Pakistani transcriber threatens UCSF over back pay (The Joys of Outsourcing)

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | October 22, 2003 | David Lazarus

[Arthalion]

"Your patient records are out in the open... so you better track that person and make him pay my dues."

A woman in Pakistan doing cut-rate clerical work for UCSF Medical Center threatened to post patients' confidential files on the Internet unless she was paid more money.To show she was serious, the woman sent UCSF an e-mail earlier this month with actual patients' records attached.

[Arthalion]

"We'll have to live with this risk on a daily basis," Ryba said.

Ahh, the joys of outsourcing! It's nice to know that our important and confidential medical files are in the hands of people with such a twisted view of risk-management.

[Enterprise]

You just KNOW at some point that some of these people are selling or giving the medical information to someone.

[LibWhacker]

I can smell the lawsuits already.

[Arizona Pard]

Yeah, me too. Gee, I wonder where that odd sounding sing-song-accent guy I talked to was from when I called on one of my credit card accounts? Any bets he was living the dream in some third world backsheesh shop? Think I'll just cancel that card pronto.

[Arthalion]

Medical records, bank files, tax papers...you name it, it's getting outsourced to these people. What's to stop ANY third world outsourcer from holding these companies, or even individuals, hostage? If they aren't already, how much longer will it be until organized crime picks up on this scam and starts buying "copies" of this paperwork and demands payouts to keep it quiet? Imagine getting a call in the middle of the night: "Mr. Smith, either you pay us $1500, or we're gonna dump the bank records, tax records, and medical records of your whole family onto the Internet." What are you going to do about it?

Remember folks, American law is worth less than toilet paper in nations like India, Pakistan, China, and Russia.

[Enterprise]

Absolutely! Identity theft may make huge strides with this lax control of private info. I hate to make the suggestion, but if records are supposed to be private, shouldn't the Government assess severe penalties for information processed outside our shores?

[LibWhacker]

What are you going to do about it?

Sue my bank, sue my accountant and sue my healthcare provider.

[Lazamataz]

A woman in Pakistan doing cut-rate clerical work for UCSF Medical Center threatened to post patients' confidential files on the Internet unless she was paid more money.To show she was serious, the woman sent UCSF an e-mail earlier this month with actual patients' records attached. The violation of medical privacy - apparently the first of its kind - highlights the danger of "offshoring" work that involves sensitive materials, an increasing trend among budget-conscious U.S. companies and institutions.

I imagine this is a violation of HIPAA.

[Lazamataz]

If they aren't already, how much longer will it be until organized crime picks up on this scam and starts buying "copies" of this paperwork and demands payouts to keep it quiet?

Dear Russia,

Growth opportunity.

Love, Laz

[Vinnie]

These transcriptions are being subcontracted to the 4th order and it's still cheaper than hiring an American in the States??

[Lazamataz]

Offshoring is so cool! 7.2%!

[Lazamataz]

These transcriptions are being subcontracted to the 4th order and it's still cheaper than hiring an American in the States??

The Company charges 100 pringees. The Contractor gets 60 pringees. The subcontractor gets 40 pringees. The worker gets 10 pringees.

But there are 9,272,284 pringees to the dollar.

[Southack]

Every patient of UCSF Medical Center should be suing UCSF to determine if their own personal medical records have been compromised by this sweatshop clerical offshoring.

It's one thing to risk sending your low-tech programming code offshore for minor modifications, it's another thing altogether to send private personal *data* into such near-lawless regions.

The managers here in the U.S. who sent such *data* are responsible for the protection of that data. If they took shortcuts that revolve around the security of data, then they should be punished appropriately.

[Arthalion]

I've spoken with many Indians who have repeatedly stated that you survive there on $1 a day, and you can live quite well there on US$5 a day. For US$20 a day, you can own your village. In India, you can hire 10 transcribers for a week for the same cost of a single American working at minimum wage.

How do you compete with that economically? Worse, what happens when Hajib realizes that, instead of toiling away for $3 a day, he can "borrow" these records and resell them on the black market for hundreds, or even blackmail the unlucky corporations or people in the records for THOUSANDS. Even if only one person pays, that's still years of income for someone in his position.

[Travis McGee]

Ping!

[TheOtherOne]

I used to have a business doing legal transcription and graphic design work in the Manila / Philippines. Yes, you could subcontract out to the 4th order and it would still be cheaper.

I have since moved to another company, but I still use my #1 designer. I pay him about 10 cents on the dollar for what I would pay for graphic design work in the states. I was able to hire lawyers and doctors to do my legal and medical transcription. They are all college educated and have no job prospects - so they work for pennies.

[LibertyAndJusticeForAll]

And now they have are our CREDIT CARDS and BANK STATEMENTS, our phone records, our mortgage information, etc., etc., etc.

Maybe there are reasons why a nation has borders (assuming that nation protects its borders).

Globalism is just soooooo wonderful.

[MedicalGuy]

I have personally attempted to contact both of my Senators in Texas twice in the last 6 months about insanity of making US businesses comply with HIPAA while giving foreign businesses a free pass to abuse patient data.

Neither has felt the need to even reply. I can only hope that incidents like this will stir them to action.