Value Added Networks (VANS) and Their Benefit to a Health Information System

Value Added Networks (VANs) are generally considered as third party services or network facilities bulk-leased from the carriers and made available to companies who wish to buy these services. Some of the services provided by a VAN supplier include security, error checking, data concentration, switching and routing, broadcasting, transit-storing data, translation and handling of a range of user protocols and so forth [ 1 ].There arc local, national and global or international Value Added Networks (IVANs).IVANs arc asswning particular importance in the current context of globalisation of business and internationalisation of telecommunications. They provide comprehensive interconnecting network services and international Value Added Services (VAS). The main components of the VAN/VAS market comprise high-level services such as management, maintenance, help-desk and single centralised billing functions and enhanced services on and over the public network including Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), Electronic Document Interchange (EDI), electronic messaging (E• mail), time-shared teleprocessing, information retrieval, voice-mail/audiotex and systems integration.