If you’re involved in a pharmacy business, now is the time to assess the suitability of your pharmacy’s hardware and IT equipment and how it stands up to today’s internal and external data security threats.
Under the NHS Act, the Health and Social Care Act, the Data Protection Act and the Human Rights Act, it is the responsibility of healthcare organisations, including pharmacies, to prioritise the safeguarding of protected health information (PHI).
Operating in an industry that is still highly reliant on paper, pharmacies are particularly vulnerable to these threats. In terms of hardware and IT, the traditional fax is a perfect example of a widely used legacy technology that is placing patient data at risk.
Here, we present the fundamental risks that traditional fax machines pose for your pharmacy and why cloud faxing has emerged as the ideal alternative.
The Problem with Traditional Faxing for Pharmacies
Pharmacies across the UK receive a high volume of faxed prescriptions each day. And traditional fax machines often don’t meet the strict privacy guidelines and regulations set out by the NHS.
Printed documents are easily misplaced and important information often rests on top of the fax machine before being filed. It is not unheard of for a curious passer-by to glance at confidential documents and procure information that they should not have access to.
This type of ‘visual hacking’ should be a concern for any organisation which makes use of a traditional fax machine, particularly any business operating within the health industry.
To prevent unscrupulous eyes glancing at sensitive data, and to make sure your business is fully compliant with all privacy protocols, your pharmacy business should consider investing in cloud faxing as part of its next IT upgrade.
Cloud Faxing: Advantages for UK Pharmacies
Sensitive and private information is at the heart of pharmacy activity and hence, it is critical that you prioritise the implementation of secure communications tools. This is where cloud faxing solutions, like those provided by eFax Corporate, can take your business communications to the next level.
Pharmacies handle large volumes of inbound prescriptions by means of fax, particularly, for example, those that handle prescriptions from General Practitioners, hospitals, care homes or any health-related organisation. A system that allows for both a quick response to the prescription and data protection is key.
With such high volumes of incoming and outgoing faxes, you need a faxing infrastructure that is 100% reliable. Paper jams, busy signals and empty printer cartridges are regular pain points for pharmacy staff where a traditional fax machine is involved. All of these issues can be solved with cloud faxing.
The healthcare profession demands a high level of traceability, as it is important to know who has had access to your patients’ medical notes and prescriptions. Documentation must always be properly filed and made accessible to authorised personnel should queries arise.
That’s why the fax to email solution is so well-suited to businesses in healthcare, providing the convenience and speed of email with the security of analogue faxing.
How eFax Corporate Works for Your Business
With eFax Corporate on board as a fax service provider, your pharmacy will be able to send and receive faxes via email. When you sign up, you’ll be assigned a fax number or, if you have one already, you can switch this over to your new eFax Corporate account.
To send your first internet fax, open a new email message and type in your recipient’s fax number with the prefix “@efaxsend.eu”, e.g [email protected]. Next, simply attach the document that you wish to send and press the send button.
On the receiver’s side, your email attachment will arrive just like any other fax message with nothing to indicate that the fax was sent via email.
eFax Corporate’s secure paperless faxing service means that all of your messages and documents are protected by Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption. This means that all correspondence is fully compliant with NHS Digital and other industry privacy standards.
The Day to Day Benefits of Internet Faxing
Since faxes are sent and received as email attachments when you use eFax Corporate, all of your business’ communications are automatically saved in the cloud. They cannot be deleted until you, or an authorised person does so.
This extra level of traceability and security means that all important information is safely saved in the cloud, and therefore isn’t prone to the glances of unauthorised passers-by.
Cloud faxing will immediately increase productivity for you and your colleagues as prescriptions, which are now received as email attachments, can immediately be viewed by multiple staff members. This ensures fast response times and that important orders are never missed.
UK-based CarePlus Pharmacy, which supports a network of almost 50 care homes, has increased efficiencies, productivity, and boosted revenue with internet faxing. Their story outlines how multiple staff members can now access faxed prescriptions from their computers as soon as the faxes arrive and as a result, CarePlus has improved the turnaround time for processing these prescriptions. Staff are now more productive since they fill more patient prescriptions on a daily basis. And because faxes are stored digitally online, the pharmacy has access to the faxes and they can retrieve them quicker should patient queries arise. This has resulted in faster response time and overall improved customer service.
With eFax Corporate, there is no paper involved and inbound faxes are archived and stored within the eFax portal. Faxes are easily accessible and can be retrieved simply by logging in.
Another advantage of eFax Corporate is that all transmissions receive a confirmation report, which is sent automatically. This offers the peace of mind that all faxes has been successfully sent to the recipient.
About eFax Corporate
eFax Corporate is a leading provider of cloud faxing services and has become a trusted fax partner for numerous high-profile businesses in the health and pharmaceutical industries. Our highly secure and compliant cloud fax service is sure to keep your business in line with NHS Digital and HIPAA regulations.
To learn more about eFax Corporate, and what it can do for your company, contact us today.