Studies have shown that care coordination has a direct impact on health outcomes, patient experiences, and medical costs. To that ensure patient data, authorization requests, and lab results are easily shared, accessed, and analyzed among healthcare networks, organizations must leverage the most trusted technologies and applications available today.
If the exchange of protected health information (PHI) is impeded by a lack of interoperability and usability, the consequences can have a ripple effect throughout an entire organization. Slow transmissions and busy signals associated with limited PSTN-based fax numbers and legacy systems could prevent medical records, test results, prescriptions, and insurance information from being processed efficiently. Failure to submit clinical documentation in a timely manner to support authorization requests could also result in insurance claim denials and delayed treatment.
Though fax remains to be the most secure document delivery method within healthcare, traditional telephony is keeping the industry in the dark ages. The majority of healthcare organizations still use outdated machines with hissing phone lines that slowly transmit black-and-white documents and low-resolution, pixelated images. Failed faxes and data breaches only add to the many pitfalls of legacy fax technology. These disruptions can all preoccupy a doctor’s time and adversely affect patient care.
To improve care coordination, organizations must replace legacy systems with digital fax solutions that leverage the cloud for the transport and storage of healthcare-critical data. By eliminating the need for costly and unreliable network fax systems, such as fax boards and recurring telephony fees, ETHERFAX’s patented technology leverages the Internet to manage all fax communications and to digitize workflows.
As the world’s largest hybrid-cloud fax network, the ETHERFAX Secure Exchange Network (SEN) enables healthcare organizations to send patient data and business-critical documents with military-grade encryption, guaranteed delivery, and ultra-fast transmission speeds. To ensure business continuity, improve care coordination services, and ensure a compliant fax network, ETHERFAX SEN features built-in redundancy and manages high-volume, peak overflow fax operations.
Since ETHERFAX’s solutions are 100% digital, the days of heavy, dark inking on black-and-white faxes sent over traditional telephony are over. High-resolution documents and clear, colorful images can now be sent with near-diagnostic image quality to help doctors and patients decide on the best care and treatment options. Authorizations, operative and procedure notes, and discharge summaries are sent within seconds instead of hours to ensure payment and insurance claims are processed quickly.
For even greater flexibility, ETHERFAX’s DirectFax solution via SEN allows organizations to transmit digital, high-resolution, color documents using today’s popular messaging platforms and applications including Slack, Teams, Microsoft Fax, and mobile devices (iOS and Android). DirectFax also ensures that communications never traverse an external telephone network while Black and White lists place further restrictions on the exchange of sensitive information.
Overall, the accessibility of fax combined with the scalability of the cloud enables organizations to exchange PHI and business-critical information fast and efficiently. ETHERFAX’s hybrid-cloud fax technology eliminates busy signals and transmits EHRs and other unstructured data within seconds. For guaranteed data protection, ETHERFAX is HITRUST CSF certified, PCI DSS compliant, and SOC 2 compliant. With the ability to securely transmit all types of healthcare-critical data in a timely manner, the healthcare industry can improve care coordination and move towards a more progressive business.
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