IP Fax Can Help Solve Some of Healthcare’s Major Concerns

Health systems have their hands full these days, dealing with everything from staffing shortages to increased insurance and regulatory complexity. The last thing busy administrators need is to deal with problems caused by aging or insufficient fax technology. 

At the same time, you can’t simply get rid of faxing in health facilities. It remains a reliable, secure and time-sensitive way to transport highly sensitive documents like patient orders and medical records. Plus, it’s an ingrained workflow familiar to healthcare providers and administrative staff alike.

A smart move, then, is for medical offices to upgrade to fax over IP (internet protocol). Let’s take a look at some common challenges health systems are having with their current fax solution and how T.38 real-time IP fax solves them.

4 Challenges IP Fax Solves for Healthcare Organizations

Challenge #1: Retirement of legacy PRIs

Solution: An IP fax option that can be implemented quickly with minimal disruption

Telecom companies have been phasing out their primary rate interface (PRI) lines due to obsolete technology and reliance on aging copper lines.

That has left health systems and other businesses scrambling when their carrier suddenly announces they are taking their PRI lines out of commission, sometimes with very little time to implement the change. You may be given only weeks—or even less—to transition your fax to another technology.

Fortunately, T.38 IP fax can be deployed quickly, with minimal disruption to day-to-day office operations. It’s largely plug-and-play, with your plan provider either installing an analog telephone adapter (ATA) to convert your analog fax line to digital so faxes can be transmitted over the internet or replacing your PRI connections with T.38 SIP Trunks.

You’ll even likely be able to keep your same fax number, making the transition still more seamless and easy.

Challenge #2: Deliverability

Solution: A highly dependable IP fax service with self-healing tools 

When faxes fail to send, your internal IT resources are pulled into time-consuming troubleshooting. That can put your office on hold while the problem is resolved.

Real-time T.38 Fax SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) trunks solve the deliverability dilemma. It’s a fast, secure and dependable digital fax technology that channels traffic over conduits specifically conditioned for fax transmissions and optimized for reliability, speed and security.

Cloudli's T.38 IP fax also features self-healing technology. That means it constantly monitors the quality and success rate of every fax sent over our platform and dynamically adjusts routing away from or around underperforming routes to ensure exceptional deliverability for every customer every time.

Challenge #3: Financial pressures

Solution: Affordable and customizable IP fax plans to meet your needs and budget 

Hospital budgets are under strain these days due to inflation and increased costs. Hospital labor costs alone grew by more than $42.5 billion between 2021 and 2023, according to the American Hospital Association.

That leaves administrators looking for ways to trim operating expenses without compromising quality of care. IP fax is a smart place to start since it can cost half of what you’re paying for legacy faxing.

Remember, standard analog faxing requires you to pay per line, and those costs have gone up 30 percent (or more) in the past 10 years as traditional landlines are discontinued and fewer businesses use them. You’re probably also paying for long-distance charges and maintenance of equipment like fax boards needed for connectivity.

Fax over IP, on the other hand, simply requires an internet connection, which all health facilities already have. From there, your service provider can provide you with the exact number of lines you need to meet your needs, whether a single-line fax connecting a fax machine or dozens of lines operating on multi-functional devices (MFDs) located throughout your hospital.

You can also add SIP trunks to your plan to better accommodate high-volume, round-the-clock faxing needs.

With this level of scalability and customization, you can choose the exact product and plan that meets your needs and budget today and adapt easily as your needs change.

Challenge #4: Growing data security threats

Solution: Secure, HIPAA-compliant T.38 IP fax with optional encryption 

Several recent high-profile cyberattacks and ransomware incidents have left health systems feeling vulnerable. Not only can a breach disrupt patient care, but it can expose your patients’ personal information and leave them with a sense of distrust toward your organization.

T.38 IP fax provides a highly secure way to transfer private records and sensitive information. Because it sends documents in real-time and eliminates store-and-forward vulnerabilities where hackers can intercept data, it is fully HIPAA-compliant. Backed by self-healing technology, T.38 IP fax ensures each of your transmissions is successfully delivered.

Cloudli lets you go even further by layering best-in-class encryption to your T.38 SIP trunks, which gives you the highest level of security available during fax transmission.

IP Fax: The Easy Choice for Healthcare

Hospital administrators have many difficult choices to make every day, but transitioning to IP fax should be a no-brainer. It’s highly reliable, budget-friendly, secure, and quick to install.

Now, the only decision is which service provider to choose. At Cloudli, we’re focused on developing flexible, affordable products with cost-effective pricing plans backed by best-in-class, fax-specialized customer support that is unheard of among larger legacy carriers.

Reach out to talk with one of our fax experts for a customized assessment.