CLOUD
HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS TURN TO CLOUD FAXING FOR SECURE TRANSMISSION OF DOCUMENTS
responsibility for every healthcare provider , especially at a time when cybercriminals are targeting the healthcare sector . Healthcare organisations need to use highly secure communications systems that are not vulnerable to internal and external attacks , including ransomware threats .
Privacy
Cloud-based fax is playing an essential role in the day-to-day transmission of sensitive and confidential information across multiple sectors , according to a survey of 1,000 senior IT and business decision-makers in the UK and Europe by eFax .
A poll of senior executives in large enterprises , SMEs and public sector organisations found that 62 % of healthcare organisations surveyed identified security as critical to their decision to migrate to cloud-based fax systems . A further 21 % described the technology as ‘ extremely ’ secure .
Among fax users in healthcare , 37 % use cloud-based fax systems , while 21 % use a combination of cloud and traditional faxing . Only 17 % remain wedded to the traditional fax machine .
" Despite being more than 40 years old , fax technology continues to be used by the healthcare sector for the transmission of important documents , such as Electronic Health Records ( EHRs ) containing patients ’ medical records , test results , X-rays and other scans ," said Scott Wilson , Vice President of Sales and Service at eFax .
" Patient information is increasingly digitalised . People also want direct access to their health records , which is why Electronic Health Records are so important . The question for healthcare providers is how to send and receive these records in a way that is safe and secure .
" It ’ s clear that email is the established and widely accepted format for most communications , but it ’ s flawed and vulnerable to interception and hacking .
" Cloud faxing is more secure than email – not least because fax infrastructure has limited exposure to the Internet and Internet-connected devices ."
eFax identified the following factors as the reasons for faxing ’ s ongoing value and importance to healthcare organisations :
Security
Data security and privacy relating to patient records is a serious
The misuse of confidential medical data is an ongoing concern for patients . As well as being highly secure , fax also ensures that any record or document that is sent is accurately date- and time-stamped and therefore auditable .
Regulation
In the EU , the General Data Protection Regulation ( GDPR )’ s privacy laws and human rights protections include the creation and destruction of patient information . To be fully GDPR-compliant , any communications system must ensure that patient information is protected .
Exchange
In Europe , the European Commission ( EC ) has installed an exchange format for EHRs so that patients can access and exchange their medical records between EU member states . Healthcare providers in Europe , therefore , need a safe , secure and compliant communications format for transmitting patient records not just from one hospital to another , but also from one country to another . �
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