I found it interesting, because I have firsthand knowledge of a healthcare company that began outsourcing some of its transcription to the Philippines sometime between 2001 and 2006. A few years ago, one of the former patients emailed said company to tell them that an entire progress note from their file with name and full details was online. Apparently the Phillipino transcriptionist decided to use the note as part of their "portfolio" and posted it online! To my knowledge they were never able to have it removed....
Jonathan A+, MCSA, MCSE Thumb-typed from my HTC Droid Incredible (and yes, it really is) on the Verizon network. Please excuse brevity and any misspellings. On Sep 8, 2011 10:10 PM, "Jon Harris" <[email protected]> wrote: > I finally found the article or one that looked like it anyway. > > > Medical records from the University of California – San Francisco Medical > Center that had been sent to Pakistan for transcription were nearly > > made public when a Pakistni transcriber threatened to post them on the > Internet. Lubna Baloch, the transcriber > > was hired by a Texan > > subcontractor, Tom Spires of Tutranscribe. Spires was himself a > subcontractor for Sonya Newburn, of Florida, who subcontracted work > > from Transcription Stat, a California company that handled a portion of > UCSF’s transcription work. Claiming that Spires had not paid her > > correctly, Baloch sent an email to UCSF containing patient medical files and > a threat to post them if she was not compensated. Although > > Baloch ultimately agreed not to post the records, UCSF could not confirm > that she had destroyed them. The American Association for Medical > > Transcription, an industry group, estimates that about 10 percent of U.S. > medical transcription is done abroad, where U.S. privacy laws are > > virtually unenforceable (D. Lazurus, “A Tough Lesson on Medical Privacy: > Pakistani Transcriber Threatens UCSF over Back Pay,” San Francisco > > Chronicle, October 22, 2003, p. A1). > > > > I can't now remember where I read it, but I am pretty sure this was the one > I was thinking of. > > > > Jon > > On Thu, Sep 8, 2011 at 8:54 PM, Jon Harris <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I think it was about 2 years ago that some US hospital outsourced >> transcription of records to India. If I am remembering this correctly. An >> individual at the company took the records home did the transcription and >> then posted them to a web site. The upload site was unsecured and the >> records sat there for a while until someone happened to be looking around >> and found them. I think they were doing a Google search of their name and >> came up with their medical record. I seem to remember that the company said >> the individual did it because they were fired. >> >> I will look around and see if I can find anything I might have saved on the >> article. >> >> Jon >> >> On Thu, Sep 8, 2011 at 8:32 PM, Jonathan <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Ok, Jon, having worked in healthcare myself, and having suffered through >>> overseas transcription, you got my attention on that one....I'm >>> curious....do you have a specific news story or experience from which you >>> can elaborate? >>> >>> Jonathan A+, MCSA, MCSE >>> >>> Thumb-typed from my HTC Droid Incredible (and yes, it really is) on the >>> Verizon network. Please excuse brevity and any misspellings. >>> >>> On Sep 7, 2011 6:27 PM, "Jon Harris" <[email protected]> wrote: >>> > Like the out sourcing of medical records transcription to India where >>> the >>> > out sourcing company had one of their employees take the records and >>> post >>> > them on the Internet for all to read? Out sourcing is still done and >>> done >>> > will little regard to security in some cases. Until both sides of the >>> coin >>> > are made to pay for stupid/criminal acts this will continue to make the >>> > hackers rich and famous. I see little difference between an out sourcing >>> > company and an SSL supplier in this regard. Not doing the due diligence >>> > needed to be assured of a good supplier, or for an SSL supplier that the >>> > purchaser is who they claim to be, then things like this will happen. >>> > Companies to stop looking at cost first then consider what will happen. >>> > Reversing the equation is what needs to be done. >>> > >>> > Jon >>> > >>> > On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 12:45 PM, Ben Scott <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> > >>> >> On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 12:09 PM, Ken Schaefer <[email protected]> >>> >> wrote: >>> >> > At the margin, it will dissuade some people from using Verisign >>> again. >>> >> And that impacts their bottom line. >>> >> >>> >> Apparently, not significantly. >>> >> >>> >> > Eventually, for those that really care, there will be a CA that >>> offers >>> >> the highest >>> >> > levels of security. Probably at a premium price. >>> >> >>> >> There's no rule that says that has to happen. It would appear that >>> >> most people chose price over security, and so far that has generally >>> >> meant that those who value security more are left without any really >>> >> satisfying vendor. >>> >> >>> >> > There will always be some rogue operators. And there will always be >>> >> premium >>> >> > operators that drop the ball on occasion. But generally, it will sort >>> it >>> >> out. Companies >>> >> > that used to be king (Nortel, RIM etc) will go by the wayside. Others >>> >> (Google, >>> >> > Apple) will prosper. >>> >> >>> >> All I see is one set of poor choices being changed out for another >>> >> set of poor choices. Call it the "circle of incompetence". I doubt >>> >> it will get a cute Disney theme song, though. >>> >> >>> >> -- Ben >>> >> >>> >> ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ >>> >> ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ >>> >> >>> >> --- >>> >> To manage subscriptions click here: >>> >> http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ >>> >> or send an email to [email protected] >>> >> with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin >>> >> >>> > >>> > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ >>> > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ >>> > >>> > --- >>> > To manage subscriptions click here: >>> http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ >>> > or send an email to [email protected] >>> > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin >>> >>> ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ >>> ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ >>> >>> --- >>> To manage subscriptions click here: >>> http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ >>> or send an email to [email protected] >>> with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin >>> >>> >> ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ >> ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ >> >> --- >> To manage subscriptions click here: >> http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ >> or send an email to [email protected] >> with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin >> > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
