Fax is alive in any office that trades signed paperwork with another office on a different computer system. Most of it happens in healthcare, insurance, law and government. Offices keep it because every office can send and receive a fax.
Healthcare and pharmacies
Medical offices are the biggest fax users left. Clinics fax referrals to specialists, and hospitals fax discharge notes to family doctors. Prior authorization forms go to insurers by fax, and the approval usually comes back the same way.
Medical record systems often can’t talk to each other. Two clinics may run software from different vendors, and linking them often takes a connection that hasn’t been set up. A fax number works with every office, and neither side needs to join the other’s system.
Pharmacies fax doctors all day, mostly with refill requests. Electronic prescribing has taken over much of this. Fax fills the gaps when a small practice isn’t connected or the system is down.
Insurance
Insurers ask for faxed documents all the time. You might be told to fax a signed claim form or a letter from your doctor. A fax number is easy for an insurer to print on a form.
Law firms and courts
Law firms fax letters to other firms and to courts. Some courts accept filings by fax. Many firms treat a faxed signature like the original for ordinary documents. The sending machine also prints a confirmation report with the time and page count, which helps prove you met a deadline.
Government, HR and finance
Benefits and tax offices often list a fax number on their forms. They take faxed applications and signed authorizations. If an agency or court needs to fax you, read how to receive a fax from a government agency or court.
Employers often send employment verification requests by fax. Mortgage brokers and title companies sometimes fax signed disclosures and bank statements.
Why offices keep their fax lines
Fax costs very little to keep running. Fax machines have used the same basic standard since the 1980s, so a new machine can talk to one from decades ago. Many office printers fax too, and most offices already have a phone line the printer can share.
Forms get printed with a fax number on them and stay in use for years. Staff know the routine, and some internal policies require a fax.
A fax goes straight to one machine, and many staff feel safer with that than with email, which anyone can forward. Privacy rules in healthcare and law have long accepted fax, so offices see little reason to change.
If someone needs to fax you
Most people only run into fax when an office asks for their fax number. You don’t need a machine. StillFaxing.com gives you a free temporary fax number. All you need is an email address. Faxes show up on the number’s page, and we email you a link to download each one as a PDF. The number lasts 4 hours. Free numbers also send 2 faxes, up to 20 pages in total, from the number’s page. How to receive a fax online walks you through it.