It does violate privacy or employment laws.

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among other things.  Basically, federal law states that an employer is not required to offer paid time off or paid holidays.  An employer doesn't have to pay you for time not worked.  It states quite clearly that PTO is an agreement between the employer and employee upon hire.  So, if you have an agreement with your employer stating you accrue PTO and get certain Holidays off with pay, then upon termination or resignation, you are entitled to any unused time you have accrued.  However, since not mandated by any state or federal laws, if an employer refuses to pay you for any unused PTO, you will have to take legal action, likely in small claims court.  You will probably eventually win, but you have to decide is it worth all the trouble and legal fees?

When you actually get right down to it, labor laws really don't do much for the working class.  We are not guaranteed anything except minimum wage and a safe work environment.

Contrary to what you may have heard, the HIPAA regulations of 2003 address the medical transcription field only in passing. There is no extended discussion of the transcription field. On reading the entire thing, the (few) mentions of medical transcription appear almost as after-thoughts.

What those regulations state concerning medical transcription is that the Transcriptionist (or the MTSO) must take reasonable care (their terminology) in safeguarding the confidentiality of the records.

This has been interpreted by the leaders in the medical transcription field to mean:

1) The MT's computer is safeguarded so that unauthorized persons don't have access to her files.
2) Any electronic communication of those records is done in a secure fashion.

Now, I am fully aware that some MTSOs do not allow the completed report to remain on the MTs computer. That is their right. But to hear them state that such is a requirement of HIPAA is wrong. It is not. It is a requirement of THEIR implementation of HIPAA, not a requirement of HIPAA.

For an MT to have a database of the patients she transcribes is completely within HIPAA. However, she must ensure that others do not have access to her computer / files. That is HIPAA.

Merrry Christmas,

Vann Joe

Its is all getting so frightening, the invasion by companies into peoples lives.  I have worked at nine hospitals, two trans companies on-site, three trans companies at home and never have I had a background check OR drug screen.  The policy for drug screening at the hospitals was if you seemed like you were under the influence your boss could request a drug screen but never happened to ME or any of my coworkers.  Physical exam, sure I got those when I worked at the hospitals but they paid for the physical exam and they also covered me for insurance.  The trans company I work for now does not provide medical coverage or life insurance coverage for statutory employees, so I dont see why they would be concerned about my health status.  Lets face it, they are concerned with how much we can pound away each day and that is it.  We get paid for what we produce.  So under these circumstances, they dont need to be poking their nose IN my background, my urine or my physical body.  If it is checking on my experience, well they already did that by talking to previous employers and coworkers and guess I passed the test, as I was hired.

it only cost $2/month extra - today I think it costs $19.95 but to me it's worth it because #1 it cuts all telemarketer calls (and I have been on the Do Not Call list since that began) and I can also take my phone charges off my MTSO business at tax time......

call your phone company and ask them if they offer anything like Privacy Director.  *S* 

I do occasional IC work for a provider that I have known a while now. Today i did some work for her and found something that really bothers me. The physician dictates the patient's full name, street address and home phone number in addition to her DOB. Is that HIPPA compliant? I'm sorry folks but I really don't want my street address and phone number available across the internet even if it is "so called" secure. I would like your thoughts.

...requires a covered entity to make "reasonable efforts to limit use, disclosure of, and requests for PHI to the minimum necessary to accomplish the intended purpose."  The only AHA-approved HIPAA training program, HIPAA Academy, specifically states in its training materials that HIPAA intends that personal information be limited to document headers unless absolutely required   I will quote page 4-56:

"In practice, we expect the minimum-necessary requirement to lead to compartmentalization of the medical record so that one portion of the record (the body of the report) may be readily disclosed for one purpose without compromising the privacy of the entire record."

By limiting PHI to headers, reports can easily be redacted of personal information; when the PHI is scattered throughout the reports, this information cannot be redacted.

the healthcare provider , i.e. the doc, establishes the standards for protecting privacy of records. You (or your service) is the Business Associate who COMPLIES with whatever standards the doctor sets. Some docs send files by email, some want encryption. Hospitals, obviously, generally do more locking down on their stuff, as they are more open to lawsuits. All YOU have to do to be HIPAA compliant is to COMPLY witih the standards the doc sets. It is not up to you to set them. Also what you and everyone else forgets about HIPAA is it is a two part process. Not only does the patient's medical records have to be disclosed BUT the patient must also suffer a loss because of the disclosure. So even if your doc stands out on the street and tells passers-by about Mrs. So and So and her athlete's foot, unless she incurs a loss from that, it's not a HIPAA violation. Remember this whole thing came about because a pharmacy tech went home and told her high school son that another classmate's father was coming in for HIV drugs...get the picture? Something private was disclosed inappropriately and that's how the girl found out her father was HIV positive.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/15/octuplet.mom.hospital/index.html

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The hospital where a California woman gave birth to octuplets in January has been fined $250,000 by the state because nearly two dozen medical workers, including doctors, illegally viewed her medical records, according to state health officials.

Nadya Suleman was the subject of controversy after giving birth to octuplets in January.

Kaiser Permanente's Bellflower hospital, where Nadya Suleman's eight babies were born, revealed in March that 15 employees lost their jobs and eight others were disciplined for improperly accessing her computerized medical records.

There was no evidence that information from the medical files was leaked to the news media, which has intensely covered Suleman's story, according to Kathleen Billingsley, deputy director of the California Public Health Department's Center for Health Care Quality.

Six of the privacy breaches happened at other Kaiser Permanente facilities, which are linked into the same computer system housing medical records.

Suleman -- already a single mother with six children -- gave birth to octuplets conceived through in vitro fertilization, fueling controversy. News of her collecting public assistance for some of her children outraged many taxpayers.

I just received a letter from the IRS saying I owe over $7000 for 2003.  It looks like they say I owe self-employment taxes for that year.  I was an SE that year and employed by a national.  Is this a mistake?  Has anyone else had this problem?  I'll call or go to an office tomorrow.  I'll be up all night working anyhow, but heck knows what I'll be typing while I contemplate this...

Just wait and see what happens.  Don't panic yet.  It is not worth it financially, but worth it for the flexibility.  I just gave up 10 years of being self-employed and flexible to go inhouse for a sure job.

Am I living in a dream world thinking that I can actually find clients that will allow me to establish the rules by which I will run MY business?  Or, does being successfully self-employed in this industry mean that I must allow the clients to walk all over me?  I am flexible to a degree, but just want to be able to set limits while still being able to make a living.  Maybe I should find some other industry?

Sorry, but that needed to be said again - for all you MTSO's out there reading these boards, who think it's good business to keep losing top-notch MTs due to dismal pay rates, and simply replacing them with less-experienced (or worse, OFFSHORE) workers, here's a news flash:  

A seasoned MT in your employ is a money-maker for you, and they should be paid closer to 15-18 cpl to START... not the lousy 7-8 cpl peanuts you're so callously throwing at them. The people who are sending you dictation are for the most part huge, wealthy establishments that can afford to pay a premium price for the premium quality transcription and "I-want-it-yesterday" turnaround-time they're demanding from you.

So please grow a spine, and charge them for what you're MT service is really WORTH.  Don't sell yourselves (and ultimately your MTs) short by always having to bring in the lowest bid for an account.  You might just see more high-quality accounts, and less of the *garbage*.   And then, try paying your MTs who are lining your pockets with money a fair wage with decent benefits, and see how many more of them will stick with you instead of constantly changing jobs in search of one that pays.  Not only would it be the right thing to do morally, but it would be a better for business in the long-run.   

I'm a long-time IC, but new to applying to jobs from a forum like this and am hitting the employment trail! I've applied to jobs that I see on the Job Seekers forum just by submitting my resume on the board. When I visit their own websites, they often have pre-employment tests too. Do I go ahead and take these tests or am I supposed to be "invited" to test for them, like I hear people talking about on these forums? I don't want to take the test if I'm not supposed to yet, but I figure if it's on their main website it must not be private.

Any advice for this new job hunter? Thanks.