Fax still tops for information exchange
Despite being positively ancient in the world of communication technology, more health information is shared via fax than any other method, according to a market spotlight published by the International Data Corporation, titled "The Rocky Road to Information Sharing in the Health System."
That includes secure email, online portals, health information exchange and leveraging of EHRs, according to the report, which translates to a higher risk of medical errors, duplication of services, greater healthcare costs and continued health illiteracy for many patients.
Paper-based methods are used by 9 in 10 providers to send and 8 in 10 to receive information. Informal methods like phone calls are used by about 8 in 10 providers to send or receive and fax is used by 81 percent to receive and 70 percent to send patient information.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.