When it comes to technology, where and how you use it is limited only by your imagination. Familiarity with the technology and your desire to experiment will lead you into new exciting areas.

Here’s how I’m using the facsimile (fax) machine in different ways to facilitate more convenient and efficient communication and to ensure sound practice management.

Today, of course, the fax machine can replace the mail in many situations. I have a dedicated fax line at home and at the office. This means that I can receive incoming faxes at any time of the day or night without having to keep turning the machine on and off. The separate line also prevents inconveniencing family members by not tying up the phone when waiting for, receiving or sending a fax.

When I’m at home, I can write or type messages, consultations or anything else that I want to communicate to the office and send it right away. If a staff member or a patient has a question, the information or parts of the chart can be sent to me for an accurate response. Also, you can send faxes right from your computer, if it’s equipped with fax software.

Our office can also receive information from stores, suppliers and optical companies without delay. Reports from the hospital also come in immediately via the fax. We can send or receive a copy of a chart, visual field, etc., when dealing with another doctor’s office, while the patient is in our office.

Physicians and insurance companies send authorizations to us via the fax, eliminating the need for the patient to wait and return another day. This saves time for both the patient and for us. As you know, it can take an inordinate amount of time to obtain authorizations when the patient has failed to do so.

Each morning, we have authorizations, referral letters, information from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery waiting for us. This hasn’t created any logistical problems because a front office person looks at the faxes and places them in the correct routing boxes in the office — for example, the physician’s, surgical counselor’s or the billing office’s box.

Receiving junk faxes from vendors hasn’t been a problem for us either. If it is for you, simply call the vendors involved and ask them to remove your name from their lists.

Fax reports and information should be initialed by the appropriate physician and filed in charts in the same manner as other communications.

For repeat visits — when following up a glaucoma or uveitis patient, for example — we often write short summary notes on forms and fax them to primary care physicians. This saves a lot of time because it eliminates typing a full letter, requiring an envelope and a stamp. When doing this, however, beware of privacy issues. The fax may be sent to the wrong number or fall into the wrong hands. Have your staff call the destination to confirm that it was received at the correct office.

Keep a copy of the fax in your records to verify what was sent. Have your staff note on your copy when the fax was received and who confirmed receipt of it. Also, be careful with very confidential information; make sure the recipient waits near the machine to prevent others from seeing it.

It’s important to have a staff member stay on top of fax transmissions throughout the day, distributing them quickly to appropriate personnel. One of the dangers of receiving and sending documents by fax is that important information can be lost or misplaced in the shuffle quite easily. Besides having a dedicated fax person, another good idea is to set up a mailbox next to the machine, labeled by doctor and department. Stacked "In" trays may be all that you need.

I recommend using a fax machine that feeds multiple pages quickly, so that your fax person doesn’t have to stand by the machine waiting for the pages to go through. And make sure he or she always marks down the number of pages sent, in case all of them aren’t received.

As with all technology, you need to update your machine when new features become available, such as memory faxing or increased speed. And, of course, plain paper machines are a real asset. These options will save a great deal of staff time.

It’s great technology. Use it for all it’s worth!