AT&T Helps Healthcare Transportation Company Save Time, Track Trips

ATLANTA, Aug. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Trips to the doctor can be stressful for many people, and having unreliable transportation to those appointments can only add to that anxiety. However, working with AT&T*, medical transportation management company Southeastrans is now using tablets to record trips, save time, improve accountability, help prevent fraudulent claims through accurate pick-up and drop off records – and reduce the worry for their passengers. Atlanta, Ga.-based Southeastrans works with government agencies to provide non-emergency medical transport for Medicare and Medicaid recipients.

Key facts:

• AT&T today announced a pilot program with Southeastrans to equip its 700+ drivers with tablets. At the start of the pilot, Southeastrans will deploy more than 250 tablets with the remaining devices rolling out later.
• Drivers will use the tablets to record trips and patient information, to help ensure that each patient is dropped off and picked up at the correct time and place.  
• The tablets replace paper trip reimbursement forms – an often tedious process that drivers used to complete at the end of each day – with e-forms for driver and vehicle sign-in, mileage reports, pick-up and drop-off logs, and driver sign-off. Each entry is associated with a timestamp and a geocode, which helps to ensure data integrity. All data collected is electronically submitted to Southeastrans.
• Security is a high priority due to the great deal of sensitive government data and personal health information involved. Without adequate protection, this data is subject to human error and loss or theft, thereby creating a potential breach of security and privacy, not only for Southeastrans but also the state agencies it supports. Recording the data on encrypted tablet devices provided by AT&T helps prevent potential security breaches and provides accurate and measurable data for Southeastrans to report to the state agencies it supports.
• In conjunction with the tablet deployment, Southeastrans developed the industry-first Net InSight™ Mobile App for its drivers. The app will benefit the states and their taxpayers, as it will significantly diminish the ability to commit fraud by requiring drivers to keep detailed electronic time and trip logs. The NET InSight™ Mobile App promotes transparency and accountability via a real-time data collection process that enforces accountability throughout Southeastrans' non-emergency transportation program, all while helping it reduce paper waste.
• Southeastrans serves over 1.3 million Medicaid members across Georgia and Tennessee and coordinates over 2.9 million trips annually.

Quotes:

Southeastrans

"Shipping companies have been tracking packages for years, but transportation providers are often unable to provide accurate, timely information about passengers," said Steve Adams, President and CEO of Southeastrans. "People are intrinsically more valuable than packages, so it is absolutely essential that caregivers and loved ones are able to have real-time information regarding the whereabouts of medical transports often involving medically fragile people. This is why Southeastrans developed the InSight Mobile App."

"While these individual technologies have been available for quite some time, pulling them together to create a cohesive system is what makes the InSight Mobile App unique to the medical transportation industry," said Jim Degliumberto, Chief Information Officer, Southeastrans. "At Southeastrans, we're dedicated to continuous innovation that will help us and our partners provide the best, most effective and accountable service to our communities."

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse® and AT&T |DIRECTV brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. In domestic markets, AT&T Advertising Solutions and AT&T Interactive are known for their leadership in local search and advertising.

Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT.

© 2011 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. Mobile broadband not available in all areas. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

About Southeastrans

Southeastrans, Inc. was founded in 2000 as a transportation management company specializing in efficient and innovative delivery of human transportation services. Southeastrans manages a range of transportation programs including Medicaid non-emergency medical transportation, human service center transportation, and managed-care organization transportation services. The company's management methodologies have demonstrated tremendous success in reducing program costs, improving transportation service quality, and in building comprehensive and reliable transportation provider networks. For more information, visit southeastrans.com.

SOURCE AT&T Inc.