Turning the Lowest Common Denominator into High-Quality Data Exchange

March 08, 2021 - Fax remains a dominant feature of information exchange in the healthcare industry despite repeated calls to retire a mode of communication deemed too archaic and cumbersome. 

But that critique should be leveled at the industry itself and its struggle to sufficiently advance interoperability among disparate IT systems across provider and payer organizations.

“Challenges with data interoperability across the healthcare ecosystem have forced us to rely on the lowest common denominator methods for exchanging information effectively,” says John Harrison, Chief Commercial Officer for Concord Technologies. “And fax is that lowest common denominator. Everybody can send, receive, read, and ingest faxes.” 

Rather than being an impediment to information sharing, fax in its most mature form enables secure and effective data exchange among providers, payers, patients, and other trusted parties. And by making the move from traditional to cloud fax, organizations open the door to enhanced functionality and interoperability in both clinical and non-clinical settings.

“To make faxes truly useful for an organization, that lowest common denominator is really just the starting point for layering on additional technologies and competencies. A mature fax solution has the power to take the friction out of dealing with the document, to help support the workflows that occur downstream when that fax arrives, and to be able to automate parts of that downstream workflow,” adds Harrison.

MATURATION OF CLOUD FAX

What’s in a name? The term “fax” conjures images of clunky and noisy hardware. Today’s fax, however, bears little resemblance to earlier iterations.

“We joke at Concord that we really need a new name for fax because it’s so different to what it was years ago,” Harrison explains.

“When we go into hospitals and other healthcare organizations, there are plenty of traditional fax machines,” he continues. “Our internal findings show that more than 60 percent of fax communication in healthcare is still taking place from traditional fax machines. That is alarming because for a long time, cloud fax has provided a far better method for exchanging patient data.”

A key element of what makes the switch to cloud fax such a natural first step in modernizing document communications is its ease of use, even for organizations that have been reliant on technology as dated as fax machines. A mature cloud fax solution should mimic the familiarity and ease of use associated with traditional systems while using modern, digital technology to deliver an intuitive experience. As healthcare organizations continue to modernize their usage of fax, more sophisticated integrations are possible thanks to collaborations with developers of leading health IT systems.

“As senders and recipients are exchanging information on our platform, we’re able to give the recipient a much higher quality result, transmitting data electronically instead of over the old telephone network,” Harrison notes. “What’s more, we’re providing accountability because we’re facilitating that entire exchange: the risk, receipt, encoding, the packaging of the message, and delivery of the message to the recipient.”

That accountability impacts real-world outcomes. Harrison notes that Concord is responsible for the communications that help patients get the care they require, in a timely fashion, and with all-around visibility to the patient records exchanged in the process. From referrals to intake forms, the documents that encapsulate a patient’s data are the key to fostering best possible outcomes. With providers needing complete and timely information to determine appropriate care, missing data can easily lead to suboptimal care, while accurate data received efficiently is the key to positive patient outcomes.

“There is a very, very real impact on people’s lives when patient information doesn’t flow smoothly from A to B,” says Harrison. “Thanks to much greater transparency and control, we’re able to close those gaps in communication around care coordination.”

KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION

Transitioning to cloud fax is a straightforward and relatively simple task, but its return on investment comes from tying the technology to operational workflows.

“Instead of making digital fax a completely isolated experience, we tie it into the business applications where the users work and allow them to send faxes from their core applications. That ensures a truly integrated experience,” Harrison says. “We give people the information they need to do their job in the application that they’re using to conduct their business. It’s not rocket science; it’s logical thinking.” 

Sophisticated cloud fax platforms also represent a significant opportunity for healthcare organizations to transition from manual, paper-based processes to digital workflows. Moving to a digital workflow model reduces errors and cycle time while improving process transparency and information security.

“There’s such a high level of familiarity amongst users for an inbox type experience,” Harrison emphasizes. “Honestly, it is so low-friction that most IT departments will conclude a rollout through email communication to users rather than any hands-on training. We conclude most transitions in less than two weeks, and some in just days.”

With timely information sharing becoming increasingly crucial to the day-to-day practice of medicine, healthcare organizations more than ever require a modern digital fax experience to ensure that data flows between senders and recipients.

“It has absolutely universal applications across the healthcare ecosystem in all areas where a paper-based equivalent has existed in the past. Making that initial step to a digital experience removes numerous roadblocks inherent to a paper-based environment,” Harrison concludes.

In today’s digital environment, healthcare moves at the speed of data. Moving that data in a secure and timely manner ensures quicker, more-informed decision-making, and ultimately leads to quality improvements for providers and patients.  

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Concord is leading the development of new Artificial Intelligence technologies to extract data from documents and ease the burden of managing fax communications. With our 97% customer retention rate and delivery reliability that is unparalleled in the industry, Concord is committed to being the partner you can trust with your data.