Business   

Threat to medical transcription industry

By A. Saye Sekhar

GUNTUR NOV. 15. Will the future of medical transcription (MT) industry, which is just now picking up, be doomed in India? The answer is apparently yes, unless the government takes immediate steps. The developments in the U.S. are posing a serious threat to the MT industry here owing to lack of legal insulation to the secrecy of patient details (that are transcribed). Several software companies have launched their MT units providing employment to many enthusiastic youngsters. The business too seems to be thriving what with the many hospitals in the U.S. have begun to outsource the transcription to companies in India, as it works out to be more economical with good quality. Besides, most non-resident Indian (NRI) doctors are coordinating this activity with a view to helping enhance employment opportunities in India. In fact, transcription does not need much skill except for careful listening and transcribing the same as it is. Youths, who usually get attracted towards English music albums and English movies, can pick up the skill quickly. Ironically for the business, a Pakistani medical transcriptionist has posed a serious challenge.

According to Krishna P. Surapaneni, a practising cosmetic surgeon, and Ravindra Alapati, a practising gastro-enterologist at Anaheim in California, this Pakistani transcriptionist, working for a company, has threatened the University of San Francisco hospital that she would expose the patients' records, if she is not paid her dues. This has triggered a sense of insecurity among the hospitals in the U.S. and exposed the vulnerability of the `patient confidentiality'.

Therefore, the medical community is mounting pressure on the legislature to enact laws forbidding the outsourcing of MT work to any foreign country. If this becomes a reality, thousands of youth will be rendered jobless, as India may be excluded from the businesses of MT, medical billing, genetic research and any other medicine-related business.

Dr. Surapaneni and Dr. Alapati, in fact, sent a memorandum to the Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, urging him to bring about a piece of legislation that would make the revealing of patients' medical information a criminal offence. Such a law would create confidence among the hospitals in the U.S. to send the business to Indian companies in the presence of a statutory assurance. Besides, it would insulate India from the vulnerability of being excluded from the list of places to be forbidden and the outsourcing of business could continue. Mr. Naidu should use his influence with the Union Government in his capacity as the deputy convener of the Information Technology Task Force, they point out, so that the Government could take up the issue seriously to protect the business interests and also the livelihood of several youngsters.

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