Frequently Asked Questions About A+Network

What is different about A+Network Transcription Services?

A+Network creates high quality transcription reports in an electronic format with secure on-line viewing, configurable printing and faxing, and regulatory-compliant physician electronic signature.  Patient transcriptions are immediately available through the Internet, healthcare facility network or dial-up by all authorized users including physicians, clinicians, managers and support staff.  A+Network is unique in that it optionally provides an enterprise-wide document management system, transcription software and dictation system with transcription services as one integrated solution. 

Is A+Network only interested in total outsourcing accounts? 

No, A+Network provides services to facilities that require limited or overflow outsourcing.  We understand that the best transcription solution for your facility may be a combination of healthcare facility MTs and outsourced service MTs.  As a single solution provider, we provide seasonal overflow and emergency overflow assistance to facilities already using A+Network or TA® products for their in-house systems.  Because each healthcare organization is unique and transcription trends are changing, A+Network also provides the TAeSeries® platform as an in-house system with professional trainers and support staff.  In-house systems may be purchased as traditional software or paid for with transcription service line fees.  A+Network’s flexibility allows us to handle outsourcing needs with nominal start-up issues and minimal disruption to your health information department routines. 

Why is A+Network the best choice for my organization if we use both outsourced transcription and facility (hospital or clinic) employed transcriptionists?

With A+Network, interfacing issues are eliminated.  Since in-house, at-home and service medical transcriptionists (MTs) are all using the same software platform (TAeSeries® see below), physicians and clinicians only review one system when bringing up patient reports.  Healthcare providers know all transcriptions will be on-line and easily located.  HIM directors will also find a consistent appearance of all reports.  All transcriptions are stored in the same TAeSeries® document management system for quick retrieval by healthcare workers.  Additionally HIM directors know exactly who is transcribing which reports.

Is A+Network ready for HIPAA? 

The TAeSeries® systems used by A+Network were designed and engineered to meet future HIPAA regulations. For instance, TAeSeries® uses only encrypted files on Internet transmissions.  At logoff, all TAeSeries® created patient reports are removed from the desktop to prevent unauthorized viewing and printing.  Our technology does not send private patient reports via standard, unsecured e-mail.  No other transcription product audits all viewing, printing, faxing, QA editing and physician signing occurrences with the detailed (time, date, user password, printer ID) audit reports provided by TAeSeries®.  Security officers and HIM managers at each A+Network facility determine which classes of users have authority to view, print, etc. 

As an HIM Director, I need to stay in control of the transcription process-but we need to outsource.  Can A+Network help me?

A+Network keeps HIM directors and transcription managers in control of the complete dictation and transcription process.  TAeSeries® provides managers with all the details of their facility’s activity including physician dictators, A+Network MTs and facility MTs.  HIM directors determine which dictation jobs are routed to facility staff and which jobs go to A+Network via configurable conditions.  There are no proprietary dictation consoles.  Instead status updates are available on your TAeSeries® licensed desktop or remote PC including unassigned jobs, dictation minutes backlog, reallocated jobs, physician activity, jobs in transcriptionist queue and jobs in service queue.  With A+Network, HIM managers have on-line access to productivity and accuracy data for each MT, improving the ability to train and evaluate staff.  TAeSeries® even lets supervisors know if at-home MTs have not signed on to work per their on-line work schedule.

My capital budget request for a new dictation and transcription system was shot down again.  We really need to modernize our systems.  Any ideas?

A+Network provides several purchase arrangements for just this situation.  The use of our dictation, transcription and document management systems may be included in our fee per outsourced transcription lines as one option.  In this case, transcription responsibilities are split between a facility staff of MTs and A+Network transcription service.  This A+Network Total Solution also eliminates the annual support expense for hospital or physician practice owned dictation and transcription systems.  Instead of the healthcare organization owning the dictation and transcription system software, A+Network owns the software.  This means A+Network is responsible for upgrades, thereby relieving the healthcare organization from this burden.

Electing to totally outsource transcription is a second solution when capital budget dollars are scarce.  Complete outsourcing with A+Network removes the physical space requirements and transcription staff payroll and benefits in addition to eliminating the need for software systems for dictation, transcription and document management.  A+Network supplies a toll-free line for physician dictation reducing telephony expenses.  Also there is no longer an annual support expense.  In geographic areas where the medical transcriptionist shortage is acute, complete outsourcing with A+Network remedies the MT shortage. 

Who are the transcription service members of A+Network?

CBay Systems, Ltd. of Annapolis, MD is the largest provider within A+Network.  With a team of over 2,500 highly trained (college degree minimum) medical transcriptionists, CBay transcribes for healthcare facilities including hospitals, clinics and physician practices.  A+Network also includes smaller transcription service companies such as Skilled Personnel Systems of Charlotte, NC and Advanced Transcription Services of Taylor, MI.  All participating services understand that transcription is more than promises about turnaround-time and accuracy levels.  The smaller transcription services selected by A+Network have extensive years of experience and unique product specialties to ensure that A+Network accommodates all our customers’ specific needs.  With a documented shortage of MTs in the USA, A+Network solves your transcription turnaround problems with accurate and experienced MTs. 

What is the technology platform of A+Network?  Why should I care?

TAeSeries® is the web-based platform for A+Network.  This common technology unites all the participating services in A+Network and many in-house and at-home healthcare transcription staffs.  HIM directors save time and frustration by managing their complete transcription process with only one system.  In a single system, HIM directors finally have available the features that healthcare staff have requested.  TAeSeries® provides the remote access physicians have been calling for and a user-friendly dictation system that can mimic their current dictation practices.  Transcriptionists now enjoy the memory improvements of a Windows® system and the automatic insertion of patient demographic information into transcription report headers.  Support staff save time with TAeSeries® batch printing and automatic faxing features.  On-line access to reports increases efficiency for all care providers and prevents unnecessary calls to the HIM department for copies.  Coders work more quickly and efficiently with on-line access.  Since multiple interfaces are eliminated, your need for in-house IT support is greatly reduced.