A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
Awareness - this is a start...
Posted: Jan 21, 2010
This was my post on facebook today, and the responses were many. Sometimes just getting the word out can make all the difference! SO many people are NOT aware of this.
"Did you know, that YOUR medical records are outsourced to India, with none of the guidelines and regulations of HIPAA?" The reason this is of interest to me, is because I'm about to be a medical transcriptionist, and this is a real problem! Aside from the fact that this affects me directly/financially, I DO NOT like the idea of some other country, with no rules or regulations, having MY personal information.
Spread the word. Don't ASSUME everyone knows this.
here is a post - from a friend...sm
[ In Reply To ..]that responded to this post:
BCBS is doing it too. Just outsourced all of customer service to "an outside company". We don't know where it is yet, but I bet it's India
I posted something similar on my Facebook pg. one day, - and yes, 99.99% of people are clueless.
[ In Reply To ..]Some don't even know they have a medical record! I guess they think the doctor just writes the notes on the palm of his hand, or on his grocery list or something.
A certain percentage of people who responded were trying to be oh-so-politically correct and all, and felt that the US had "no right to try to keep work in this country if other countries could do it cheaper on the free global market". Yeah, cool. Whatever. Wait'll it's THEIR pocket the money is siphoned out of. I'm sure their politics will change, then.
Banks, too - Alice
[ In Reply To ..]When I called my bank, Bank of America, I wasn't too surprised to reach a call center in India, but I immediately closed the account. Interestingly enough, I was calling about an erroneous charge that had been made to my account for $400. Someone had purchased software AND signed me up for Juno Internet Service. I have DSL; I certainly didn't need Juno Internet Service.
The bank never revealed to me who made the purchases or what kind of software they had purchased. I don't know if the perpetrator was from India, but it sure made me suspicious.
So, when people start finding that, regarding offshoring of work, it isn't just their medical information, but their banking information that is being offshored, maybe they will start to take notice.
I closed my B of A business credit card, because - See message
[ In Reply To ..]About a year and a half ago, I had a procedure done at a local medical group that I know for a fact offshores its transcription (friend of mine used to have the account and lost it).
I paid my co-payment with my VISA card. Not long after, a couple of orders of, ahh, "male enhancement vitamins" showed up in my mailbox, and of course my credit card was charged.
It took me most of the following YEAR to clear up the fraudulent credit card charges, and even after I had closed the account, more charges came through!
I actually found the thing mildly amusing, despite the headache, in view of the fact that the identity thief was too stupid to change the mailing address for what he ordered on my dime. (Hey, it had to be a he, considering what the stuff was, right?)
I find it eerily coincidental that this happened shortly after that medical office, which offshores its transcription, got hold of my credit card number......
Truth stranger than fiction these days - Alice
[ In Reply To ..]My goodness. That sounds disturbing and entertaining at the same time!! Have you ever thought of turning your true-life experience into a screenplay, movie for TV, or whatever? It might be a lucrative venture.
It seems that a VISA debit card connected to a checking account, then, is somehow more able to be "fixed" whenever a fraudulent charge occurs. Since I cancelled the card and cancelled the checking acccount, there was no way that any further debits could be made.
In my case, it took just a few days to get my account credited, and that was the day that I went to the bank, closed the account, and had no further problems.
Someone tried withdrawing $1,000 from my banking acct - L
[ In Reply To ..]The transaction was from a home, going through Western Union using my debit card numbers. I am the only 1 who knows my card number, no one else, not husband, not child. The bank not only called me but also sent email asking if that was me which it was not. I am very, very glad Bank of America was on the ball with seeing this scam. If they had not been, then my acct would be that much less. This episode happened 1 day before I was going out of the country and I had to rush to get another new card (bank closed it that day due to this) and then had to notify the bank about my leaving the next day so I could use my card when not in the US.
Reply - Alice
[ In Reply To ..]In my case, Bank of America DID NOT notify me of the fraudulent charge. I found out when I looked at my account information on their website. If they had been as helpful to me as they were to you, I may not have totally quit them.
My supposed debit raised a big red flag because - L
[ In Reply To ..]the bank told me more scams are tried in the name of Western Union. Gee you would think the scamers would find out and use something else.
In the interests of full disclosure, however, I should add... - See message
[ In Reply To ..]B of A has been hit-and-miss, in my experience. More misses than hits, alas.
Two years ago, about 8 months before the "vitamins" episode, the fraud unit called me first thing one morning to find out if it was me that had charged X amount of money to XYZ Entertainment, Inc. I said yes, I bought a Moody Blues concert ticket--and the bank guy just about flipped his wig, because he wanted to see the Moody Blues in concert too!
So they questioned my expensive concert ticket, but didn't question the "vitamins." Hmmm.
A few years ago, a co-worker came into my office and said she wasn't sure what to do; someone claiming to be B of A had called to alert her to possible fraudulent activity on her card--and THEY asked HER for her card number and other info! She wisely said, how do I know you're the real B of A, so they gave her a phone number to call back.
Riiiiiight.
So I went online and hunted down a "real" phone number for B of A (which was not the one they gave her), and she called that number instead.
She must have had a very, VERY inexperienced (or stupid) operator calling her the first time, because indeed B of A was trying to reach her, but the operator obviously didn't get the memo about THEM never ever asking YOU for your information. As it turned out, apparently her credit card was traveling merrily all over France without her. (She had not left California.)
It all kinda makes you think seriously about the good old days when you stashed all your cash under your mattress, eh?
Stories like that are exactly what the news media should - be reporting on TV. -sm
[ In Reply To ..]I hope you contacted the CEO of the medical center and told him/her what happened to you!
Im only 1 erroneous "late fee" or "additional charge" - away from being 100% cash-only. nm
[ In Reply To ..].
if it weren't shady - business
[ In Reply To ..]why wouldn't people/businesses/corporations just be upfront about it. It's just flat out wrong, and if people don't care, well then that is very concerning to me. I can understand not knowing things, but once you are educated, then it is up to each individual to take action, like the OP did, just cancel the account.
I just made this - my FB status...sm
[ In Reply To ..]I hope my FB friends realize the impact this has on ALL of us! Thanks for the great idea1
I wouldn't get too excited, or too hopeful for that matter. - MissIndigo
[ In Reply To ..]It's just a big waste of energy on our part. All U.S. medical care providers, insurance companies, and clearing houses have to comply with HIPAA regulations. They are responsible for how their subcontractors handle the records, regardless of where they're located. A HIPAA violation is the same if it occurs in an office in Gujarat as if it occurs in my little office here in the Deep South, and this new techology-created issue is being addressed and fixed as needed even as we gabble over it here.
If our jobs are going to survive, we need fixes that both save money AND involve us. The protectionist laws so many are pipe-dreaming for, benefiting us at patient (hey, us too...) expense, would be a very bad approach.
Anyway, why the assumption that records sent electronically 10,000 miles overseas are much more likely to be compromised by criminals than ones sent electronically intra-continent to us? If so, we should be even more worried about the records sent to Australia. THOSE people are literally working upside down, they're so far away.
Miss Indigo - good point, but..
[ In Reply To ..]my point is to open up lines of communication. You are obviously knowledgeable on this topic, however, SO many are completlely clueless. I think a lot of people assume things going out to other countries are "material" things, or things that are not that private/personal. Am I expecting some miracle or drastic change to happen by posting something on FB, of course not, just trying to spread awareness. I totally get and agree with what you're saying. I do however, still feel uncomfortable with my banking, medical records, going offshore, (not to mention the fact that we are outsourcing OUR jobs and American's are struggling). It just opens us up to that many more people to have our information "compromised". A lot of this information is overwhelimg and confusing to people who are not in this industry, so just putting it, as simple as possible, in their "ear", it just opens up conversation, and that's a good thing.
Sure, and knowing what's happening with our private - MissIndigo
[ In Reply To ..]information is extremely important.
Regarding the direction our discussion takes, though, it's just that the lid'll never be put back on the geographic box opened up by the technology and information revolutions. Many tens of thousands of people move around our planet every single day, trillions of electronic files, and that's only going to increase. Sure, constant change brings constant problems to deal with, but all our worlds are becoming wonderfully large with it. We who work at home know, even more than most, what nice things can come with freeing ourselves from geographic limits.
So, my feeling is the important issue is how to protect our privacy in an electronic age--free of abuse by OUR OWN government, employers, insurance companies, etc.--NOT how to get our records back in an almost entirely irrelevant geographic box. When your insurance company illegally tells your employer about your newly diagnosed cancer and your employer drums up some phony excuse to fire you, does it really matter that your name is entered on an electronic termination notice by some subcontractor's clerk in Bombay?
The IRS just recently decided to warn taxpayers that their tax information - may be going off-shore
[ In Reply To ..]Are your income taxes prepared by one of those companies like HR Block? Do you read all the consent disclosures on their forms before you sign them? If not, your tax information may be going overseas. The IRS did not start to crack down on making sure disclosure statements by tax preparers plainly stated they could be using off-shore preparers to process your tax forms until 2008 and the law was not effective until December 31, 2008. Prior to that, who knows where your personal information was going.
Our “Government” does not care who gets our personal information. I am sure the majority of taxpayers never knew their IRS Form 1040 may have been prepared by someone overseas.
To: Awareness - this is a start... Your efforts are laudable, but will not result in any changes. Information will go off-shore no matter how much we try to “educate” the public.
From the IRS website:
FAQs Related to Strengthened Taxpayer Control over Tax Information
How exactly is the IRS strengthening taxpayer control over their information?
The intent is to help taxpayers make informed and knowledgeable decisions. For the first time, the IRS mandates the form and content of the consent process for paper and electronic preparation of individual tax returns. It mandates specific language and type size to avoid ‘fine print’ consent requests. It requires preparers to provide taxpayers with information where they can file a complaint if they suspect their information is being disclosed or used improperly. It seeks to prevent taxpayers from being pressured with repeated consent requests. It also requires preparers to inform and obtain consent from taxpayers if their return information is going overseas for preparation. Details of these requirements are outlined in Revenue Procedure 2008-12.
Revenue Procedure 2008-12:
http://www.irs.gov/irb/2008-05_IRB/ar10.html
Effective December 31, 2008
Section 4
.04
(1)
(e) Mandatory statement in any consent to disclose tax return information to a tax return preparer located outside of the United States. If a tax return preparer to whom the tax return information is to be disclosed is located outside of the United States, the taxpayer’s consent under § 301.7216-3 prior to any disclosure is required. See § 301.7216-2(c) and (d). All consents for disclosure of tax return information to a tax return preparer outside of the United States must contain the following statement:
"This consent to disclose may result in your tax return information being disclosed to a tax return preparer located outside the United States."
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