March 19, 2018  |   

In today's digital world, we carry out many day to day tasks online. For businesses, the digital era has resulted in many timesaving and convenient solutions, particularly in terms of communication. One of the things that many businesses prefer to do these days is used online fax services rather than using a traditional fax machine. This is because the ability to fax online can save them a lot of time, waiting around, and can even mean increased security.

Many people may, therefore, wonder why health services still use traditional fax machines rather than using online faxing services. You will find that in many clinics, hospitals, and other health and medical establishment, people still turn to their trusty fax machine rather than going online. So, why is this?

Some of the possible reasons behind the use of fax machines in healthcare services

There are various possible reasons why health care services still use a machine rather than online faxing facilities. Part of this may be due to money, with cash-strapped health providers reluctant to invest in new technology. However, what you have to remember is that compared to wasting paper, resources, and time using a traditional machine, sending or receiving a fax from Google is far more efficient and therefore can actually help to cut costs.

Another possible reason is that some people simply do not want to entertain the introduction of change. Some people are actually nervous about modern technology and feel that they would not even know what to do if they received a fax from Gmail. However, the use of this technology is extremely simple and easy to understand – all it takes is a little getting used to. For health services in particular, being able to save the time and money involved in traditional faxing could be hugely beneficial. It could also mean getting vital medical information and reports back far more quickly, which will benefit both staff and patients.

Concerns about security

Often, the information that is faxed across by health facilities is of a very sensitive nature. It is often in reference to the health of patients and could include test results and other vital information. If you use a traditional machine to fax these documents over, there is always the danger that you will forget to pick the original documents up from the machine, which means that they could be seen by someone that shouldn't have access to them. In the same way, when you send the documents over they may be left sitting at the recipient's fax machine for days on end. This means that people at the other end can also gain access to this sensitive information.

The one valid point that healthcare providers may have when it comes to the use of these machines is reliability. While you should not experience any issues with online faxing on a regular basis, there is always that concern that an important report or document has not gone through or been received by the recipient. This could be one of the key reasons why fax machines are still used in healthcare environments.