Cost Study

Comparing Costs of Manual Faxing to the Sfax Secure Fax Management System

OVERVIEW

Much has changed about how healthcare is practiced since the 1980s. Technology and systems especially have substantially improved the productivity and efficiency of most healthcare organizations. Yet when it comes to delivering documents, the industry still relies on decades-old fax technology. This time-, cost-, and labor intensive process unnecessarily burdens staff and budgets, impeding further improvements in productivity and efficiency.

Sfax changes this equation by greatly reducing the time and costs of document transmittal. Our studies show that Sfax reduces 95% of the time and 80% of the cost of manual faxing, freeing staff for more important tasks and adding significantly to your bottom line.

Staff can send and receive faxes right from their computers in seconds, not minutes. Your organization can get rid of fax machines and their dedicated phone lines, as well as all the associated maintenance and supply costs. Junk faxes are practically eliminated. And because Sfax is easily integrated into existing patient management systems or used as a standalone service, it's simple to deploy a seamless, cost-effective solution for any organization.

THE REAL COSTS OF MANUAL FAXING

One of the key benefits of using the Sfax to replace manual faxing is the significant time and cost savings it provides. For example: Physician Practices will typically send or receive 2 to 4 thousand fax pages per month depending on their specialty (lab results, prescriptions, referral letters, explanation of benefit’s etc.) or a Home Health Agencies with an average monthly census of 150 patients will send and receive over 3 thousand fax pages per month (confirmation of verbal orders, plans of care, change orders, cover sheets etc.) Each time a fax is sent manually it typically requires the user to:

• Print the document and retrieve
• Walk to the fax machine
• Fill out a cover sheet
• Enter in the fax number
• Stand around for the fax machine to send and confirm delivery
• Log the fax in a record
• File the document

This process can easily take 5 to 10 minutes or more per three or four page fax. A typical fax consists of a cover page and a two or three page document. With the Sfax this process is done in less than 30 seconds.

Retrieving manual faxes typically works like this

• Get up and retrieve faxes from fax machine
• Sort
• Distribute to intended person
• Process and log
• File
• Return to desk

This process can also take 5 to 10 minutes per three or four page fax. With Sfax it takes a few seconds. Users get an email notification of the fax arriving, click a link to the secure log-in and view the fax, route, process, save or electronically file etc.

The process is repeated constantly throughout the day wasting valuable time and money. The average cost to manually send or receive a 3 page fax is $1.20 or about 40¢ per page. Take a closer look at the real cost of manual faxing.

The chart below reflects conservative costs for a health care provider that sends and receives 3,000 fax pages per month. It does not include initial capital or maintenance costs of the equipment. A typical provider that process 3,000 fax pages per month can save up to $12,612 per year using Sfax.

Sfax vs Manual Fax Savings Chart

Note: Costs for fax toner, drum, printer ink and paper reflect low industry averages for these items.

• Staples.com ink jet or laser printer ink/toner average cost per page w/free delivery 05-01-07
• Staples.com ink jet or laser printer paper 5000 Pack 24lb. w/free delivery 05-01-07
• ATT.com for unlimited local/long distance service flat rate $49.99 per moth plus $12 per month in taxes and surcharges = $61.99 per month for a single fax line. 3,000 send/receive fax pages per month = 2 cents per page, 2,000 send/receive fax pages per month = 3 cents per page. 05-01-07
• Labor cost: assumes $12.00 per hour rate (.20 cents per minute) including benefits. Average time to transmit a fax page is 1 minute plus additional time to walk to printer, sort, deliver to nurse, pick up from nurse, add cover page, dial fax number wait for fax to successfully send, file,. Assumes not distractions or busy signals or waiting for fax to become available. Assumes 1.5 minutes per page for a cost of .30 cents per page.

Conclusion
Healthcare Providers who use Sfax can send and received faxes right from their computers in seconds not minutes, significantly increasing their efficiency at a cost savings of more than 75% to 80% and a time savings of over 95%.  Sfax is easily integrated into existing patient management systems or can be used as a stand alone service.

Most importantly, Healthcare Providers no longer have to deal with fax machines, maintenance, dedicated phone lines and supply costs associated with the manual faxing process. Faxed documents move through a paperless browser-based work flow. Toll free phone numbers are included to virtually eliminate junk faxes and insure that returned faxes are automatically routed correctly from each sender. Every fax is automatically logged, stored and is searchable. Email notifications provide users with delivery status. And no more waiting until the fax goes through. Sfax is the only HIPAA compliant Fax Management System that is 100% dedicated to the healthcare industry.

  Sfax Cost Study vs Manual Faxing PDF File

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