PointClickCare Users Will Now Get Better Electronic Faxing with Consensus

Ready for an unbelievable statistic? A 2019 study reported in Health IT Security found that 90% of healthcare organizations still rely on fax machines to transmit patient records and other PHI. Clearly, the industry was not able to meet the challenge set out several years ago by CMS Administrator Seema Verma, to make doctors’ offices a “fax free” zone by 2020.

Think about the inefficiencies of the paper fax machine at your facility. Hours of administrative staff having to stand by fax machines, both sending and receiving resident’s records by paper then having to integrate the data into your EHR. Think about the latency of updating the resident’s records in a timely manner so you can achieve the best quality of care with the right information.

What does this mean for PointClickCare users? If 90% of organizations across the healthcare ecosystem still depend on paper faxes to send and receive resident medical data, then you’ll still be receiving a great deal of paper faxes. By using a cloud-based faxing technology, you don’t need an actual fax machine.

There are several ways your organization can maintain fax capability– one you probably know about, and a newer one that you probably don’t.

Your options for maintaining healthcare fax capability:

On-prem fax hardware (WORST OPTION)

This is the analog faxing infrastructure we’re all familiar with: desktop fax machines, paper, toner, in-house fax servers, dedicated fax phone lines… and lots of troubleshooting issues. This is also the faxing process that creates the most manual work for employees, leaves a healthcare organization the most vulnerable to HIPAA violations, and costs the most to maintain.

Consensus: embedding electronic faxing right into PointClickCare workflows (BEST OPTION)

You can make your staff’s digital fax processes even more efficient, and save your organization even more time and money, with Consensus integrated seamlessly into your staff’s daily workflows. Here are just a few ways this integrated cloud fax solution can vastly improve your operations and your staff’s ability to deliver outstanding resident care.

3 ways you can improve your electronic faxing efficiency using Consensus

1. A faster, easier process for sending fax requests to other providers

Imagine that while searching for a resident’s records within PointClickCare, your administrative staff finds a provider with vital data about your resident. But to receive those records, your employee would normally have to send that provider a request via paper fax.

Because Consensus is integrated with PointClickCare faxing workflows, your staff will be able to generate that fax request online in seconds—create the cover sheet, attach any relevant files, and even electronically sign the fax—without having to leave the app.

2. Streamlined intake and processing of clinical faxes

Now, imagine that your office receives a single ePHI fax transmission containing health data for three residents. That means three unique cover sheets, different types of medical charts, and other records. Perhaps some of these pages are even transmitted out of order.

With the advanced quality-control features built into your Consensus integration, electronically processing and distributing even difficult faxes like this will be quick and easy. The system lets you digitally select and remove cover sheets if necessary, separate and reorder documents according to resident, and attach each record to the right resident’s files in PointClickCare. After triaging the fax in Consensus, the inbound faxes are easily found under the “Misc” tab in the resident’s chart.

3. Seamless integration between electronic faxing and secure Direct Messaging

Imagine that you are using secure Direct Messaging to communicate with the entire care team for one of your chronically ill residents with multiple comorbidities, but you find that you only have a fax number for one of the treating physician’s offices. With Consensus, you can use that fax number, and if there is an associated Direct Message address, Consensus will find that address so that the document can be sent as a Direct Message using the C-CDA format for easy consumption into the resident’s chart at the specialist office.

With Consensus integration within PointClickCare, you can avoid the manual steps required with traditional hardcopy faxing, and your staff can process a fax in seconds as well—again, integrating that into PointClickCare. These are just a few of the reasons that PointClickCare users enjoy more efficient electronic faxing through Consensus integration. To learn more, request a demo from a Consensus specialist.