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.