Fax in, value out: Digitizing the access journey

Despite ongoing digital transformation efforts across the healthcare industry, many organizations are still burdened with paper-based workflows, especially at the front door of patient access. 

Faxes, handwritten forms, and manual data entry continue to dominate referrals, registration, and intake processes, creating friction for both patients and staff. Nearly 75% of healthcare workers say documentation impedes patient care, and more than 77% report working after hours due to excessive documentation.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. With intelligent automation, it’s now possible to convert traditionally paper-based processes into seamless digital experiences, delivering faster access to care, reduced administrative burden, and meaningful returns in time and value. 

Here’s how health systems are transforming their access journeys, from fax in to value out. 

Step 1: Transcribe faxes with intelligent automation 

Incoming referrals and patient intake forms often arrive via fax or as paper scans. These documents contain critical details, but extracting and transcribing them manually is time-consuming, error-prone, and unsustainable. 

An intelligent AI Platform can deploy AI Agents to read, extract, and auto-populate both structured and unstructured data from these documents. Information such as patient demographics, referring provider, and reason for visit is automatically ingested, reviewed, triaged, and inputted without manual intervention. This happens in near real-time, typically with a 10-15 minute turnaround time. 

As a result, staff spend less time on data entries, and patients face fewer delays in care coordination, ensuring that urgent referrals are identified and worked on hours or days faster than manual workflows allow.

Step 2: Sort and route extracted information into digital workflows 

Once extracted by AI Agents, data doesn’t just sit in a PDF or a filing cabinet. Instead, AI Agents can then identify the document type and apply the necessary labels. Then, they deliver this structured information into the EHR to send the document to the right work queue. 

Referrals, lab results, or consult notes can all be identified and sorted to keep the patient journey moving seamlessly. This leads to higher referral conversion and throughput rates, minimized patient leakage, and more timely follow-up with patients. 

Step 3: Engage patients with clinical form automation and pre-visit check-in

Rather than sending patients paper packets or calling them for information, healthcare organizations can use AI Agents to engage patients via mobile-friendly, personalized digital forms. These can be triggered by many factors, such as upon receipt for a referral or in preparation for an upcoming visit or procedure. 

Patients can complete these forms anywhere, anytime, in their preferred language. They can upload insurance cards, sign consents, provide medical histories, or pay copays in just a few taps from their mobile device. 

Digitizing patient forms and pre-visit processes results in higher completion rates, improved accuracy, and fewer bottlenecks during check-in. 

Step 4: Let automation handle referrals status updates

Automating patient forms is only the beginning of what’s possible with AI Agents. They can also be used to instantly eliminate manual work in the referral process, a common bottleneck for access teams. 

When a patient is awaiting a referral, AI Agents can provide an enhanced digital experience by automatically notifying patients of their referral status and guiding them on next steps, eliminating the need for manual outreach. These Agents streamline communication, ensure timely follow-up, and reduce delays in care coordination by operating continuously, accurately, and at scale.

Step 5: Close the loop with embedded EHR integration

AI Agents can automatically write all collected data into the appropriate fields in the EHR, freeing staff from redundant entry and reducing the risk of errors. With bi-directional EHR integration, forms aren’t just stored, they’re actionable. 

Whether scheduling follow-ups, assigning clinical tasks, or capturing quality program data, integration turns each intake into a trigger for what happens next. This streamlines care journeys and enables full visibility for clinical and operational teams. 

Real results from digital access transformation

Organizations using AI Agents to digitize access workflows are seeing measurable impact: 

• A Florida health system is projected to automate 60,000 faxed orders without intervention in 2025 alone. This saves 8,000 hours annually, yielding a 2.6x ROI on multiple referral transcription alone.
• Sturdy Health has automated tens of thousands of pre-visit questionnaires, boosting completion rates from approximately 10% before automation to 55-60% with automation.
• Montage Health achieved a 91% patient satisfaction rate within the first six weeks of automating its patient intake processes.
  

By replacing manual, fragmented intake processes with intelligent workflows, healthcare organizations are unlocking new value at every step of the access journey.

Goodbye to paper, hello to progress

The future of patient access is not reliant on fax machines, clipboards, or manual entry. It’s intelligent, digital, and streamlined from the very first interaction. 

By following a step-by-step transformation, from digitizing faxes to embedding smart forms to referral management, healthcare organizations can reduce friction, reclaim staff time, and deliver the kind of access experience today’s patients expect. 

Get in touch today to learn more about digitizing your patient access journey.