Work Process Questions

Who benefits from Remote Attestation?
Funeral Directors, local offices and state offoces all reduce costs substantialy. Studies show that, on average, a Funeral Director spends $100 per death to obtain the signature of a medical certifier. It only takes 10,000 deaths per year for this cost alone to add up to $1 million per year! Local and state governments spend additional labor moving and storing the paper. These costs are substantially reduced by using Remote Attestation.
How does Remote Attestation fit into our work flow?
Over the past several years, many states have evolved different work flow options. Four examples are show in these pdf files:
· Funeral Director Option (pdf)
· Medical Provider Option (pdf)
· State Nosologist Option (pdf)
· Manual Paper Option (pdf)
Can we state create our own forms for the faxes?
Yes. The forms are customized specifically for each state. Typically, this means two forms. The "Work Copy" gathers the medical information from the physician, and the "Attestation Copy" echos back all of the death record data to the physician for attestation of its accuaracy.
What do the faxed forms usually look like?
To get an idea of what other states forms look like, you can download these:
· example forms used by IL —pdf file

User Feature Questions

What types of physicians use fax attestation?
The large majority of physicians use the Remote Attestation by fax, including those in small practies and large hospitals. The exception is the medical examiners, who often choose the user-name and pssword/PIN method to log in to the EDRS directly and enter medical data, i.e. cause and manner of death.
Is a data-entry user aware that he is using two systems?
No. When entering data from an image, the user has two windows open side by side. One window with the data and one with the image. The user experience is that the EDRS system has the "images in it." The interface is seamless and invisible to the user.
How does the specific fax image get assigned to the death record?
The Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS) generates a document ID for each document that pertains to that each death record. This number is communicated to the Remote Attestation system when the fax is sent and is printed on the fax, usually as a bar code. When the fax is received from the physician, the document ID is read by the Remote Attestation system and communicated back to the EDRS.
Can I tell what has been faxed and what was not successfully faxed?
Yes. The system has fax logs that record the results of every attempt to send or receive a fax.
What is the Disaster Recovery plan?
A Disaster Recovery system can be purchased and installed in a computer center that may be separate from the center housing the Production System.
· Disaster Recovery block diagram (pdf)

Infrastructure Cost Questions

How many phone lines will I need?
This, of course, depends on the death rate and the number of pages sent out with the Work Copy and the Attestation Copy. Call us to calculate the recommended number of lines. Or you can use our calculator page to enter your information, and then calculate the probability that a physician's office will get a busy signal. Adjust the number of lines until you get a less than 2% chance of a busy line.
· Erlang Calculator for Fax Lines
What type of phone service is required?
Your computer center does not install any phone lines at all. Fax over IP Service is included from Acordex. Faxes are sent directly from your computer center to an ITSP where they enter the public telephone system (PSTN).
What is the recurring telecoms cost?
The Erlang Calculator page (above) includes the average number of hours per month used to send and receive faxes. After deciding whether you want to provide a toll-free number for the received faxes (inbound "800" number) or let the senders incur that phone cost, Acordex will generate a quotation for the fax service costs. This is a monthly cost for the phone numbers, plus a per minute cost for the faxes transmitted.
Are there other recurring costs?
Yes, system maintenance. Acordex offeers a comprehensive service contract that covers everything from failed hardware replacement, to system upgrades, to user support. This is priced as a percentage of the system cost and can be renewed each year. There are no "per fax" nor "per transaction" fees.
Does it cost more if I add more users?
No. The software license is for an unlimited number of users.
What communications and computer center space is required?
Allow 2U of rack space for each system. The system will need an ethernet connection for communications to the EDRS database, for remote support and for fax transmission. No phone lines are needed. The connections are shown in the
· Disaster Recovery block diagram (pdf)