WILMINGTON, DE — Despite decades of investment in digital transformation, healthcare remains heavily reliant on fax communication — and the consequences are slowing care, creating compliance risks, and undermining trust in automation, according to a new report from Documo.
The study, titled Stuck in the Fax Lane, reveals that 35% of inbound documents to hospitals and healthcare facilities are still faxed, rising to over 45% for high-volume organizations. More than half of those faxes require manual intervention, while 44% are considered time-sensitive, underscoring the ongoing operational burden fax communication places on clinicians and administrators.
“The data makes it clear that reducing the signal-to-noise ratio in healthcare communications is critical to driving administrative efficiency and, more importantly, improving patient outcomes,” said Denis Whelan, CEO of Documo. “At Documo, we’re committed to making healthcare workflows secure, simple, and interoperable.”
Fax Fatigue and Workflow Failures
Documo’s survey of more than 100 healthcare administrators, IT professionals, and information management specialists found that outdated workflows are contributing to widespread inefficiency and potential harm to patients.
When faxed documents are delayed, 58% of respondents said care is often impacted — leading to incomplete information, postponed treatments, or rescheduled appointments. Claims, intake forms, and prior authorizations were identified as the most error-prone and delay-prone categories.
Only 29% of organizations report having fully automated document workflows, and those that do demonstrate significantly higher confidence in routing accuracy and compliance. Manual workflows, the report notes, continue to drive “time loss, errors, tracking issues, and frustration.”
The Automation Divide
The findings also show that most healthcare organizations are attempting to modernize, but adoption remains uneven. Between 75% and 89% of respondents said they are investing in automation, interoperability, or intelligent document processing (IDP). However, cost (44%), security concerns (43%), and integration complexity (37%) remain the most significant obstacles.
Documo’s analysis suggests that trust in AI-driven tools depends on how effectively they connect with existing electronic health record (EHR) systems and deliver accurate, clinically useful context.
“AI cannot be bolted into a broken system,” the report concludes, arguing that automating inefficient fax workflows could serve as a catalyst for broader digital change.
Hospitals vs. Clinics: A Confidence Gap
The report highlights stark differences between hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Hospitals report higher routing confidence (81%) compared to clinics (56%) and residential facilities (51%). Yet hospitals also experience more fax-related claim delays — 59 per year, roughly double the number reported by residential or community health agencies.
Clinics and residential facilities spend more time manually processing faxes and handling multi-page documents, while smaller organizations report higher rates of time-sensitive communication and routing errors.
A senior director of operations at a behavioral health company said Documo’s platform has helped modernize secure document exchange. “Documo delivers on its core promise: secure, compliant document transmission without requiring physical fax machines. It’s reliable for our day-to-day needs, and the platform is simple enough that most users can get up and running with minimal training,” the executive said.
A Path Forward
Documo’s findings indicate that the path to modernization lies in bridging the gap between traditional communication methods and intelligent automation. Fax, the report argues, is not going away overnight — but making it faster, smarter, and more integrated could help healthcare organizations finally escape the “fax trap.”
The full Stuck in the Fax Lane report, including data visualizations and analysis, is available at www.documo.com/stuck-in-the-fax-lane.
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