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You could be in legal trouble for saving reports.

Posted By: Oldie but a Goodie on 2008-11-20
In Reply to: Branching out..... - Airforce Mom

First, that would be a HIPAA violation. Second, I am positive the entity you worked for did not allow you to keep copies of work for personal use.

Bad idea. Hopefully, any group you show that info to would be scared to work with you.




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No way should you be saving reports
You are violating the patient's confidentiality and probably it is a violation of your contract with your former employer. Really that would not reflect your quality of work, for all they know the reports were copied. Only working with a current job's dictators and their system will let them know that for sure. Get rid of all those reports you have saved ASAP.
Saving reports
Is not only unethical and a severe lack of good judgment, it is a breach of the Federal Privacy Act, the HIPAA laws and is actionable in both federal and local courts. I hope that whoever is saving reports has good legal counsel on retainer. If you do not believe me, call your own attorney or ask the legal counsel for any hospital. He or she will be able to confirm this.
Saving reports

Blackswan, not to split hairs but if you have reports with no PHI, they can be saved.


I agree that I'd make sure I was covered, but the key is making sure there's no identifiable information included in the report (birthdate, name, address, phone, etc)


Seeing how you took the saving reports SM
subject, I'm not sure you'll think this is good advice either, but here goes.  I hope you plan to present yourself better in your flyer and in person than you do in the posts you made here in this thread.  The posts I saw give me the picture of a down-home momma MT, not a professional businesswoman.
I don't think saving reports is

Whipping out saved reports might just show a future employer a good reason NOT to hire you.  Aside from the legality of it, IF you were to do this, how representative of your work would this be anyway?  This could have been QA'd work, someone elses work, etc.?  I'm not saying that's the case, but just look at the logistics from a recruitor or company standpoint who is considering your employment with them.  I do think though that when you hold out your saved reports you're raising red flags for any potential employer.   Good luck though. 


There is nothing wrong with saving reports

I thought people jumped right on ya' as well.


For example, there was one ad for a job that I remember a few months back asking the applicant to send a few reports that they've transcribed. 


These people are all brainwashed. 


Look at the post about the cell phone dictation???  There is nothing to say a physician cannot dictate on his cell phone in his/her car, on a plane, etc., as long as they're not using a bullhorn.  Most MTSO web sites show physicians dictating on a cell phone or from anywhere;its part of the business.


Just chalk it up to the source of these posters' ignorance of this field and only working for nationals that have brainwashed them.


Please tell me you aren't saving actual reports...?
Please reassure me/us that you aren't saving the actual report with patient demographics, etc., and then showing them to others? That would be such a huge compromise of HIPAA and would bring to light a whole different set of reasons for possible future termination from an employer if it were found out.
i don't know if saving your reports to show quality is a good idea
:)
Medical Reports - legal documents

Does anyone else besides me marvel at how much of a mess medical reports are becoming with offshoring, VR and EMR? Let's compare these reports (which are legal documents) with court transcripts.  The sequence of events that take place for court reporting is 1) court report enters verbatim transcripts into their machine.  It goes to either paper or into a computer.  Then a scopist must transfer it onto the actual transcript while editing. Then a proofer comes in and edits it. Then it gets sent back to the court reporter to sign off.  A deposition can cost upwards of $750.00 for a hour deposition! Now contrast that with what we are getting these days that pass for a comprehensive medical record. Unbelievable.


Legal or not legal overtime question.
My friend works for an MTSO who assigns dictators.  You are supposed to keep up with your assigned dictator whatever that takes.  She is overloaded and working 50-60 hours a week.  She is an employee.  They say they do not pay overtime and do not have to pay overtime but she is expected to get those dictators current and keep them current.  I say because she is an employee the federal law of a 40-hour work week and overtime apply.  She has asked everyone from her team lead to the HR person and they say they do not pay overtime.  I say that is not even legal if she is in fact an employee.  What is correct? 
where they 35 comparable reports - or 35 short and 35 long reports? nm
x
saving $$$
Can you just imagine the amount of money the company makes by having us work at home? It is a huge amount, and yet paying less and less - sweatshops have made a return.
Saving face
She saw the boards, was furious, trying to gain some lost ground. If you notice the dates you know it was because of the boards. Hush money.
LOVE IT!!! Saving over $150/mo!
x
Same here. I'm only saving $11.54 a pay period
but they almost take it all away with the vision.  After all the trouble to get insurance in the first place, now we had to do it all over again. I only got my cards from the old insurance at the end of March!
They are saving a fortune on Docuscribe (sm)
Since switching most of us have taken a deep dip in wages. A little perk to keep morale up wouldn't hurt.
Saving records is okay IF required by your
x
you could start saving these IM notes -
use them or not - protect yourself.
Thanks for saving me from posting that SAME sentiment!
I agree 100%! I love TT, I love my account (which is VR, by the way), and a greater group of folks I've never worked for. Talk about counterproductive to get on here and bash one of the most respected organizations around, a company with very generous wages who have no doubt put food on their tables and a roof over their heads but switch over to VR and the trash-talking begins in earnest!

So folks, if you're not happy with the switchover to VR and keeping up with the times and are going to proceed to try to trash TT to the nth degree...

I agree with above poster...

BUH-BYE!!! More work for ME and more money in my pocket.
Typing ER reports and radiologogy reports
are completely different with regards to pay. For typing regular reports, that is a very fine line rate. For typing radiology reports, it would be horrid.
I also had asked about Precyse. Thanks for being so honest and saving me from another headache.
I am so disgusted with the way this profession is going down the tubes. I've actually applied at our local hospital today. I dont think I can take another day of fighting for work just to have it sent over to India because our company just doesnt care or think enough of us to provide us with livable wages. I could count on all 10 fingers the jobs which have offered me 2-3 cpl for editing. Then the rare few that offered 4 cpl (which is also a joke) only to find out that they dont pay for spaces, headers or anything else. The only profession I know where we literally work for pennies. Come on..this is American. Why are we paid wages like we're a third world country. It'd be nice just to meet the bills, but between low wages and high costs of having insurance, which we have to have because our antidepressant medications are so flipping high. LOL.. who can survive doing this anymore. I'm outta here too. We all need to take a stand.
This is all part of the cost-saving plan..first, send your American MTs work to India so we sit here
with nothing and then manipulate the way the lines are counted. Sounds like cost cutting at our expense to me. 
That is not legal to do that. NM
:
what is legal
Contact the IRS if they want a "set in stone" schedule. If you have to give them one you are definitely an employee by IRS guidelines and they can be sued. I think you can go to IRS.gov or something on the Internet and find out about this.
This is not legal....
They can only get away with it if the employees allow that to happen. You can contact your local wage and hour division of the US Dept. of Labor for info
Legal?
Yep. The federal government made it perfectly legal for companies to sell off America thousands of jobs at a time with the WTO and NAFTA. Sweet, huh? And the companies doing it for the most part try to be hush-hush about all of it because they know how people would react. It happens more than you know.
Everything was legal
If you had read older posts - I drew the difference in what I made as an IC and what my weekly unemployment pay was - i applied for jobs every week - both online and offline. There's no scheme to it - it's just what it is. KS was only upset because they didn't know the laws in my state and they got caught in the way they handled things.
No, it's not legal
You wrote: I just don't think it's right to ask me to find a new profession for the next 12 months. Apparently it's legal, but that doesn't make it right.

I think what attorney #2 is trying to say to you is that it is NOT legal... that they cannot stretch the definition of a noncompete clause that far...


Because they CAN. It is legal. They want to see
x
Is it even legal
for them to tell you you cannot work for another company? Frankly, it is none of their business what you do in your time you are not working for them.
this is not legal

According to the IRS, whether you work as an IC or an employee, you have to be paid what is agreed upon.  As an IC, you have to be paid upon a mutually-agreeable rate and as an employee (depending on the stste) they have to give you written notice of the pay change with at least 5-7 business days but, they can then change the pay.


File a claim with the employment agency in the company's state and that will fix it.


Is this legal? sm
My understanding is that employer provides necessary equipment for employee.  Not so for IC, who provides his/her own equipment.  But to charge an employee to use equipment to do the work of the company?
I do not think it is legal
for any company to tell you you cannot work for another company in your off-hours, provided, of course, that you do not use the original company's equipment to do so. Why are you working for such low pay? There are plenty of companies out there that will pay well if you're good.
Legal?
I don't see a problem legal-wise.  Is it ethical?  No.
????? Legal has nothing to do with this
board. You can start just about any thread you want on here, within reason. Do you care to name the company so others will know??
There is nothing legal to do with this. While
it is ridiculous, if she agreed to it not much to be done. Companies can offer any rate of compensation, it is up to the individual to accept or decline.
is this legal?

when i pull up patient demographics i can see that person's (along with everyone who has been to that hospital) social security number....so if i were a criminal i have the name, the date of birth, the ssn, alot of information about them in the report and a feild day with indentity theft.....surely this cannot be legal???? any thoughts?


Is this legal transcription?
If so, I answered their ad on MT jobs. They stated they would provide info on cpl upon receipt of a "viable" resume. Well, I sent my resume, got a lot of Word docs in return, but no mention of cpl. However, I did read in their material where they pay you after they get paid. Frankly, I just won't take that chance. I'm not working for a month before I get paid. It also sounded like they want you to work full time and be at their beck and call ("flexible" as they call it). Just didn't pass the smell test, IMO. More info on the work at home mom boards.
I don't think this is legal. Check it out.
x
Legal Transcription
I am a MT who may want to cross over to legal trans because of the BS...anybody know any good companies to try???
is this legal/legit?

I love the company I work for.  I love the people, love the work.  Only one complaint:  They deduct $12.50 out of each paycheck for a total of $25. each month for rental of their software.  They said they were told they had to do that if we were IC's.  We use our own computers, or rent theirs, so why should we pay to use a version of Word? I have never had anyone else do this in 15 years.  Also, they want to charge a fee to do direct deposit.  I've never seen that charged for either.  Is this Kosher or should I say something?  If so, what?


No, it is *NOT* legal for one person to tell another
that they can't earn a living for a year. Here's what I would do. I would sign the noncompete agreement; however, I would cross off the part about not working for 12 months for a competitor and make a notation that your attorney has advised that this part of their contract is illegal and unenforceable. Send it back to them and see what they have to say about it. They also can't withhold severance pay for refusing to sign a contract AFTER the fact of being hired and laid off. They're opening themselves up to a lawsuit, if you ask me.
Probably legal but not ethical. nm
nm
Without your permission it is not legal.
NM
Mandatory OT? Is that even legal?
x
The recipient probably ignored the legal - sm
disclaimer contained in the email she received the letter under.  Oh, yes, a company would want her working for them in a heartbeat - LOL.  Follows directions, check - oops, not.  Adheres to confidentiality rules, check, oops not.  You're absolutely right though, it is HER letter, but HER letter that most likely came with a confidentiality disclaimer.
Is this legal, for employee to be. SM
charged a fee to use company equipment to do company work?  I know IC must provide his/her own equipment, but I do remember reading that employer must provide tools of work for EMPLOYEE.
Probably just want to make sure your legal
I have had companies request this of me to verify I am a US citizen.  Probably nothing to worry about.
Legal Question

Does anyone know as an MTSO if we have to retain the medical records for a former client that no longer does business with us?


Thanks


Don't know the legal aspects, but why
would you want to keep records of someone who no longer contracts your services? They have the records there. The only thing I could see is if you have to keep them for a certain time period in case the client loses them.
Well, that info is legal....
Nice huh?