A lot of folks in the long-term/post-acute care space have a “Don’t rock the boat” mentality when it comes to the ins and outs of their daily practices. Even though we made significant technological strides with medical technology software over the past decade, many facilities still rely on fax to function. They think it’s easier to avoid the changes when fax is actually the source of many inefficiencies the industry deals with today.
So instead of joining the “But that’s how we’ve always done it” chorus, consider all the costs that come along with ignoring innovation and challenge your team to try something new.
1. Paper.
One sheet of fax paper costs an average of $0.02. That price point might seem inconsequential for your practice, but when you account for the hundreds (if not thousands) of faxes you send and receive each month, most of which are at least 2-3 pages long, it really adds up.
2. Time.
Did you know the average fax consumes three minutes of a staff member’s time? If your practice receives 300 faxes per month, that’s 900 minutes, or 15 hours (or two full workdays) of someone’s time that will ultimately be wasted on an outdated communication method.
3. Missed Work Opportunities.
Think of the additional work that could be accomplished during those two lost workdays of every month. Imagine how many more patients you could see during that time, significantly boosting your practice’s bottom line. Instead, those opportunities are wasted.
4. Quality of Care.
You know what else getting two workdays per month back could help you do? Elevate the quality of care for your existing patients. Yet your reliance on fax detracts from this core value of your practice.
5. Extra Steps.
When you rely on fax, you go through at least six individual steps to send one fax. Receive the fax, sort and collate the pages, scan the document, save and rename the file, delete the file to ensure you’re not saving private health information on your computer, and then finally upload it where you need it. A digitized system easily cuts that number of steps in half.
6. Redundancy
Think about how many times a fax is sent and lost or never released from the machine’s queue, thus requiring a resend. That’s how many times each day that you’re asked to complete a task that you’ve already completed.
7. Machine Maintenance.
Fax machines are notorious for breaking, requiring repairing, troubleshooting, or both. These needs not only consume your team’s time, but also prevent you from receiving the communications you need in the moment.
8. Barely Compliant.
Sure, faxes are technically HIPAA-compliant, but you know how easy it is for those pieces of paper to go missing or end up in the wrong hands… And that risk is a major cost to your bottom line.
9. Data Breaches.
Should a fax error lead to your patients’ private health information being exposed, you’re suddenly liable for pricey penalties and lawsuits.
10. Your Reputation.
If you’re seen as an opponent to innovation, that can dramatically impact which professionals choose to work alongside you. If you want to operate with a team full of top talent, staying in touch with the times is not an option.
Ready to cut your costs associated with your over-reliance on fax? We know we can’t eliminate the LTPAC space’s need for faxes entirely, but we can certainly minimize it with CareTeam. Ask us how our easy-to-use, collaborative platform can benefit you and your team today.