Please read and Pass On--I put it on Facebook - Lee

Posted: Oct 09, 2012

Please Read and Pass On about this terrible, sneaky, little secret that most people do not know. Thank you for reading, as I know this is long, and I am putting my job in jeopardy by giving this information, but I feel that Americans need to know that this is dangerously and secretly happening to them. We, MT�s, across the country, have been talking and have decided to tell people what is happening to all of us and our medical information. We are in fear of what is happening and are trying to make others aware of it. When you go to the doctor for anything, a report is dictated by the doctor, whether an office visit, physical, labs, procedure, surgery, psych, ER, chemotherapy,�everything. Did you know that most of your personal information that you give when you go to the doctor is given to people in India to transcribe in your medical reports (hospitals are the biggest offenders). India is NOT bound by the HIPPA law (the law to protect your private info), and they can release your information and not be legally charged, (It has happened in the past with a disgruntled worker releasing info of AIDs patients). We transcriptionists, in the U.S., ARE bound legally to this law. This info is not only your medical info, but can also be your name, address, and SS#. The reports that come back from India contain horrendous errors, and if not caught by the doctor, can be life-threatening. We need to start emailing our doctors and local hospitals to see who does their transcription. Most have in-house transcriptionists, but not enough, so they send the majority of reports to a secondary service company to transcribe (at a very cheap rate..sort of a sweat-shop technology). Most of these secondary companies DO outsource your info to India. I do believe that a lot of hospitals do not even realize this. These secondary companies represent themselves as a U.S. company by having an office located within the U.S. and overseen by a �suit� (what we call a U.S. employee representing the company), but they are owned and operated by India. Recently, India-owned companies are buying out the smaller transcription companies, as they cannot compete with the low costs offered to the hospitals by India. They are really taking over this market in our country. Besides personal info being in danger, almost all transcriptionists in the U.S. have taken up to a two-third pay cut in the last few years, most making minimum wage now; that is if they are able to keep their jobs. About 80% of U.S. transcriptionists have lost their jobs due to off-shoring to India. If you give me the transcription company�s name, I can tell you if they outsource. This is step one in perhaps putting an end to this. As a medical transcriptionist, I see these problems daily from the inside. I had to go through extensive education to obtain a Medical Transcription certification. We have to knowledge of medications, surgical techniques, chemotherapy drugs, diseases, procedures, ranges of vitals and labs, and have a vast knowledge of the medical field and terminology, and be able to catch any discrepancies that may inadvertently be dictated�.sort of being the second ears for the doctor. We should all be concerned about this dangerous off-shoring technology. I hope I have been able to describe this �hush-hush� little secret that is happening to all of us and that you will take action and find out from your hospital where and how your information is being handled. I love what I do, but I am becoming more fearful and sad knowing that most Americans do not know what is being done to them without their knowledge. We need to bring back our personal, private information and our jobs to our country.