Identity Theft is one reason
Posted By: TravelinMT on 2009-01-30
In Reply to: a dumb question (please don't blast me) ... sm - dem
The medical records have SS#'s, full names, addresses, depending on header info it can have employer's name or ins. info. It is hard enough to prove/solve/control identity theft in our own country let alone coming out of other countries. That along with the mistakes in the reports that can have a very drastic effect on a patient's care/life. AND if you don't mind the work being done overseas for a fraction of what you are paid so that you no longer have a job...it can't get much more obvious than no paycheck coming in.
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identity theft
Hey, I just saw that someone else is posting as "Nymt", whereas my handle is "nymt" all lower case. This may cause some confusion and I have no idea who was first. Any takers? No animosity, I promise.
Identity Theft - sm
The process of identity theft is one of gathering bits of information from various sources. Everyone will find Mitnick's book, "The Art of Deception" very entertaining and perhaps even frightening in this respect.
Small bits of information can be used to garner others that are more compromising. That's the bottom line.
But your resume itself can be enough, depending on the question that the fraudster wants to answer. For instance, what if the "phony" job ad was simply placed by an MT company in order to find out which of their employees are out there looking for jobs?
I get calls from "employers" wanting to "check references" on people. I always get their phone number, verify it, and then call them back. However, I'd bet that most do not take these precautions, so if I have your resume I can start to call your previous employers, tell them you've applied for a job and, believe it or not, if I'm skilled at social engineering, get your former supervisor to tell me a LOT of things you'd never suspect.
Bottom line: Guard your privacy like a mother lion guards her cubs.
identity theft HAS happened - sm
I know of two transcriptionists that were arrested for identity theft. It took a long, long, long time to catch them, but they were finally caught. Also, I worked at a hospital that decided to outsource, and we tried telling the director that some of the doctors dictate SS# on the report to ensure that we have the right patient, and that that could pose a problem with outsourcing. But they didn't want to hear it or correct it.
How would the info from our resumes be used for identity theft?
I guess I don't understand it. My social is not on my resume. Only my name and phone number and previous employers. How would one use this info to gain enough info to use my identity? I am just curious.
THEFT? That's going a bit far and is unfair..sm
While I agree that cherry-picking is not fair, either, I wouldn't go as far as to call it "theft". The MT is doing the same work, a day's or line's pay for a day's (or line's) pay. If you were to go to a store sale, and someone else were to pick out the most desirable items first, would you also call that stealing?
More importantly, I would not blame your fellow MT. (They are trying to put food on the table the same as everyone else.) I would blame the crappy, thoughtless dictators, and those who have made outsourcing possible, thus leaving all the crap work for us "cherry-picking" MTs.
This is tantamount to complicity in a theft.
This could have been an opportunity: It took someone elses time (=money) to acquire that nephrology office as a customer. It took your employer time/money to train you. Surely your initial reaction must have at least slightly been that there was something wrong with this picture. You should have said, hmmmm, its sounds interesting but can I have a week to think it over? Then you could have used this as an opportunity to educate or remind this customer about what they are getting for their fees to the transcription service: You could have taken that week to gather some examples of dictation errors that were caught by you and your co-workers on their particular account, especially those of a risk management nature (thereby potentially saving their butts from lawsuits = $$$). You might have asked around if anyone had any funny blooper type words or phrases on the nephrology account, & demonstrated how the company you work for was conscientious enough to reword these, possibly avoiding embarrassment to the doctors these were dictated by. You could have visited AAMT's website listing the MT job description and picked out some factoids the average doctor office business manager would not know about the skill level of MTs capable of transcribing nephrology dictation. If your company and/or co-workers were involved in continuing education (which you pretty much have to be), you could have calculated the approximate total number of hours per year you and your co-workers spend on continuing education, resulting in the quality of the work they were receiving, and that this was included at no extra cost to them. This could have been printed up all fancy & presented to them by yourself or someone at the company you work for, and they could have walked away reassured and happy how much money they are saving by staying with the current service. If after all that, they went and pulled the same stunt with another MT, and your company lost the account and the MT, the company should have just said good riddance. Oh wait, I guess that is partly what happened!
Theft $400 and above is a felony in most places
Did you call the police where they live/where you sent the equipment? Threaten them with it in email (go to readnotify.com and sign up for the trial and you can see if and when they open your email). After that, do it. Call the police and file charges. That is BS and they need to pay the consequences.
Cherrypicking - such a cute description for theft.
cc
You will think otherwise if your identity ever gets stolen..sm
good luck to you.
I saw a special about theft in the post office years ago. SM
This isn't saying they all do it, but luggage handlers and post office employees have a high rate of left. I bought a really cool Video Now XP for my granddaughter. The tracking information says it reached my local post office and they scanned it in there. They say they never saw it even though they scanned it in. Someone there has a really nice present for someone this year and they didn't pay for it either. Disgusting.
not *identity* - much more severe problem...nm *S*
x
If anyone steals my identity, the joke's on them!
Destitution has its benefits!
I think it's an expander identity thing, LOL.
It's become your dual personality.
They might if they realized with SS# on medical records, identify theft could happen. nm
x
do reveal OP's true identity. I received
 an email and would like to know who I may be conversing with.
don't post your name or the company you work for, no one will know your identity. SM
why did you even bother to reply so negatively. If it bothers you to answer this poll, than ignore the post. Negativity is so unattractive.
that's pretty funny considering we don't even have our own identity code with IRS! nm
;
all your information needed to steal your identity - sm
name, address, telephone and past employers etc. Now in Pakistan
And you're willing to just accept that? Ever had your identity stolen? I have. It's no treat.
the police have made a report but whoopee, that's not getting my credit back on track. Talk about stress and grief. No one ever cares until it happens to them. What a shame.
the reason you (and I) don't get it is sm
probably cause it is a gross exaggeration of their production. No one could produce that much, unless they kept their fingers glued to the keyboard. I'm sorry, it's just not possible. Don't beat yourself up because of other people. Be proud of who you are and what you do! 
For some reason if you have a different
opinion than the people reading your post, they tend to grow fangs and sharp fingernails and tear you up. I don't understand this as we all have the right to our opinion. We need to work on a solution to resolve this issue not attack one another. We don't know what kind of situation the other posters are in and they don't know what position we are in. Just because one person has a wonderful experience with MQ and DQS does not make the person posting a bad experience with MQ and DQS a liar. It simply means that you are in different situations.
Reason
The reason for that is straightforward: the owner of the other website is very pro-offshore MT transcription and apparently is in cahouts with the MQ execs up to her eyeballs. Nothing wrong with, nothing illegal, all very straight up, but all very you scratch my back and i'll scratch yours. They LIKE each other, and the other website simply will not tolerate any negative MQ comments. And here? Well, the truth is allowed to be aired out. Thank you MT Stars for having the cahoonas!
The reason is for ME's 20% pay cut
They underbid on jobs, telling the client if they use the ASR system they will pay 2 cents less per line, telling them it is such a fast system they can do this. That is not the way it worked out. We are not producing more with it. Expansions were just as good, if not better is some cases and now they have to take the money out of our pockets. (It is on the archives here if you read back through as well.)
There was a reason behind this
As was mentioned, they are not actively seeking offshore. However, in order to keep this very large account (and it is large), they had to use some offshore labor. You know, I don't love it either. However, all of the MTs on this account could have just been out of work. So, now a little of it goes offshore, and the US MTs still have their account and their work. It's not great. It's not the ideal. But, at least we are still working.
You know the reason--
Because some idiot did it and they got sued. When I worked at a hospital years ago, it was July in Phoenix and the temperature was well over 110. We had a guy bring his daughter into the ER with burns on her legs because she went down an outside metal slide at McDonald's and got burns on her legs. His excuse was-- Well, there was no sign on the slide saying it was hot. People are just plain stupid any more.
The reason you don't see many men
in this profession is because they are unwilling to take _____ and they are also unwilling to work so hard for so little pay. I would not recommend this job to anyone just starting out, because I believe it is a dying industry. We are already seeing that now with VR, etc.
One reason why (sm)
Actually, it depends on how the company connects to the internet. At my company we cannot hire any with satellite because we use an IP Sec VPN with our platform (ExText) and there are latency (slowness) issues. If you found a company that uses SSL VPN you would be okay. Here is an article that explains it in a little more technical terms. http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/127542.html
One I like for some reason
"Don't let the screen door hit ya on the way out!"
Perhaps the reason they are
hospitalized is due to a childhood type illness that is better dealt with by a pediatrician.
Reason I'm asking is
I have a friend who uses EXText and says lines seem harder to get with EXText than with other programs. I just interviewed with a company that uses it, and I'm wondering if anyone else has trouble getting lines with this program.
This is another reason why I'm
exploring other career options. Although I've had some bad office experiences I don't think that the constant isolation is good. I agree with the suggestions to get out of the house and away from the computer.
The reason for this...
Many insurance companies are now requiring owners to sign a statement saying they will not knowingly hire anyone who has been convicted of a felony. That's why I believe we are seeing more background checks. Just the nature of the business.
run! run far away! If there was ever a reason for VR, this is IT.
x
And the reason for that is
not that they believe he is the worst. In fact, if you actually look at the site, you will see they are backing him because their whole goal is to "stick it" to AI, Simon, the producers, etc. They are backing Taylor because he is good, he's different, and he's definitely not the manufactured pop star that AI wants. They so don't know what to do with Taylor, just like they didn't know what to do with Clay. I'm sure they would love to have Kat in there because it's easy to market another California diva with the same kind of voice that you hear on the radio every day. Her attitude isn't exactly "idol" material, but then again, I'm sure it's commonplace out there so she'll fit right in. I would have loved to see two polite southern gentleman in the finals. So VFTW is backing Taylor to give a "take that" to AI, and I hope they are successful. I joined the Soul Patrol way back...right after the auditions...and I would love nothing better than to see Taylor make it all the way and welcome any help we can get.
Here's one reason
I didn't know it meant "no message". I just saw it used a lot, so I used it, thinking it was for anyone who didn't want to make up a nickname.
Would the reason you think he
sounds dumb be because of his accent? He's southern. He can't help it. But he is certainly not dumb.
Oh, the other reason is
when she e-mailed me about losing that account, she asked if I had any experience in another specialty, which I had very little of and told her so, and I have not heard back from her.
They do this for a reason. sm
The reason they give you a test that has bad audio or is otherwise difficult is because they want to see how you will handle the situation. On the job, you WILL encounter reports which have bad audio or spots that you cannot understand. It is just a simple fact of life in this field. They need to know what you will do when confronted with this situation. Will you try to gloss over your blanks and guess, or will you flag appropriately? I have worked in QA, and you would be amazed at the number of "transcriptionists" out there who will fill in whatever nonsense sounds close rather than flagging a spot appropriately. It's actually very scary. These companies just want to see if you know how to correctly handle dictation which is unintelligible. They aren't trying to make a mockery of the profession.
well one reason could be
for example, a heart condition runs in my friend's family (the condition that sometimes causes athletes to suddenly drop dead for no apparent reason) and her doctor told her that all her children should be tested because it was a 50/50 chance they would have it too. So I would imagine if her kids were still in school it might benefit the school to know this, especially if the child was involved with sports. Perhaps knowing this the school might invest in a defibrillator.
I don't know if that is the reason they ask about family history but we don't really know why they ask for it so I would probably find out why they needed that information before I either gave it out or assumed they couldn't possibly need it.
I was a little surprised at this response- It didn't sound to me like Pattie was ignoring other people's opinions, just stating her own. I certainly don't think she was trying to offend anyone. Lighten up a little. :)
reason?
Any particular reason?
The reason
I 'viewed' is because I'm thinking of making the switch over to editor, and wanted more information. Hopefully, more will respond. It's anomymous after all. 
For some reason I think of CSI but that would be
pathology or Medical Examiner transcription.
BTW: Does anyone ever notice that doc who does the autopsies on CSI LV mispronounces when he is dictating? It drives me nuts. Makes me want to apply for a consultant job on the set. LOL.
I wonder if this is another reason...
for getting out of the hospital setting. Out of curiosity , I just looked to see what kind of MT positions are at my local med center. They have a part-time position transcribing for Radiology 4 hours a night , MWF. They expect :
1-2 years of progressively advanced radiology transcription experience in health care setting (hospital, clinic, etc.) Professional experience to include ability for extensive research and staying up to date in radiology procedures and equipments. Producation Expectation: 50-70 reports per day (after 1-2 MO orientation) 75-100 reports per day (after 3-5 months of orientation). Preferred: CMT
That's 12-25 reports / hour! Now , I don't know how long radiology reports are (I haven't even started my MT course yet) but does that seem like a reasonable / doable production number for radiology reports?
The reason I am asking is because I
am an IC for a client, who does not telecommute. I need a way to make up some of the driving time picking up tapes and returning completed dictation. In researching, I came across the Express Scribe and wondered if there is anyone else out there who uses it to convert the microcasettes to text. If there is anyone, who could give some insight or advice about this, I would greatly appreciate it!
The reason is...sm
I thought all transcriptionists used spellcheck. It is to assure that if you overlook a word then it will highlight it so you know that you misspelled it. It is easy to accidentally put 2 letters or something like that. With spellcheck I am assured nothing has been overlooked.
I have never transcribed without a spellcheck. Out of habit, I am so used to it I don't feel right not using it. It saves so much time also. With my software it will highlight and if it is a word you aren't sure the correct spelling of it give the suggestions and saves me the time of having to look it up. It is just something I have always used and don't feel right not having it.
All the more reason for us to have it right. NM
I think the reason...
you like it is because your demographics are already filled in. I worked on it for a short time where the account demographics were not filled in at all...definitely a nightmare.
The Reason.
I was accepted to work for her. She is very nice. The main problem is that when you start, you get sent a "ton" of paperwork about how to do the job. I don't remember exactly how many pages you end up getting, but it seems as though it was over 100 pages of information to absorb/learn. It is wayyyyyyyy overwhelming and extremely hard to ever remember all that "stuff." Plus, "tons" of macros to learn also. Her set up is extremely cumbersome. I don't know how anyone could ever remember all of it. I ended up resigining the next day or two after hire and ended up getting a "regular" opthalmology transcription job elsewhere, shortly thereafter.
Well, now they have a reason...
...to release BOS 4...to change back all the changes they made from BOS 2. lol
Then again, some of the changes mentioned here only further cut into our wages, especially those of us paid for visual black characters (VBC - no spaces). WTG AAMT/AHDI on further injuring the worker bee MTs you once claimed to advocate for.
Does anyone else have a feeling this BOS release is just the start of AAMT/AHDI pushing for standardized MT rates based on VBC?
Seriously though, does anyone really believe with all the outsourcing overseas and VR going on that the majority of those facilities really care about the finished product? If they did actually care, they wouldn't settle for crap quality just because it's done cheaper and faster.
One reason.
An old management technique is "divide and conquer." I speak from in-house experience on this. They want people to mind their own business, just as you say, because it is much easier for them to manipulate individuals than it is groups that stick together and look out for each other to prevent mistreatment.
I assume from your post that you are in management.
That's one reason why I got out of FT MT
This is the only industry I'm familiar with where incomes have gone down over the 20 years I have been an MT. The work has gotten progressively harder with all the ESLs and poor quality voice recordings. There are also new and creative ways to rip off the MT. I finally decided to get out. I work in an office as an administrative assistant. The pay is steady and a lot better, the benefits are good, I can enjoy interacting with my fellow office mates and my poor little carpal tunneled wrists are manageable again. I also get vacation pay, sick pay and holiday pay.
I hate to lose my skills, but it seems no one wants to pay for a highly skilled MT anymore. We just aren't desirable, but are a throw-away commodity to be used and abused. In my opinion, its because this is predominantly a woman's occupation and too many of us are willing to just accept what is thrown to us and not negotiate. A take-it or leave-it attitude is prevalent in this industry.
Due to the economy, I'm looking into working PT again, but I recently saw an ad for an MTSO that wants to pay $10 an hour for an editor. Perhaps I shall apply at McDonald's. They are paying $12.
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