Hospitals and health systems “cannot function today without embracing digital health transformation at some level,” a HIMSS analysis states. The road to digital value varies: Every healthcare organization’s digital transformation journey takes a different path, depending on their starting point, their end goals, and the resources they have available along the way. 

Yet despite the many different factors that can impact digital success, it may come as a surprise to learn that only 52% of healthcare organizations have strategies in place to guide their digital transformation, according to a recent HIMSS Market Insights survey. 

The study, comprising C-level executives and IT directors at multi-hospital systems and not-for-profit healthcare organizations, captured a snapshot of the obstacles and milestones companies are facing throughout their digital transformation journeys—revealing five common keys for the most successful initiatives. 

1. Set clear goals

Understanding the impetus for digital transformation is the first key to guiding an organization’s journey. The HIMSS survey revealed that cybersecurity and privacy regulations were the primary objectives driving digital transformation for 96% of healthcare organizations, followed closely by the goal of improving the patient experience (94%). 

This makes sense, since most digital initiatives are typically triggered by either a stick or a carrot—which is why we see regulation topping the list, forcing organizations to comply with stricter security requirements to avoid penalties or, even more daunting, mitigate the risk of a data breach. Both of these “sticks” drive digital change. 

As the industry moves toward value-based care, improving the patient experience becomes a bigger agent of change, as well, because organizations are incentivized by outcomes. The better the patient experience, the more money the hospital will receive as a reward. These financial “carrots” also play a role in guiding digital initiatives. 

A third objective cited by 90% of respondents was optimizing EHR systems for efficient documentation and information retrieval, followed by investing in scalable and reliable technology (87%) as well as interoperability and data exchange (85%). This is where pragmatic solutions like digital cloud fax, particularly when paired with AI, become essential. By automatically transforming faxes and other unstructured documents into structured data for direct EHR integration, these technologies provide fast access to accurate information for optimal patient care while minimizing administrative burdens.

At the end of the day, healthcare is a business, and decision-makers are driven by two overriding objectives from a business perspective: either driving top-line revenue or bottom-line efficiencies, as illustrated in these results. 

2. Establish a plan

If only 52% of organizations have digital transformation strategies in place, that means the other 48% don’t—either because they’re still assessing existing technologies and processes, or they haven’t yet developed a roadmap for change. 

The key to kickstarting the planning process, from our perspective, is to gain alignment between IT and the rest of the organization with a cross-functional approach. IT can’t lead the transformation alone; they need buy-in from C-suite leaders to allocate resources and input from clinical users to understand how new technologies actually fit into their workflows. Convening these disciplines early in the journey is vital to demonstrating the value of digital transformation while also eliminating the fear of change. 

3. Define success

The only way to know whether you’ve reached your destination is to establish metrics that capture baseline data and monitor progress toward your objectives. By understanding your current workflows, you can develop better solutions to streamline operations and improve outcomes. 

Your organization’s metrics for success might include: 

• Increased productivity through integrated technologies
• More efficient care coordination as a result of breaking down silos 
• Better health outcomes because providers can easily access the information they need
• Reduced costs through optimized workflows that eliminate redundancies  

Once again, these definitions of success often point back to top-line revenue or bottom-line efficiencies. 

4. Understand the challenges of digital transformation

The top challenge cited by 68% of respondents was overcoming limited budget or staff resources for implementing digital initiatives. The key to overcoming this hurdle is making deployments as simple as possible by adopting solutions that integrate with existing systems to minimize disruption, and working closely with technology vendors to ease the transition. The vendors you partner with will dictate the pace—and the ultimate success—of your digital transformation. 

The second biggest challenge identified by 56% of respondents was determining the impact and ROI of digital initiatives. If you can’t show a clear ROI, it’s nearly impossible to achieve success. Every customer we work with is looking for ROI as they evaluate digital spend, and this calculation can be difficult to prove. That’s why we go through the math with our customers to illustrate the savings they can reap by strategically leveraging existing technologies like digital cloud fax that can be easily integrated with advanced solutions. 

5. Embrace AI

The HIMSS study showed that 58% of organizations have identified specific use cases where AI can add value in care delivery and outcomes, yet two out of three organizations lack a clear AI adoption strategy aligned to their goals. This discrepancy shows how early-stage AI technology is in healthcare. Although we’re starting to see glimpses of its practical applications, it’s still hard for many organizations to calculate ROI, as illustrated in the previous point. 

Ultimately, connecting the dots between the possibility and practicality of AI—and, of course, tying it directly to profitability—will be the key to successfully executing a digital strategy that delivers the best outcomes for patients, streamlines workflows for staff, and supports data-driven decision-making throughout the organization. 

From an antiquated technology that predated telephones to one of the most secure and compliant modes of modern, intelligent data exchange, fax has come a long way over the past two centuries. Despite criticism from stakeholders who don’t understand healthcare’s overreliance on this platform, fax is still the most commonly used technology in this industry — at least 70% of healthcare providers still exchange medical information via fax.

Many of these fax-detractors, who see this tool as an obstacle to seamless data interoperability, often ignore that fax is sometimes the only and best option for smaller healthcare organizations with limited resources like post-acute care facilities, substance use disorder clinics, birthing centers, and others that aren’t as far along in their digital journey.

By simply recognizing the essential role that fax still serves in many of these facilities, we can start to appreciate the evolution that this technology has undergone as it has transformed from a clunky, paper-based system into an advanced digital solution that provides a vital conduit for securely and intelligently exchanging health information today.

The evolution of modern fax

Despite the evolution of fax technology from its 1843 mechanical origins, the concept of a paper-based desktop fax machine continues to prevail, detracting from the full potential of today’s digital solutions. The mere mention of “fax” often elicits eye-rolls and derisive comments, conjuring images of clunky machines and archaic processes. However, this negativity ignores the significant evolution fax technology has undergone in its 180-year history — a journey of advancement that virtually every other technology, from the automobile to the telephone, has also embarked on.

At HIMSS this year, a few folks playfully rallied against fax, distributing t-shirts that advocated for its demise. Yet, this lighthearted dismissal continues to promote a fundamental misunderstanding of modern fax capabilities. The reality is, fax solutions are far removed from their antiquated predecessors. This trust-worthy tech tool is here to stay, as demonstrated by other vendors across the exhibit hall floor showcasing its enhanced capabilities through artificial intelligence (AI) integration. It’s time to retire the outdated stereotypes and recognize fax for what it is: a continuously evolving and critical communication method.

Now, the newest generation of present-day digital cloud fax solutions incorporate AI like natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) to achieve intelligent data extraction, unlocking the ability to pull information from faxes as well as scanned images, PDFs, and even handwritten text. This advanced technology is revolutionizing the way businesses manage and process document workflows and tackling major challenges in the healthcare industry: transforming unstructured data into actionable intelligence to reduce manual effort, accelerate referral and billing processes, and empower healthcare providers to speed up care delivery.

The superpowers of digital fax

The vast majority of healthcare data is unstructured, with 80% of medical information buried in formats that aren’t machine readable or computable — hindering clinicians from analyzing or even accessing vital details. Without the ability to transform this information into standardized, structured data, healthcare organizations will wrestle with incomplete views of the patients they treat, impeding the delivery of both communication and care.

Thanks to AI-powered fax innovation, health systems can use these advanced tools to automatically extract data from images, scans, and handwritten notes, transforming unstructured information into structured data. This powerful tool delivers information directly into clinicians’ workflows, reducing both the need for manual data entry and the room for human error.

This streamlined solution is a gamechanger for clinical care and efficiency: It’s intelligent enough to instantly improve productivity, but also pragmatic enough to be easily accessible and implemented without requiring extensive IT infrastructure overhauls.

A future-forward foundation

Although fax may not initially come to mind in conversations about innovation and interoperability, this ever-evolving digital toolset holds the power to shape the future of healthcare data exchange. This solution makes it possible to bring HL7/FHIR data into the fold, consistent with HIPAA standards and data protection regulations.

By embracing the potential of digital fax to uplevel information exchange, healthcare organizations can unleash valuable insights and streamline cumbersome workflows — ensuring all stakeholders have the timely information they need to improve health outcomes.

eFax^®: Leading the digital fax revolution

Over the past 25 years, we have evolved our digital fax offering from an online fax service to a robust, fully cloud-based solution that redefines the way organizations and businesses of all sizes securely communicate and manage document workflows.

eFax has transformed into a comprehensive digital communication platform, encompassing multiple access points (apps, APIs, web interface) for fax and healthcare-specific protocols (FHIR, HL7, Direct Secure Messaging), while also incorporating artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and large language model technology for data extraction and conversion, advanced electronic signature capabilities, and other cutting-edge features.

Learn more about the evolution of eFax in this eBook: The Evolution of eFax and Leadership in Digital Cloud Fax Technology.