Off-Shoring Should Be Off Limits

 
The goal of the American Transcription Association is to foster a strong domestic transcription industry in order to keep jobs in the United States. Thus, the ATA believes strongly in the fact that, as a nation, we need to focus on not only strengthening and building our domestic transcription industry, but our economy just the same. By off-shoring work, we are basically giving away US jobs and therefore weakening the US economy as a whole. On the other hand, by keeping work in the US, we are creating room for growth and expansion.
 
Another reason as to why off-shoring should be off limits, deals with the act of sending personal medical records, classified financial information and confidential legal business overseas. Records like these may contain significant amounts of private and identifying information such as, but not limited to, a person’s name, street address, phone number, medical history, social security number, etc. If this information ends up in the wrong hands, just imagine the possibilities.
 
Unlike US medical transcriptionists, foreign transcriptionists are not held to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which is meant to protect a person’s medical records in terms of transporting and storage. That being said, foreign transcriptionists are not liable or penalized for the improper use of the information they receive and can, consequently, do as they please. In fact, there was a case where a foreign transcriptionist threatened to post personal patient information on the Internet if they did not receive their pay within a certain time frame.
 
Some argue that US-based transcription costs more than foreign transcription and, as a result, is seen to be less economical from a financial standpoint—but can you really put a price on privacy and confidentiality?
 
What are your opinions about off-shoring work? Tell us what you think!