Third-party services, systemic

A system is in place for the objective evaluation and selection of third-party services which includes an assessment of their capability to perform work in a safe, healthy, and environmentally sound manner ... 

Subcontractor/supplier performance will be evident from audit reports, surveillance visit reports, and receipt inspections carried out by you or the third party if one has been employed. You need to examine these documents for evidence that the subcontractor s quality system is controlling the quality of the products and services supplied. You can determine the effectiveness of these controls by periodic review of the subcontractor s performance what some firms call vendor rating . By collecting data on the performance of subcontractors/suppliers over a long period you can measure their effectiveness and rate them on a scale from excellent to poor. In such cases you should measure at least three characteristics quality, delivery, and service. Quality would be measured by the ratio of defective conforming products received delivery would be measured by the number of days early or late and service would be measured by the responsiveness to actions requested by you on scale of excellent to poor. The output of these reviews should be in the form of updates to the list of assessed subcontractors/suppliers. 

Energy audits are also leveraged with a system commonly called over the fence energy. In this scheme, the end-user does not buy equipment, but purchases a commodity such as steam, heat, or compressed air from a third party. The third party owns, leases, or operates the equipment used to provide the energy service. It is then in the interest of that third party to ensure that energy audits are routinely carried out and unnecessary energy use is kept to... 

The second type is the WAN (wide area network) installation. In this setup the LIMS take advantage of telecommunication technology to cover a great distance. The setup can also be used to connect disparate LANs together. In this configuration, the LIMS are installed on both the clients and a central server. The third type is the so-called centrally hosted thin client installation . For this setup, system administration is managed at a corporate center, where the LIMS are hosted and distributed via a WAN or the Internet with a virtual private network (VPN). The last and also the newest type is the ASP (Application Service Provision provider)-hosted installation. In this setup, the LIMS are hosted on a centrally managed server form and maintained by third-party specialists. Users access the LIMS with any Internet-connected PC with a standard Web browser. 

LIMS as rented service— The application service provision provider (ASP) is a means of obtaining access to software applications without the need to acquire expensive licenses and hardware or employ high-cost support resources [7]. The application is hosted on a third-party site with system maintenance, backup, and recovery provided by a third party. Products and services can be rented for a contract period on a fixed cost per user/per month basis. The advantages of obtaining LIMS in this fashion include reduced cost in initial investment and reduced requirement of resources for maintaining the LIMS. The continued security and integrity of the data transferred over the Internet is a major concern for this type of LIMS. 

The Directive establishes a number of rules intended to promote competition and market integration. The most important provision is the so-called third party access to the pipeline system. This means that the pipeline owner has an obligation to contract in respect to a third party wishing to transport gas. The consequence of this is that the pipeline owner cannot by the power of ownership decide who shall be permitted to use the transport facilities. Third party access makes possible increased competition among gas sellers and opens up the market for transport services. Another important aspect of the Directive is the requirement for unbundling of accounts between the various gas-related operations in integrated undertakings. 

The majority of chemical companies offer a wide range of channel alternatives -e-channels, direct sales, customer service, third party distribution, technical service. This multi-channel approach has greatly increased customer flexibility and the choice of alternative relationship models, but has done little to reduce the investment in direct customer interface capabilities or to differentiate players service offerings. Primarily, it has added complexity and costs to the delivery system. 

Once the value-added service has been designed, fees established, and the method(s) for compensation selected, the pharmacist must learn how to submit claims. When providers submit claims to Medicare, Medicaid, or any other third-party payers, the claim typically is submitted on the CMS Form 1500. One exception to this is the hospital outpatient clinic, which uses CMS Form 1450. On CMS Form 1500, information regarding the submitting entity, referring physician, type of services offered, and related health condition is included. To convey this type of information, CPT codes and ICD-9-CM codes are used. These coding systems provide detailed information regarding the types of services provided and the specific health condition in a numerical format. Example CMS 1500 and 1450 forms are available on the CMS Web site (www.CMS.hhs.gov). 

External fraud is an act committed by a third party that leads to data theft, data loss, and function disruption. People with technology skills can access (hack) the computer systems of pharmacies to steal or manipulate patient information for financial or nonfinancial reasons. For example, cell phone service provider T-Mobile experienced ongoing security problems that led to the publication of celebrity Paris Hiltons personal information and the telephone numbers of many Hollywood stars (Brian, 2005). One can only imagine the problems that could arise if patient data contained in a pharmacy s database were to be exposed, stolen, or manipulated. 

Several publishers have opted to develop proprietary programs rather than purchase services from a third party. Examples include the American Chemical Society1 s ACS Paragon System and the American Institute of Physics Peer X-Press. These packages offer features and workflow similar to those contained in commercial editorial packages. 

Where a system becomes open is when it contains a component somewhere along the data flow that is solely controlled by a third party, without the ability for the company to know or control access to the records. This is typically not the case with the outsourcing of infrastructure services. 

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