Beth Israel Lahey Health Reduces Fax Failures with Cloud Fax Integration

Beth Israel Lahey Health (BILH), a leading non-profit integrated health system, was facing challenges in managing its outdated fax systems, prompting a search for a scalable and cost-effective solution. Discussions between James Roeber, Director of Infrastructure Solutions, and the Retarus team led to the implementation of Retarus Cloud Fax to enhance BILH’s digital automation.

Context And Objectives

BILH was managing several outdated fax systems that were not scalable to the size of their network, resulting in a significant failure rate (~34%) with a high total cost of ownership (TCO). The size and scope of migrating these systems were considerable, given the large volume of faxes sent, associated phone numbers, and the need for integration with Epic and other tools.

To address its outdated communications infrastructure, BILH sought to find a vendor with expertise in Epic integrations, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Additionally, the organization preferred a secure and consolidated cloud-based solution that could provide visibility into utilization and potential failures, a capability not previously available. Retarus, a leader in cloud fax services, emerged as the vendor best fit for this transformation due to its comprehensive offerings and proven track record, along with its ability to streamline processes, enhance security, and deliver significant ROI.

Implementation Process

Getting to know BILH’s specific requirements was the first step for the Retarus team, including detailed discussions with stakeholders to identify the obstacles they were facing. A Proof of Concept was provided to showcase the platform’s capabilities and security and compliance features, as implementation had to be meticulously planned, considering integration needs and compliance standards within the healthcare industry, a sector heavily reliant on fax with stringent data security requirements.

Retarus also identified a significant opportunity to reduce overall spending and increase Employee Satisfaction (ESAT) through ease of use. Once priorities were confirmed, a dedicated project manager from Retarus collaborated with BILH to ensure project alignment and progress throughout the implementation process. This collaborative team stayed in constant communication, ensuring that initial needs were met and any new challenges were handled efficiently.

One challenge that required attention was with an island-based radiology clinic that was struggling with delivery rates due to a local carrier with few options for alternatives. Roughly half of the fax transmissions for this clinic failed. To circumnavigate this challenge for BILH, Retarus provided a US fax number that redirected to a secure email address, essentially bypassing the island carrier. The clinic was able to access the required documents from that secure inbox, speeding up the business process and eliminating past frustrations.

Additionally, both teams worked together to ensure Retarus Cloud Fax paired seamlessly with BILH’s custom artificial intelligence (AI) solution, which was developed to speed up the process of attributing inbound information to the appropriate patient chart within Epic for their Ambulatory Services. By having Retarus deliver inbound faxes to a secure SharePoint folder within BILH’s infrastructure, the manual process of downloading the document, viewing the data, and uploading it to the appropriate patient chart was able to be replaced with a final review to confirm the routing was done correctly.

The Beth Israel Lahey Health System was challenged with several outdated faxing systems and a significant failure rate with a high TCO, leading us to look for a secure, consolidated, cloud-based solution with Epic integration. [...] Not only have we saved millions of dollars associated with faxing services, but we also reduced the failure rates which resulted in overall operational efficiency. As we expand our Epic deployment, Retarus is ready to handle the increased volumes without a requirement to add additional hardware or lines.

James Roeber, Director of Infrastructure Solutions, Beth Israel Lahey Health System

Results

Retarus’ solution seamlessly integrated with Epic, resulting in a drastic reduction in failure rates from 34% to 6% in the first year. By the second year, the failure rate had reduced to 4% with a continued trend of improvement. This contributed to an estimated telco savings of $4 million and counting while continuing to process nearly 2 million fax pages per month, providing budgetary relief for BILH’s IT Department and enhancing the department’s reputation within the organization. Employee Satisfaction (ESAT) increased, and visibility into fax processes improved.

Key Facts

~ 2.0M Pages per month
$4M+ Telco Cost Savings
96% Success Rate

Conclusion

The successful implementation of Retarus Cloud Fax within BILH’s IT system exemplifies the significance of strategic vendor selection, meticulous planning, and effective collaboration. By tackling challenges and harnessing innovative technologies, BILH realized substantial cost savings, process efficiencies, and enhanced employee satisfaction. This project serves as a model for future automation endeavors, laying the groundwork for ongoing digital transformation within the organization as BILH’s faxing environment is now digitized and automated, allowing further automation as more AI tools became available.

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