Needs for behavioral healthcare services are on the rise.
The need for behavioral healthcare services in the United States is growing exponentially. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), one in five adults in the U.S. has a clinically significant mental health or substance use disorder, and the severity of mental health conditions among children and teens continues to accelerate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the already rapidly accelerating opioid crisis, with overdose deaths rising 30% from 2019 to 2020.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates a deficit of 10,000 mental health professionals by 2025 across the country. That does not bode well for a growing population of patients in need. A long-standing shortage of behavioral healthcare service providers will undoubtedly result in a medical crisis for many patients who are unable to receive adequate treatment.
This worrying trend means that behavioral health practices need more comprehensive tools, such as digital workflow technology, to unburden staff from already time-consuming and cumbersome processes to support faster, more comprehensive care for existing patients while rapidly onboarding new intakes.
How can cloud fax accelerate intake and patient services?
Integrate with existing EMR and EHR systems.
As our digital era continues to accelerate, healthcare organizations are tasked with seeking out technology to enable a more efficient, nimble, and empowered workforce. After all, a team is only as good as its technology. You need a cloud fax solution that supports your behavioral healthcare services by integrating with existing EMRs such as Epic to maintain patient volume management and patient documentation.
Speed up the intake process for new patients.
Just as technology progresses and medicine advances, your methods of communication, including the referral and intake processes, must evolve to provide superior patient care and promote wellness. Reliable cloud fax accelerates the exchange of patient records, medical requests, and more to ensure that any size behavioral clinic can handle a high volume of patient needs and bring new patients on board more efficiently.
Ensure patient documents get transferred securely.
A cloud fax solution can provide your behavioral health workers with a user-friendly dashboard interface to quickly transmit intake paperwork, referrals, and other medical information between providers or to patients. Because it’s in the cloud, PHI can be made accessible from anywhere, whether in the room with the patient or reviewing patient notes from the main office. Cloud fax secured by features such as TLS encryption, user authentication, and “delete upon delivery” safeguards PHI and facilitates streamlined team communication while reducing IT maintenance and eliminating hardware upkeep.
Monitor communications and maintain compliance.
In 2020, data security breaches cost healthcare companies $6 trillion in the U.S. alone. That’s why cloud fax has become an indispensable technology solution for many health practices, as HIPAA compliance mandates cover any InterFAX-transmitted documents and are available to review specific details such as sent and received in the case of any upcoming audits. Cloud fax allows permissioned users to create reports on fax usage by patient, sender, recipient, or customized fields to ensure compliance.
Wrap up
With the right technology in place, we’re at the cusp of a new era where cloud technologies can be the key to maximizing behavioral health professionals’ workload while improving patient advocacy and exceptional patient outcomes.
InterFAX has cloud fax capabilities to help your behavioral healthcare clinic implement more efficient processes to unburden your staff and promote patient wellness. Let’s tackle the challenges together to provide your patients with the services they need. Contact InterFAX today.
Want to learn more about InterFAX’s data security protocols for healthcare providers? Check out our blog.
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