Despite the sophistication and ubiquity of EMR systems, a staggering 81%* of hospitals still rely on paper for prescription order delivery, according to a recent ASG-HIMSS study. For many pharmacies and physicians, this amazingly inefficient status quo is simply the way things are done. In some cases, budgets are too tight to purchase an e-prescription system or additional EMR module for the sole purpose of reducing paper. In other cases, paperless prescriptions seem like a pipe dream, since administrators suspect that their environment is just too complex.
The good news? Many hospitals and other care providers have begun using a fax server to eliminate paper while retaining all the legal advantages of faxing. Furthermore, after initial success with prescription orders, customers often achieve an unexpectedly rapid ROI by integrating the same fax server with other software and devices throughout the network.
Fax server integration with DocuTrack and similar tools can streamline paper-centric workflows from start to finish. This powerful combination helps pharmacies get even more from their investment in cutting-edge software as well as legacy apps and devices. Better yet, it provides organization-wide faxing capabilities that no other faxing platform can match.
Why Make Paperless Rx a Reality?
If the benefits of paperless prescription order delivery seem less than obvious, then consider the hidden costs of fax machines, vacuum tube delivery, and other old-fashioned delivery methods. To begin with, the cost of consumables (paper and toner) can be staggering in high-volume environments. The labor costs are often equally enormous, since many organizations find an average fax transmission takes upwards of 10 minutes end-to-end! Furthermore, there may be no way to track documents and confirm sending/receipt. Even in the best of circumstances, paper-based workflows are prone to severe backlogs, with equally severe consequences for patient wellness. And what’s more, the compliance risks posed by untraceable and unmanageable papers have the potential to turn into enormous legal costs in their own right. Of course, these don’t even include the problems or costs unique to specific environments/workflows. Consider just what your hospital or pharmacy stands to gain from a truly paperless prescription environment:- Reduced expenses as paper, toner, and redundant fax machines and phone lines are eliminated
- Valuable employee time conserved by turning Rx faxing into just a few clicks from desktops and/or mobile devices
- Even greater utility and ROI thanks to integration with virtually every application in use
- Easier compliance thanks to extensive audit trails and privacy controls
- Maintenance of all security advantages of fax transmissions—without the paper!