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

Is it true that we, as Nuance MTs, can be prosecuted - for HIPAA violations

Posted: Nov 20, 2014

such as accidentally sending a cc to the wrong doctor? While I know that is a big no-no and I haven't personally done it (yet)...and hope I never will, isn't that an awful lot of responsibility to put upon us? Shouldn't that be on someone else, like the hospitals. I personally think we shouldn't be responsible for sending copies with a click of a key. We should maybe ALERT the facility that a cc needs to be sent and let THEM take the responsibility since it's so important. Why is this on US -- our pay is way to low for this!!!

Is this a re-post??? I recall answering it once - before ...

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I have seen the same thing before and answered it!!!

Seriously? You need to reply just to say that? - And NO I never asked it before...n/m

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xx

What? No. You can be fired, though. nm - acuteMLS

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x

It is more likely that Nuance carries liability insurance in case they are sued for - such, and crap rolls downhill.

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Nuance would hold you as responsible as possible.

Have you never watched a HIPAA video? - MMemployee

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I just don't understand why so many MTs have such a feeling of entitlement. Yes, if you transcribe a document and you make a critical error leading to a HIPAA violation after so many HIPAA violations you could be prosecuted. Will you? Very unlikely. You'll lose your job way before that. Why are you responsible? Well, because it's your brain that told your fingers to type those words. That's why when they say, "Send a CC to Dr. Smith" we don't guess at which Dr. Smith, we just type "Dr. Smith" and let the hospital sort it out.

Let me put it to you this way. You're driving down the road and get T-boned by a teenager driving the family station wagon. It's clearly the teenager's fault. She has a driver's license (signifying that the state has found her fit to drive). Is it her that gets sued? Yes! Yet, with your train of thought it should probably be Toyota because they're the maker of the station wagon. Makes no sense.

Bottom line, stay alert, do your job, don't allow distractions in, do your best, and if you make a critical error don't do it again.

Oh, and if you've watched the HIPAA videos (and you should have to every year) you would know that sh** does roll downhill but it is also your manager and your company who would face hefty fines at a minimum for hiring you if you make a critical error violating HIPAA.

If you're not up to the task, perhaps MT is not for you.

Wow.... - I never said I didnt take it seriously as you impl

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I AM careful believe you me. My point was that for that amount of responsibility we should be paid as such...instead...we really do not get paid to do CC's AT ALL. If they want to put that responsibility on us, we should be paid better...that's ALL my point was....I didn't need to hear all that....jeesh

My apologies. I misunderstood your message then. - x

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x

Excuse me, but once that doc signs that - sm

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report, he owns it and has full responsibility for it, even if he DID NOT read the report. For some reason, you seem to think, as does NUisANCE, that the physicians have no responsibility for anything, just the MT. Your little scenario about an auto accident is comparing apples to oranges. We're not in the business of auto accidents. We're in the business of life and death to which in the end, it is the physician's responsibility to ensure that his/her reports are correct. Getting a little tiresome always blaming the MT. If you don't understand the responsibility of the MT versus the physician, perhaps MT is not for you.

Excuse me, but where did the OP say - x

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that she was talking about a HIPAA violation AFTER the doctor signed off on the report? mmmmHmmm.

Oh honey, just because you don't like the law doesn't mean it's not the law.

She asked the question why it should be all on us - sm

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(MTs). I'm here to say it is not on all of us. It is a SHARED responsibility, something you and this sorry company called Nuance seem to have forgotten. You want to read into the OP's post something not there. As someone else said, who pissed in your Cheerios? Your posts smack of downright talking down to others. Blowing smoke out of the behind to make oneself look better, is that what is going on here? And as far as "don't like the law," what the heck does that have anything to do with this thread? Laws are meant to be broken. Ask Obama if it ain't so.

To: MM employee sm - former auto claims gal

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Just a tip for you. Not a good idea to use a car accident as an example here. Having been a former Automobile Claims Processor and paralegal, I can tell you that both the teenager and the owner of the vehicle could "possibly" be held liable. State laws vary on degree of liability. Every state is not the same. Also, it could have even been the fault of the person who was T-boned if that person ran a red light or stop sign or that person contributed in some other way. Lots of other things come into play. Nothing clear cut. So, not a good example in this case.

p.s. And "yes", it could actually be the carmaker's fault. Didn't they have recall on steering or brake issues?

If unhappy with the pay..s/m - Outraged

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If you are so unhappy with your pay then maybe it is time to get a new job. Sending a medical record to someone who should not have it is illegal and as such can be prosecuted. Now, it goes without saying that issues such as this are investigated, but I am sure if you are a Nuance employee you had to take the HIPAA training provided by the company, and if you paid attention you would not need to ask in what capacity you can be held responsible. If it were your medical records that were sent or released to someone they should not be I would hope you would be outraged and demanding an explanation. It is not just the touch of a key as we are supposed to verify all carbon copies to make sure they are going to the right place, and if in any doubt don't do it. Send it to QC or upload as the AI allows, but don't add the cc. You should also always double check any cc you have added to make sure it is correct. Don't mean to be harsh, but you can also make a mistake on a medication "with the touch of a key" and someone could end up seriously hurt. If you do not think these things are important or should be your job because you don't make enough money, I suggest you look for another line of work.

Do you even have the ability to send copies??? - ???

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Or are you just typing "cc Dr. Smith" and the hospital sends it?

I would never, ever send a copy blind like that. If you do, you will be responsible if you disclose it wrongly. They are holding the person who did fhe deed responsible now, not just their employer.

What we are told to do...SM - Old Anon

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is if there is more than 1 doc with the same last name and we can't verify which doc it is, we manually enter Dr. Whatever. Once it uploads to the facility, it is up to them to sort out which Dr. Whatever it should go to. The report is not immediately sent to any old Dr. Whatever. So in essence, we are off the hook. It then becomes the responsibility of the facility to see to it that it gets to the proper CC recipient. Follow whatever procedure your MTSO has in place for unclear CCs, and you should be okay.

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