Easy-to-use, cloud-based solution for sharing patient information can put your mind at ease
By Roger Ellefson, GM, Office Solutions, Xerox
Whether your healthcare provider is down the street, hours away or across the country, are you 100 percent certain that your confidential patient information is really secure from one provider to another?
The need to exchange patient records in a digital format can be a challenge, especially for smaller medical facilities that are still using paper processes such as fax machines and snail mail to share patient data and records to stay compliant with HIPAA standards.
According to the 2017 Xerox eHealth Survey released by Xerox, nearly half of Americans (44 percent) are worried about having their personal healthcare information stolen. Additionally, more than three quarters (76 percent) of respondents believe it would be more secure to share healthcare information between providers through a secure electronic method rather than faxing paper documents. There’s no denying that patients are worried about the integrity of their personal healthcare information – myself included. Here’s my story:
A few months ago, I ran into that exact challenge with my own healthcare provider. I went for a routine physical. My doctor then said, “I see we’re not doing an EKG.” I explained to him that I had been to my cardiologist a couple months back, and my cardiologist had assured me he would send all of my information over to my primary care doctor. My physician then looks at me and says the famous last words no patient wants to hear – “Well if they did, they’re not sharing.”
So I started my own investigation. I called my cardiologist to confirm that they had sent my information, which they assured me they had done. My next question was how exactly did he send it. His answer? He faxed my information over.
In the end, my physician did not have the information he needed for my physical to do his job. But the larger problem is that neither my provider nor my cardiologist could tell me exactly where my personal healthcare information was – my own personal dilemma and one I’m sure many patients have experienced.
Xerox Healthcare Multifunction Printer Improves Patient Outcomes
Sharing patient information in a secure way can positively impact quality of care, and provide a seamless patient experience. The Xerox Healthcare Multifunction Printer (MFP), connected by Kno2, a clinical document exchange service, can help you do just that.
On display at HIMSS, thousands of health IT professionals, clinicians, executives and vendors from around the world had the chance to see the Healthcare MFP in action. The Healthcare MFP helps deliver pertinent information at the right time, in the right format, and at the right point of care to help healthcare providers make critical medical decisions. And it does so without the need for heavy IT infrastructure, allowing every provider to take advantage of the technology. The cloud-based offering is easy to implement; providers can simply plug it in, go through the straightforward setup process and get started.
The Healthcare MFP allows healthcare professionals to route confidential information to other providers – whether down the street or across the country. They no longer have to worry about lost or misplaced faxes when sharing or creating another copy of protected health information. Now, they simply select the “Share Patient Information” button, use the built-in address book – which connects them to over a million other providers – to select the destination, enter some basic patient information and send the document. While similar in many ways to scan-to-email, the outcome yields a much different result – a HIPAA-compliant, EMR-compatible electronic exchange and a process that is secure from start to finish.
“The Healthcare MFP really can improve patient outcomes – it’s a deeply meaningful offering for the healthcare industry.” – Roger Ellefson, GM, Office Solutions, Xerox.
The pace and regulations of the healthcare industry are always evolving and are requiring providers to utilize new technology to improve their workflows and help them meet compliance regulations. The Healthcare MFP allows providers to securely share patient information electronically, improving care coordination and resulting in a better patient experience.
With products like the Healthcare MFP, Xerox has the cure to document chaos, and an easy-to-implement answer to improving information sharing and care coordination between providers. We hope you had a chance to see the Xerox Healthcare MFP shine in sunny Orlando at HIMSS. If you weren’t able to see it for yourself, more information on the device can be found here, or feel free to contact me if you have any questions at Roger.Ellefson@xerox.com.
