Radiology is a document-heavy specialty, and efficient workflow management is critical to running a successful practice. Unfortunately, much of the industry is still stuck in the past with a traditional fax or in-hand workflow model. Every day, diagnostic imaging services are flooded with paperwork from E-faxes and fax machines.
Fax orders may be standard practice, but the technology is old and expensive to manage.
The fax machine was invented by Xerox in 1964 by Xerox, and most industries said goodbye to this form of document delivery in the 1990s. However, 89% of healthcare organizations are still using these outdated machines to send and share billions of important documents each year.
Although faxing may be second nature to practices, it’s incredibly inefficient. Requesting institutions often place multiple fax orders at once, and a coordinator then sorts and separates each order. Then, information has to be scanned and relevant data subsequently entered into the system. If there are any errors in the documents, it must be noted, faxed back to the service requestor, corrected, re-faxed, re-sorted, and then entered into the EHS.
Additionally, a lot of paperwork is still received directly from patients or delivered in paper form. All of that data has to be entered, scanned, filed, and double-checked against any faxes that have already been received. Finally, everything needs to be routed to the proper location, and there may even be additional data entry that has to take place on the other side.
With the cost of labor on the rise and employee retention on the decline, these outdated practices can have a grave impact on your bottom line.
The number of imaging orders across the U.S. is increasing as are practice costs and manual errors.
From 2020-2021 the cost of paper has gone up 25%, and that represents an expensive burden on a radiology practice. While E-faxing has done wonders to reduce paper from traditional fax orders, it’s not a sufficient replacement service for practices that are still relying on manual processes people to coordinate everything. Plus, E-faxes are still bundled, and they require the same expensive and error-prone data entry and sorting techniques that traditional fax systems rely on.
Beyond the physical costs of this process, there is also the more difficult-to-measure cost of manual errors. These are not only an inconvenience to patients, but they can also lead to poor healthcare outcomes.
Faxing isn’t just inconvenient – it’s also a security concern. Outdated workflows and physical machines present vulnerabilities that are more prone to security breaches that can expose sensitive patient data.
AbbaDox is working to optimize radiology practices with streamlined operations, clinical documentation, and care coordination. Using its cloud-native platform, AbbaDox reduces the radiology practice reliance on antiquated, costly fax and paper-based workflows, improves accuracy, and enhances patient (and staff!) satisfaction.
AbbaDox’s automated, paperless workflow solutions allow practices to eliminate piles of paperwork, streamline documents, integrate scheduling and registration practices, and generate eligibility verifications and estimation to reduce overhead and make your patients happier and healthier with minimum hassle.
Automation is the workflow solution of tomorrow, and industries that remain tethered to less optimized strategies are inevitably going to fall behind. Moreover, as people are increasingly experiencing a digital world through their smart devices, automated systems are becoming the common language of modern business.
The AbbaDox platform provides centralized, digitized routing software for radiology practices that streamlines the river of incoming faxes and minimizes cost and human error. When fax orders enter a practice’s radiology information system (AbbaDox or otherwise) they’re automatically sorted and routed to the departments who need them. This is all done without the need for expensive and labor-intensive paper communications that can create complications and frustrations for patients and administrative staff alike.
Integration of systems is one of the most important services that AbbaDox can offer a modern digital imaging practice. Patients today are accustomed to handling appointment scheduling for various industries quickly and efficiently online, so why are so many practices behind? AbbaDox makes it easy for patients to schedule the services they need without requiring a dedicated employee answering phone calls all day.
Traditionally, eligibility verification and cost estimates have required phone calls, emails, and patients languishing on hold to get relatively simple answers. Services like these that provide repeatable data are perfectly suited for automated processes. AbbaDox’s software can provide them without the need for intensive, time-consuming communication. It makes practices more efficient, and that means better healthcare and happier patients.
Finally, AbbaDox knows that working together is important to provide the best products and services. Every digital imaging practice utilizes radiology technology and systems that work for them and their patients, and AbbaDox systems are designed to work seamlessly with many third-party products. It’s better for you, and it’s better for patients.
The future of workflow optimization in radiology is here, and AbbaDox’s services are allowing digital imaging practices to cut costs, eliminate errors, and create a modern smart environment that makes patients feel at home. Healthcare can be scary and frustrating, and our software services make it easy for your patients to get the services they need when they need them without burdens on your staff or bottom line.
Schedule your demo today to learn more.