for Transcription ?????

If I have posted this in the wrong forum moderators please feel free to move it to a more appropriate one.

I will admit that I have not fully researched this issue as I normally would, but the site I came across it on was less likely to be just something to stir the pot and I felt it was extremely important that others were made aware of this as a possibility.

I came across it on the white house petition site We The People

After I came across it, I recalled how upset people were that Anonymous had released private personal information on government employees.

We apparently are more willing to protect their privacy, than they are to protect ours. I'm upset about this

What is there to transcribe? I thought they kept all the medical records on computers now?

I don`t see why it would be a problem though unless the overseas transcribers are making copies of the records and secretly selling them to insurance companies.

reply to post by Tardacus


They aren't necessarily automatically input into computers. All of the Dr's I have record their notes on a hand held voice recorder immediately after seeing their patients, at a later time those recorded notes are transcribed by a medical transcriptionist into computer records in the Dr's own words for filing.

I know that in any hospital I have been in as soon as the Dr finishes visiting a patient they hand write their notes before moving on to the next patient, leaving the notes to be type in on the floor.

That being said, what this means is that the doctors recorded notes are being outsourced to be hand entered into a computer database.

reply to post by Pixiefyre

Thanks for the heads up........
I never knew this.

As far as I can tell, this has been going on since 2003, maybe longer.
I'll see what else I can dig up....

S&F

----------------------------
ETA: This is from 2004

The $20 billion medical transcription industry subcontracts as much as half its work overseas. Doctors' dictated notes are routinely farmed out by hospitals to be transcribed into written form. Read more: www.sfgate.com...

So, over the past 9 yrs., you can imagine the number has doubled or more.

Also there has been numerous problems with privacy issues....... mishandled info
used inappropriately.
Go figure.........

American jobs have been moving offshore for years, primarily manufacturing work seeking out lower-paid workers abroad. The outsourcing of people's personal information, though, is a relatively new phenomenon -- opening the door to identity theft, fraud and other criminal activities.

It's ok, it's only a HIPAA violation if one of us peon United States "citizens" does it. But if the gov does it, we can all go f*ck ourselves and like it because they can do whatever they want.

Sometimes, the Dr will dictate notes onto a recorded phone line after seeing the parient.

This is also done with radiology/ultrasound/echograms, etc. afterhours when staffing is lower. The transcriptionsist transcribes the record, then inititiates a print of the facility. Where I work, our radiology is sent to another state if it is stat, they read the test, and fax back the records.

We do not have enough need even in a large hospital to employ overnight MRI techs, so MRIs are almost all done during the day. If a stat MRI is needed, the tech is called in, and the radiologist has a system he can log into from home to read it. He then calls the Dr directly and verbally gives the results Dr to Dr.

Since we are only a level 2 trauma center, but only one of, I believe 5 or 6 in the upper most part of the state, most things do wait till morning. We only have 2 level 3 trauma centers, and I believe they are fully staffed at all times, so I don't really understand the need for this EXCEPT,
1. They somehow avoid paying benefits/taxes

2. They cannot find qualified personnel

Other than that, I don't see how they justify it.

Originally posted by heyitsok
It's ok, it's only a HIPAA violation if one of us peon United States "citizens" does it. But if the gov does it, we can all go f*ck ourselves and like it because they can do whatever they want.

It is NOT a HIPAA violation if the passing of tbe information is involving your care.

Transcribing your medical records is a part of your care.

People really need to learn what HIPAA is for, and what it means. That isn't an attack, it is just pointing out a lack of real education on HIPAA laws. It is just not everything people think it is. Transcription providers fall under the umbrella of healthcare related vendors.

I am not understanding the concern here.

Is it because somebody is seeing the records that are supposed to be confidential?

Or is it because something illegal is being done with them?

Originally posted by Hopechest
I am not understanding the concern here.

Is it because somebody is seeing the records that are supposed to be confidential?

Or is it because something illegal is being done with them?

I think it is that people are seeing the records, and people feel threatened by them going overseas means something threatening.

I feel sure they are somehow bound by our laws, but then again, what real jurisdiction would we have overseas if someone collected data on millions of people and either sold it or released it?

We would, depending, be on the mercy of that country to prosecute under their laws, or turn the person/s over under extradition to the US.

Either way, once the damage is done...

But, again, not certain how this is handled, and the laws or reputations involved.

Of course, in the between and betwixt, you also have to deal with security issues, packet sniffers, and hackers. Anything online is always at risk, no matter how good you think your IT department is.

Just ask the bigname companies that have been hit the past couple of weeks. Their security probably far outreaches most hospitals, medical centers, and doctors offices.

BUT, just as with anything else, you have to have a market... or a cause.

In other words, something to make it worth their while to risk it.

reply to post by Libertygal


Ok I understand that part and I guess I agree with it.

But what damage can they do with a persons medical records?

Who would they sell them to and who would want to buy them? Does someone in another country actually care if a guy in Idaho has a hemorrhoid problem?

Gee....I wonder if they will do that for the Form 4473s (yellow NICS forms for background checks) if the UN Small Arms Treaty does not get ratified?

I consider it a trust issue, not just because of the HiPPA issues it presents, although HiPPA did make it a federal offense for ones PPI to be sold to Pharma marketing agencies so that they could buy a target list of potential exploitation, or to be distributed to or discussed with anyone outside of your health care team without a court order. But see I am a bit old fashioned about my health care in some ways, and a bit more progressive that many in other ways.

I have had the same primary care physician for 31 years, he knows me we have established a mutually beneficial relationship, I can bring up any and I mean any potential medical issue I have without feeling the least bit nervous about it, and because of that relationship we are both secure knowing that he's got all the information he needs to effectively care for me. If I have a semi urgent medical issue during office hours I know I can just show up and he will fit me in. There are also times when I know that I am in need of a specific medication and I can call him and he will call the prescription into the pharmacy for me, saving me the cost of an office visit.

A number of years ago I developed a serious illness, I was pregnant at the time and he did not handle obstetrics, so he refereed me to someone he trusted, so when I developed the symptoms of my illness I just expected the same type of trusted referral to a specialist to address that. Bad move, the guy was an ass and eventually when I saw where things were heading, possible organ removal, debilitating medical treatments and potential death laid out for me in the most absolute coldest manner you could imagine, no opportunities for questions or anything I fired him. Then I got a couple of referrals from my primary physician and I made appointments with them specifically to interview them and see if we could work together as a team. I was successful in finding one who I could talk to, who was compassionate, and who was up on the latest medical innovations. I have now been clear of cancer for 21 years

That trust is extremely important to me. After working many years as an industrial analytical lab tech, one of the chemicals I worked with on a daily basis was determined to cause occupational asthma and extreme sensitization to aromatic organic hydrocarbons, amines and a myriad of other low molecular weight aromatic substances one year....literally one year before I developed the full range of symptoms. I nearly died, My doctor and I determined through 3 attempts to reintegrate me back into my job trying various strengths of steroids attempting to prevent the reaction, that it would be impossible for me to continue in that career. But that didn't end the damage that was done,

You know how heated conversations between smokers and non smokers can become.......the non-smokers angry over potential health effects they will suffer simply from being near a smoker while they smoke due to the second hand smoke. Well I don't have an issue with smoke but....

Simply open a bottle of nail polish near me and within 15 minutes you'll be calling an ambulance for me, and you can't imagine how difficult it is to impress that level of immediate health risk on someone who's never heard of it or as a medical profession has seldom seen it, it's an asthmatic reaction that can take months for me to recover from, and any time I've ended up in the ER due to it they immediately want to blame it one the typical asthma triggers...cats, dust, mold, second hand smoke, and although I know exactly what I need to get through the initial onset, they become so intent on telling me it has to be one of the typical triggers they end up arguing with me and delaying the treatment I need.

I have to firmly advocate for myself, but I have to be careful not to piss people off with it....because they could literally kill me with a bucket of paint, a bottle of nail polish, spraying pesticides and do so in a very short time.

I have a very trusted medical team that works with me, and (while I know at least my primary care team is not sending my records off to some stranger in some foreign country) I would find it very disturbing if they did.

That's my life they're messing with.

Originally posted by Hopechest
reply to post by Libertygal

 

Ok I understand that part and I guess I agree with it.

But what damage can they do with a persons medical records?

Who would they sell them to and who would want to buy them? Does someone in another country actually care if a guy in Idaho has a hemorrhoid problem?

Well. There are multitudes of answers to that question.

Targetted advertising for all types of medical supplies and equipment, ranging from diabetic supplies to catheters, wheelchairs, walkers, wound care supplies for chronic wounds, etc. Targetted advertising does work because many people would rather purchase from information sent to them than to research for themselves. Especially mobility limited elderly with limited access or training for computer devices. This makes information selling highly profitable.

Identity theft.

Blackmail, like what happened in the O.P.

Spying on famous/celebrity names and selling the information to news/tabloids.

I am sure others could come up with other ideas, as well, but that's just a few.

Silly me, when I read the title of this thread, I thought it was about jobs.

It is not complicated to write a software where the person transcribing knows nothing about the patient other than a code identifying the patient and another identifying the doctor/hospital and the person transcribing can only enter new information, but has no access to existing information about the patient and the codes themselves cannot be traced to the patients/doctors/hospitals except by the transcription software itself. So effectively the person doing the transcription only knows that those comments were by some doctor in some hospital concerning some patient. Doubt anyone would pay to buy that information.

reply to post by Libertygal

Maybe they want a second opinion.