Overseas Outsourcing of Medical Transcribing - Sky News
COMPERE: There are concerns that doctors could be endangering patients' lives and breaching privacy laws by outsourcing secretarial work overseas. It's been revealed patient files are being sent to other countries to be typed up, where English is not the first language.
REPORTER: An investigation by News Limited has found a growing number of Australian hospitals and medical practices are outsourcing secretarial work to cut costs.
DR HAIKERWAL: The reason for that is it's probably quicker and efficient, because when we go to sleep, and that stuff is sent across, by the time we wake up in the morning and come back to work it's done, rather than having to start that process the following morning.
REPORTER: At least four Sydney hospitals and hundreds of doctors are using cheap labour to transcribe digital recordings of verbal notes online. The jobs are going to India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, where companies charge half the Australian rate, or less. Overseas transcription companies are advertising their services for as little as eight cents a line, compared with the average local rate of around 27 cents.
But, experts have warned that if key medical terms are mixed up by foreign workers, who often don't have English as their first language, it could prove lethal.
The investigation uncovered potentially deadly mistakes in transcripts, such as companies confusing the term hypo - meaning too low - with hyper - which means too high. Experts say this could lead to patients being given the wrong medication with fatal consequences.
DR HAIKERWAL: Medical terminology is certainly very difficult sometimes to interpret. The whole system needs to be looked at carefully to ensure that the basics are maintained - that is, the confidentiality (of) that information gleaned in the medical consultation is absolutely paramount.
REPORTER: Federal and State laws prohibit the sending of medical records overseas unless privacy protection is guaranteed to be of the same standard as in Australia.
Changes to privacy laws, which are currently under review, are expected to result in a crack-down on the practice.
COMPERE: Well let's find out what you think, using our Sky News Poll by SMS, the web, and on Sky News Active. And the question we're asking is, would you be happy if your medical records were sent overseas? Yes or No? If you'd like to vote, SMS the word Vote and your choice to 1999 244; in New Zealand that number is simply 2444.
And at this stage, the overwhelming majority - 90% say no, they would not be happy about their records being sent overseas. You can also vote through the website - skynews.com.au - or press red and vote through Sky News Active.
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