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21 Feb 2004
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Jobs and Privacy at Risk??

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Dear Friends,

It is unfortunate, but predictable... Every time we hear that
there is a risk to privacy of US citizens' medical records from
offshore MT service providers, beyond that voice is a stronger
advocacy of protecting jobs!

Let us take Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont's proposed bill, for
example. In October last year, she said her bill would prohibit
anyone possessing information involving California patients from
sending that information abroad. "We're not banning the practice of
overseas workers doing transcription," Figueroa said. "But we can
regulate the practice of medicine within California. " "The
interesting thing will be to see where our new governor stands on
privacy issues," Figueroa said then. "At this point, we don't
know."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/10/26/BUGIN2J
2A01.DTL

Four months later, her rallying focus appears to have shifted. As a
Silicon Valley representative, Figueroa now says she is keenly
aware of the repercussions caused when good California jobs are
sent overseas, diminishing the state's job base, decreasing state
tax revenues and increasing government expenditures for displaced
workers.

The senator on Friday introduced a legislation package aimed at
stemming the loss of more jobs to overseas companies and is calling
for an open forum to examine the scope and breadth of how
off-shoring jobs impacts the state. "Californians are at risk as
more and more companies shift their labor force to developing
countries," she said.

Equally troubling, Figueroa says, are recent reports that even
state contracts are being sent overseas.

In preparation for next month's hearing, "Outsourcing California:
Our Jobs and Privacy at Risk," Figueroa has called on national
experts in economics, business, international affairs and labor, as
well as educational leaders.

"As policymakers, we must encourage and assist all companies
operating in California to find the means for keeping jobs in the
state," she said. "We cannot afford to sit idle and must
aggressively find a workable solution to keeping these jobs here at
home."

http://www.smdailyjournal.org/article.cfm?issue=02-21-04&storyID=28
325

California based entities - please make your presence felt at the
forum on March 9!!

Ciao!

Maj (Dr.) Amit Chatterjee, SM
Strategist / Founder ~ mailto:amit@...
MT India ~ www.mtindia.org
"The Community of MT Professionals"

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NEWS AND VIEWS :
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1) Unlikely Offshoring Supporter

You may have seen the McKinsey Global Institute report that for
each dollar the United States sends to India in the form of
offshore jobs, the U.S. economy gains $1.14. A more unlikely voice
in favor of offshoring arrived this week in the usually liberal
magazine The New Republic. The New Republic article argues that
"while offshoring may displace some workers in the short term, in
the medium and long terms it represents a net benefit for both
domestic businesses and their workers."

http://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/23/63/39.html

2) Outsourcing is bigger than Bennington, experts say

The disclosure that Southwestern Vermont Medical Center is looking
into outsourcing some of its transcription work overseas is part of
a much wider trend in the nation's economy, experts say.

The hospital's goal is to get its transcription costs down to the
industry average of about 13 cents per line, which would save
approximately $175,000 annually, said Kevin Robinson, spokesman for
the hospital.

Currently, the costs work out to be about 18 cents a line. But cost
isn't the only factor driving the process, he said.

"There are not enough trained personnel available, especially for
weekends," he said. "But we can't outsource the whole department.
We need to hold onto at least seven employees for rapid turnaround
situations."

Focus M.T., based in Clifton Park, N.Y., is the company pitching to
get the rest of the hospital's transcription business.

The company's president, Abbas Mousavi, said it was premature to
say whether agreement would be struck.

If his company gets the job then the data would be sent - by a
secure line to prevent tampering - overseas to a center in India,
he said.

http://www.benningtonbanner.com/Stories/0,1413,104~8678~1936487,00.
html

3) Growing trend to outsource

The US-based outsourced medical transcription company HealthScribe
Inc. is all set to make India a hub to get into other services,
taking advantage of high-quality offshore capability and will
recruit 500 people in the country this year.

"HealthScribe's increased equity stake in HealthScribe India is a
key component of our growth strategy," David E Ehrhardt, president
and COO, HealthScribe said. The development of resources both in
the US, where the company has around 800 employees and in India was
critical to HealthScribe's growth, he added. HealthScribe hopes to
have $50m in revenues next year.

According to Suresh Nair, chief operating officer, Max
HealthScribe, the company expects the volume of transaction it
handles to grow by 50% in '04.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/452607.cms

4) Health, wealth, outsourcing

Over 300 of the Fortune 500 companies today outsource some part of
their technology and business processes to India. Almost 50 per
cent of these are healthcare players. Over 60 per cent of global
healthcare companies will outsource more than half of their IT
operations by 2007, says a Gartner study. According to industry
observers, India has the potential to attract a major chunk of
these outsourcing contracts. The recent multinational healthcare
entrants Accenture, EDS, CGEY, FCG, Keane and IBM are on hiring
spree in India, offering an average salary entry level salary of
$8,000 per annum. According to Saji Salam, chairman,Health Level
Seven India, the healthcare opportunity includes a gamut of
services like insurance claims processing, adjudication,
receivables management, medical transcription, billing and coding
services.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/431516.cms

5) Acusis Hosts Successful Transcription Innovators' Summit

Acusis recently hosted the Company's first annual Transcription
Innovators' Summit at the Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa, Florida. The
event was designed to provide an open forum for customers and
industry colleagues to discuss pertinent industry issues and to
exchange ideas on medical records, patient data and transcription
trends.

To further understanding in the industry regarding Acusis
operations protocols as they relate to the Company as an offshore
outsourced medical transcription provider, three industry
colleagues were randomly selected for trips to the Company's
operations in India for a comprehensive inspection of the Acusis
facilities there.

As one participant commented, "Each presentation contained valuable
information applicable to my organization." Some focused more on
the India presentation, impressed by the precision with which some
issues are handled, including security and the attention to detail
with individual transcriptions while others appreciated the "great
ideas" regarding the future vision of transcription and HIPAA "at
home" compliance.

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId
=news_view&newsId=20040216005199&newsLang=en

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The MTIndia Team
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