Welcome to EMR and HIPAA

I finally made the time to finish installing a fax server for a Doctor who I’ve helped implement a new EMR system. I don’t know why I took so long to install the fax server. A fax server is so much better to have when you have an EMR system. I think that a fax server should be a required purchase with every EMR on the market.

Why is that?

Having a fax server means that you can fax a document from any computer on your network with just a few clicks of a mouse. You don’t even have to get out of your chair and walk over to the fax machine. If you can print it then you can fax it. That should be reason enough in and of itself. However, there’s a much more important reason than that.

Incoming faxes are all stored electronically and can be stored in a shared folder that can be accessed throughout the network. No more hanging out at medical records waiting for a fax to arrive. Just keep refreshing the shared folder until the fax arrives. Another way to not have to get out of your chair. However, more important you can just upload the file electronically straight into your EMR system. No need to print it out and then scan it back into your EMR. Plus, from what I saw, the quality was better than a scan with a smaller file size.

You can also have digital cover pages that people can actually read built right into your fax server. This saves paper, money, time and makes your cover pages look that much more professional

Add the history of all your faxes in and out and there is no reason someone shouldn’t go out and buy a fax server today.

Look forward to a post about some instructions on setting up a fax server after I get back from my vacation to Utah this week.