Exton, PA (May 10, 2021) — Ricoh USA Inc. today announced it has won the 2021 MedTech Breakthrough Award for “Clinical Efficiency Innovation” for its eFax Referrals Solution. The solution revolutionizes the digital health and medical technology markets by expediting the referrals process, helping safeguard sensitive patient information and lowering administrative costs for medical providers. It helps improve the overall health care experience for patients, physicians and health care administrators and accelerate the consumerization of health care.
Referrals are a significant component of health care delivery, particularly in the 65-plus age demographic which is expected to comprise nearly 20% of the U.S. population by 2025, among whom studies show every person is expected to need two or more referrals to other medical specialties per year. The vast majority of health care systems utilize a fax- and paper-based referral process that can expose potential for referrals loss, privacy breaches and appointment delay in a process that can take days or even weeks—all of which impact patient care and satisfaction. This manual process also prevents physicians from helping more patients faster and distinguishing their practices from competitors—which can impact financial viability and practice revenue.
Ricoh’s electronic Fax (eFax) Referrals Solution enables call centers to receive and process referrals and associated clinical documents digitally within an hour, versus hours or days. With it, referral coordinators can quickly complete the preauthorization process to confirm patients’ demographics, validate insurance, attach MRI and/or lab results and upload data to the providers’ EHR (electronic health record)—benefits that can vastly improve both patient and medical staff experiences.
“As the consumerization of health care accelerates, healthcare organizations and their technology partners must keep up with patients who expect a fast, seamless experience scheduling an appointment with a provider, receiving care quickly, and having all of their healthcare data and medical history readily available and at their fingertips,” said Rory Fitzpatrick, health care partner executive, Ricoh USA Inc. “Our eFax Referrals Solution delivers exactly this, fast-tracking the patient’s time to appointment and enhancing their overall experience, while providing physicians and healthcare administrators access to all of the referral documents in one place—further improving the patient experience and quality of care.”
Ricoh’s eFax Referral Solution transforms the data workflow portability by supporting new ways of working from home or a traditional office, enabling health care employees to work seamlessly from a remote location with a completely automated, fluid and secured workflow that enables them to process, access and schedule a patient’s referral faster. The eFax Referrals Solution dashboard also allows users to track precisely who is handling each referral and what action is taken in real-time. It also simplifies auditing and tracking of protected health information (PHI) related to referrals.
The MedTech Breakthrough Awards celebrate the world’s most outstanding digital health and medical technology products, services and companies around the world. This year’s award winners were selected from more than 3,850 nominations from across the globe.
For more information on Ricoh’s fax management for health care, click here.
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About Ricoh
Ricoh is empowering digital workplaces using innovative technologies and services, thus enabling individuals to work smarter.
With cultivated knowledge and organizational capabilities nurtured over its 85-years history, Ricoh is a leading provider of document management solutions, IT services, communications services, commercial and industrial printing, digital cameras, and industrial systems.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group has major operations throughout the world and its products and services now reach customers in approximately 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ended March 2021, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of 1,682 billion yen (approx. 15.1 billion USD).
