Optimizing your move to MEDITECH Expanse
Updated: Aug 19
Moving to MEDITECH Expanse is an ideal time to optimize your faxing, reporting, and document workflows to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and standardize or automate processes across your organization.
The following solutions may also be worth considering for organizations that are already on MEDITECH Expanse.
Virtualization for faxing
The first area to consider is virtualization when looking at options for efficiency and reliability for faxing. Whether you are looking for a new faxing solution or already using Communication Director for faxing and report disruption, consider the following options.
Communication Director is an enterprise faxing service designed specifically for healthcare and offers options for virtual telephony:
Fax over IP (FoIP) software
Cloud faxing which provides true virtualization (no traditional telephony)
With cloud faxing you can either completely replace Fax over IP and cooper telephone lines or implement a hybrid system of cloud faxing and FoIP to help manage problematic numbers that are unreliable with traditional or FoIP telephony. Cloud faxing can produce more reliable results (especially in rural areas where copper telephone lines are being phased out) and reduce the time spent managing faxes to problematic numbers. With Communication Director, you have the choice to move your fax traffic to cloud faxing at your pace. You do not have to choose an all or nothing cloud faxing service.
If you are already using Communication Director, you will want to make sure you are updated to the newest version of Communication Director as part of a project for efficiency and optimization, and before any virtualization project. Explore the Communication Director 4 platform and the most recent releases and features.
Inbound fax management
Consider managing inbound faxing electronically instead of receiving faxes on MFP/MFDs or physical fax machines, if you haven’t already implemented this workflow. Communication Director capabilities include managing inbound faxes paperlessly. Inbound faxes can either be routed to an email address or a folder location, and configuration options are available to route by the number dialed or the number the fax was sent from.
Routing inbound faxes electronically will save time and paper, allowing your team to sort through faxes without having to shred printed paper. Plus, there are additional solutions that can keep the entire fax processing workflow electronic all the way into the patient chart.
Document filing to the MEDITECH Patient Chart
Another solution to consider is Document Workflow Platform by Forward Advantage. Document Workflow Platform further expands the paperless initiative by creating an electronic document workflow to the MEDITECH Echart without needing to print or scan the document. If you choose to leverage paperless inbound fax management with Communication Director, faxes are dropped into a folder that is monitored by Document Workflow Platform. Integration with the MEDITECH Data Repository and ECM Filer then make it simple for patient matching and for documents to be filed to the patient chart.
With Document Workflow Platform and its connection to MEDITECH Expanse:
Providers can be automatically notified via MEDITECH Workload messages of new documents filed to the patient chart
Details like the prescribing provider, their specialty and the order category can be added to the document title for easy identification
Moving inbound faxes to the patient chart is often a time-consuming workflow for many departments and staff, including HIM, ambulatory clinics and providers. The process typically involves multiple touch points including sorting, splitting, data entry, and locating the correct patient chart before a document can be filed.
To relieve this burden, many organizations are turning to automation solutions that manage all or part of the inbound faxing workflow, from general document filing to more specific use cases like orders, scheduling, or pharmacy requests.
The takeaway
A move to MEDITECH Expanse is a huge undertaking, and a beneficial one. Forward Advantage is here to help you meet your Expanse goals and help create faxing and workflow benefits with a few key solutions.
Communication Director and Document Workflow Platform create streamlined and efficient workflows. Together, they save your organization time and resources when managing faxing, documents, and reports, both inbound and outbound.
Reach out with any questions by contacting us here. We're happy to help!
Or, request more information about automating and streamlining your faxing and report workflows.
