Why Internet Faxing is Good for the Health Care Industry

Whether you're a doctor comparing notes on a patient with another doctor or a nurse sending out a refill request to a pharmacy, you need reliable communication.  Sending a fax by e-mail (also known as an internet fax) is an efficient way to send communications for people working in the health field; online faxing is reliable, fast, and inexpensive.  Many health care workers reading this probably have probably experienced the hassles traditional faxing can create.  You may have not been able to send a fax to another doctor's office because their fax machine was broken, or you could have wasted precious time waiting for a fax to get through to a busy and popular hospital.  Online faxing can eliminate these problems.  You won't have to worry about broken machines causing communication problems since you'll be sending faxes over the internet, all you would need is a computer with an internet connection.  You also won't have to worry about competing with other fax machines that are trying to reach the same location. 

HIPAA Privacy Issues

After learning about all of the benefits online faxing has to offer you're eager to sign up for an internet fax service.  Since you work in the health care industry it's very important to pick a faxing service that has excellent security features, if not you could find yourself in major legal trouble for not complying with HIPAA privacy rules.  The HIPAA privacy rule was designed to protect individual's medical records and any other personal health information.  The privacy rules are a national standard that applies to all health plans, health care providers, and health care clearing houses.  Sending a fax online is very convenient, but if you don't use a service with adequate security features important patient information could fall into the wrong hands.  What if someone gets a hold of a fax containing a patient's medical history, or what if an addict was able to get a hold of a faxed prescription?  These are serious potential problems, but if you pick a reputable internet fax service with thorough security you shouldn't have to worry about these issues.  There are even some internet faxing services that  Also be sure to review HIPAA policy before you make any faxing decisions, rules can change and you need to be sure you're still  following HIPAA standards.