A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

IC now called Business Associate - Pauline

Posted: Aug 27, 2013

I have been offered a job as IC/Business Associate. Now that I have looked into the HIPPA ruling this make me nervous as I can now be held liable even with fines up to $25,000 and even stiffer penalties. I barely make it now from payday to payday. I am not in a position to afford any kind of insurance like Liability Insurance. I have always been a FT employee. I am now torn on what to do. The company is willing to train me in VR but when I read all the legal stuff I am terrified to commit. I have a job now but was informed I will be loosing it soon due to contract loss?

Have any of you been faced with anything line this recently and any advice would be helpful to me. Since they have offered me this position the Unemployment Office in my state would frown upon this. I am confused to say the least. I hate to pass up a job offer but the Business Associate thing scares me and I admit that it does.

Can of worms - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
NM

Consult an attorney is your best bet, then - shove that in their face SM

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when they shove this insurance issue in yours.

How can "they" require you to have insurance if the state says you don't need it.

*edit: Most attorneys will review a paper for free, like a half-hour or 15-minute initial consult to see if your case is worth taking, or a goodwill gesture to get your business. Try someone in business law, specializes in contracts, labor relations, or some such field. Open the yellow pages and start calling. Hey, that might open a door somewhere as well, this type of thing. It's worth a try, but get that paper to an attorney and get an opinion.

Take that legal paperwork to an attorney before anything. Even if you have to pay a small fee, it's worth your peace of mind to know.

IC now called Business Associate - Pauline

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Well Has anyone ever turned down a job because of this new HIPPA thing? Now I do not know what to do for sure. It is confusing.

Pauline - Old Pro

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I would have this new HIPAA (not HIPPA) thing reviewed by an attorney. If you are confused at all, now is the time to see professional advice. It's much cheaper to prevent a lawsuit than to fight one.

If you're scared - mt

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I would pass on the offer, if you're really, truly scared. It wouldn't be worth the stress.

Also, is this job different from the one you currently have? I'm confused about how you think it would affect your UE once you are relieved from your current position?

This is new rule being implemented by most - LM

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companies, if not all that deal with transcription. If you are going to continue in this line of work you will have to make a decision as to wing it or have liability insurance.

What about becoming an LLC? - Oldie

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Xx

My friend has already been told she is going - LM

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to be called business associate rather than IC and from what she has read this is the new ruling handed down by her company. She was not given the choice, just told. She has checked with her insurance carrier and trying to decide about whether to invest or not.

dont be scared - sm

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Be smart. Educate yourself. Know what it means to run a business, that's all that's happening (well and understand the privacy laws).

Check with your state, you may not be required to have liability insurance.

Being a Business Associate shouldn't cost you any money other than maybe some business cards.

That's not new. With HIPAA, anyone who - not a big deal

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does business with a healthcare entity is a business associate. It has been that way for several years. Nothing to spaz over. Business associates are required to sign a business associate agreement with the facility. That's all. It's really nothing new. It just means that you are bound by the confidentiality laws, etc. I have been doing transcription since 1981 and have had my own accounts since 1992. There have always been confidentiality agreements. Again, DON'T SPAZ over it.

Professional liability insurance - Zenaida

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I know AHDI is not the transcriptionist's best friend, but they did have an article on weighing the pro's and con's of professional liability insurance at www.ahdionline.org/Careers/.../ProfessionalLiabilityInsurance/. I used to carry the insurance as an IC, but when HIPAA got into the picture it seemed like things got messy so I gave up the IC thing altogether. The cost wasn't too bad, about $500 a year for $1 million coverage.

Pauline - Nick

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It sounds like they are trying to push their liability onto you. If you accept, you would need a written contract from them AND HAVE IT REVIEWED BY AN ATTORNEY, as well as getting E&O (errors and omissions) insurance. You can do what you want to do, but I would not accept this deal. Why on earth would you accept the responsibility for them? And anytime you do not understand "all that legal stuff," you DO need to take it to someone who does. I know a woman right now who is in a boatload of trouble because she signed a legally binding agreement without reading it (because she could not understand it) and it is likely going to cost her thousands of dollars. Again, I wish you the best in whatever you do, but caveat emptor.

If you are an IC then other companies are - doing exactly the same thing, saying you have to

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become a business associate to work there. Her case is not an isolated one.

Overlapping opinions - Tess

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It looks like some of you are confusing old standards with new standards perhaps. There has always been HIPAA rules of confidentiality and they still exists. In 2009 the HITECH Act was introduced which requires additional safeguards for electronic transmission of personal health information. The term "business associate" comes directly from the wording of the HITECH Act. Companies are not trying to push their liability onto the MT who works as an IC/BA, they are following the wording of the HITECH Act. Hospitals/clinics were given so many years to get up to speed with the gov on implementing the EMR and are in the final phase, that is why you are seeing changes in contracts. It's not about anyone trying to pass the buck or push off liability--it's a law. Honestly the IC MT has been pretty lucky going without any liability insurance for many, many years. Would you hire an electrician if they weren't insured and/or bonded? The industry is changing in more ways than one and it would behoove everyone to CYA, especially if you have any valuable assets like a home or savings. So be careful thinking the business associate phrase is just a change in terminology, it is directly related to the HITECH Act of 2009.

careful not really an attorney - SM

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No, the onus is being put on the BUSINESS ASSOCIATE heretofore known as an independent contractor. Companies who are really using contractors (as opposed to companies who are using employees disguised as ICs) are following the LAW. They aren't pushing liability anywhere it doesn't already lie, they are simply enforcing it.

If you are operating as a Business Associate/IC you should be the one submitting a contract TO your client (MTSO). You should negotiate a rate you can live with (their negotiation might be - We pay X). You are responsible for running your business the way you should have been running it all along. It's always good to get an attorney to look at your contracts but the advising this person that the company is doing something wrong is, well wrong.

No one said they were doing anything "wrong" - Nick

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What I said was that it may not be in the MT's best interest to agree to this. That is why I advised her to get something in writing and have it evaluated by an attorney. Never did I say the company was doing anything wrong. Being prudent in protecting one's six o'clock is not to say that someone is doing something wrong. This is just basic business sense.

wrong choice of words - SM

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I worded my response incorrectly then. My IMPRESSION from your response was that you were giving her advice that the company was doing something wrong (pushing their liability on to you - I'm guessing you don't think that's a "right" thing).

When in reality, if a person operating as an IC is operating their business as they should have been all along, being a Business Associate would be no big deal, just another day in the life of healthcare documentation.

But of course, you werent giving her advice because you wouldnâ��t do that and I may have misinterpreted your phrasing. Mea culpa :)

IC- Write the contract, negotiate the price and terms. Always have professionals (accountants, attorneys) review these first. Just cannot fathom what all the chicken-littling is about.

Fist bump, high five . . . nice response - mea culpa

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Well done you!

liability insurance - katrina

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We make less money now with more expense, with the cost of possibility liability insurance now. This has got to be one of the most losing situations I have ever experienced.

Business Associate - Still IC

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It is nice that you say that a true IC should be the one submitting a contract TO the client (MTSO) and in all actuality, that should be the way things are done, but the MTSOs do not do it that way any longer. They label you an IC/BA so they do not have to collect taxes from your pay or offer benefits, which saves THEM time and money, but in all reality, they treat the IC/BA as an employee. THEY send out the contracts, albeit IC or BA, you agree to the rate of pay THEY pay, and they "allow" you to work on their system AND with all intents and purposes, screw the life out of the said IC/BA/employee. When they start treating the IC/BA as just that, only then would liability insurance become necessary. They cannot have it both ways....hold the MT liable for any errors and omissions that may affect the life of a patient, but at the same time treating the MT as an employee. That just does not wash in my book! If the MT now has to accept the responsibility of being a true "Business", then the "client" should HAVE to, by law, treat them as such. They are holding the MTs responsible for the work they perform, but not accepting the responsibility THEY have in classifying the MT as a true IC/BA. They get to skirt the law, while the MT is having her feet held to the fire for any errors. Just not right!!

Sorry - sm

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Your response is like saying, every time I want meatloaf I make chicken. That's about how much sense is makes.

You have a mouth. Stand up and use it. By ALLOWING yourself to be misclassified, you are just as guilty as the MTSO. Yes, it might mean there are some MTSOs who you would not be able to work for because they ARE misclassifying. But believe me, those who are honest and doing things above-board, are very willing to negotiate with you like an IC. If you go to an MTSO and take a job which you know is misclassifying you, I'm guessing there's no gun to your head forcing you, so you are making that choice of your own free will.

If you think you are a misclassified worker, go to the IRS page and find the form that lets the IRS tell you if you are an IC or an employee and once you have a determination present that to your MTSO.

As long as you continue to accept being misclassified, the longer the unscrupulous MTSOs will operate. Stand up. You are your own best advocate here. You have the power to do that. Do it. Stop being a victim and be a business owner.

I understand your reasoning - but....

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I DO need a job, and there are no such places as you describe any longer. I have been working for an MTSO that treats their ICs as employees without all the "benefits," but also looking for something else along the way. I have not found ONE...not ONE service that takes true ICs any longer. Perhaps you can send a list of those that do?? Not being a "victim." That is just the way things are done these days. sorry yourself.

understand reasoning - kabina

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This is true. If you want a job we've about got to work this way, and yes it's very, very unfair but that's the reality of the MT world and IC world anymore, and it's just gotten worse and worse. It's a field I really want to get out of, as I'm sure most of us do anymore.

There are no victims - xxx

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there are only volunteers.

You deserve the kind of treatment you will accept.

no victims - kabina

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none of us chose for these companies to cheapen our pay and go into voice recognition. We were forced into it, so yes in that way we are a victim of greed. We can choose to either continue to put up with this crap or get out, so yes that is our choice.

kabina - xxx

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The companies indeed choose to do what they do. But you can choose what you will do and how you will react to it. Remember, the point of power is always in the present moment.

blah blah blah - rah rah rah

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you seem to think it is just SO easy to get up and fight back. You cannot. It is like fighting the government with offshoring of work. It will continue to be done no matter how much you try to stand up against it. You say it is either not accept it or move on. Well, some of us cannot move on due to many factors, age discrimination, health concerns, impossible ability to return to school for continued education again due to age, etc. You seem to only see things from your perspective and no one else's. the "point of power" as you call it, belongs to the MTSOs, not us. pretty tired of the rah rah here.

boo hoo - woe is you

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As long as you continue to want to think like a victim, you'll be a victim. Jobs aren't going to come knocking on your door. There are jobs out there who don't misclassify you.

The rest of the excuses age (I'm 56), health (I've got a major health condition), schooling (lots of online opportunities and funding opportunities but they won't come looking for you either) are all rubbish.

Stand up.
Stand up.
Stand up.

Until you do, you'll stay knocked down.

sik of you. - go away

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mtso cheerleader! you know nothing of anybody else's situation on here so stop suggesting that they are victims and you are the holier than thou, only one with a good job, snark face.

Go away? - xx

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Um, no, we will not go away. We are not MTSOs (at least I am not, have never been, never want to be). I do, however, refuse to be a victim.

blah blah blah - xxx

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If you are not willing to do anything to change your situation, I guess you will just have to enjoy your victimhood.

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