The Majority of You Still Have a Physical Fax Machine

Yes: 85%

• Lab status updates. RX from doctors’ offices, offers for cheap vacations, and bargain roofing! — Mickey Bradley, Patrick Optical, Fort Worth, TX
• I wish I could use an emoji to express my own embarrassment on still using a dinosaur but I hate the thought of looking for something new even more! — Monika Marczak, OD, Eye Candy Optical Center, Pittsburgh, PA
• We use HIPAA compliant email as much as we can. — Heather Harrington, Elevated Eyecare, Denver, CO
• Everyone wants to fax or be faxed, especially the folks in the optical biz. What the fax is happening? — Billy Isgett, Eyecare of Florence, Florence, SC
• Reports to MDs. — Susie Phillips, Dr. Brendon Johnson, O.D., Pekin, IL
• Simple transfers for other locations that do not use scan capabilities. — Leisa Lauer, Westcliff Optometry, Newport Beach, CA
• Old school, will be changing over to internet faxing soon. — Mark Perry, OD, Vision Health Institute, Orlando, FL
• Until tomorrow, new VOIP phones are being installed! — Kristina Swartz, The Eye Site, Mishawaka, IN
• We use a fax machine combo printer in one office, and SR Fax in another office. Cheaper to use the fax machine and you don’t have to set up anything new! — Larah Alami, OD, Hudson River Eye Care, Tarrytown and White Plains, NY
• Our doc and staff is a little old school, we still haven’t changed to EHR (much to my millennial dismay). — Josh Bladh, Dr. Bladh OD, Diamond Bar, CA
• We have a lot of business with state agencies, and they tend to send faxes more than anything. Maybe we haven’t given them another option … hmm … — Jim Williams, Eye to Eye Optometry, Mexico, MO
• The office had one when the doc bought it six years ago. Other than that … I don’t have a clue. — Rick Rickgauer, Vision Associates, Girard, PA
• Other offices fax us reports, Rxs, referrals, etc. — Jill Schnurer, Village Eyecare, Clarkston, MI
• So many doctors in my area only send over Rxs via fax! — Siobhan Burns, The Eyeglass Lass, New London, CT
• Many doctors’ offices still fax or ask for faxes of patient records as it is HIPAA compliant. 1-800Contacts still send faxed verification. Insurances still fax over authorization and EOBs. — Nytarsha Thomas, Visionelle Eyecare, Zionsville, IN
• I don’t trust HIPAA compliance of emails, fax is easier to use. — Rick Pascucci, Towpath Vision Care, Clinton, NY
• I have no idea why we still have a fax. — Amy Pelak, Proview Eyecare Optometry, Corona, CA
• Some doctors offices and vendors still want faxes sent instead of emails. — Doreen Erbe, Snyder Eye Group, Ship Bottom, NJ
• It’s only used for other opticals to fax prescriptions over. We have a handful of local opticals that refuse to email an Rx. — Travis LeFevre, Krystal Vision, Logan, UT
• We use email/text for the vast majority of our communications but there are a small percentage of people that still prefer fax. — Tom Brillante, OD, Decatur Eye Care, Decatur, GA
• Some insurance companies will not email, just fax. Unbelievably, some offices still insist on a records release signed and faxed before releasing a prescription. — Annette Prevaux, The Visionary, Allen Park, MI
• Because some things still can’t be sent through email. — Frances Ann Layton, Eye Associates of South Georgia, Valdosta, GA
• Are you kidding me? Easy to use, HIPAA complaint, and never hackable. Plus, all the other doctors’ offices in our town use them. We get a bazillion faxes per day, and send about an equal amount. Probably our biggest consumption of paper at this point — but we make sure all our paper gets double-sided use. — Jen Heller, Pend Oreille Vision Care, Sandpoint, ID
• We receive faxes from the labs letting us know where are jobs are sitting. Have to fax the lab whenever they screw up and charge me for a REDO. I know scanning and email would be better but, hey, talk to the other guys about that, it’s what they prefer. — Jeff Grosekemper, Casa De Oro Eyecare, Spring Valley, CA
• We still use one as a backup for lab orders that can’t be in put online for various reasons (Usually safety). And our doc likes to send referral letters that way. We also receive Rx verifications as well as prescriptions from other opticals on it. — Nikki Griffin, EyeStyles Optical and Boutique, Oakdale, MN
• Because I don’t know what else to use instead! And with OMD’s in the area still using paper charts (pretty sure that is even worse) we would never get records! — Jenna Gilbertson, McCulley Optix Gallery, Fargo, ND
• Part of our copier and still use it to fax in safety orders for local businesses. — Susan Frein, Ames Eye Care, Ankeny, IA
• It’s right next to my abacus and slide rule! — Dave Schultz, OD, Urban Optics, San Luis Obispo, CA
• Still easier to send things out that aren’t in files on a computer. — Fred Sirotkin, OD, Eagle Eye Care, Columbia, MD
• We still use one as we found e-fax did not work well for many of the places we had to fax to. It also was more work/time with our work flow then the traditional fax. — Zachary Dirks, OD, St. Peter and Belle Plaine Eyecare Centers, Saint Peter, MN
• We have several doctors that we correspond with that do not have secure email and require faxed info. — Pam Peters, Midwest Eye, Downers Grove, IL
• We fax and scan. Whichever is handy at the time. — Texas L. Smith, OD, Dr. Texas L. Smith & Associates, Citrus Heights, CA
• I ask the same question: Good Lord, why? — Preet Kaur, Gary Tracy Optometry & Eyewear, New York, NY
• Because a lot of offices send us faxes? — Cynthia Sayers, OD, EyeShop Optical Center, Lewis Center, OH
• We still get lab reports and fax Rxs to other optical stores. We mainly e-mail. — Bob McBeath, Edina Eye, Edina, MN
• Some doctor offices still use it to send us current customer Rxs even though we give them the option of emailing it. — Paula Hornbeck, Eye Candy & Eye Candy Kids, Delafield, WI
• We email, a lot. — Heather Harrington, Elevated Eyecare, Denver, CO
• We send and receive dozens of faxes every day. For me it’s the norm, and I think that might be the case for a large portion of the medical community as a whole. I think part of it is because old habits die hard and faxing has such a large user base and also because of the belief that it’s harder to hack a fax. — Christine Howard, Attleboro Vision Care, Attleboro, MA
• Some doctors we work with still use them! — Angel Miller, Cynthiana Vision Center, Cynthiana, KY
• We use a fax machine because it is one of the few methods some of our customers can use to get their prescriptions to us. — Pablo E Mercado, LensCrafter, Alpharetta, GA
• Looking for another way! — Bridgett Fredrickson, Whelan Eye Care, Bemidji, MN
• Um….what other options are there. We DO have a virtual fax, which I have no idea how works (secretary does). That’s 21st century, right? — Jennifer Leuzzi. Mill Creek Optical, Dansville, NY
• When doctor’s fax Rx to us. We don’t have an eye doc on staff so clients have to bring in their prescription. — Margot Lanham, Ulla Eyewear, Madison, WI
• It works!?! — Amina Ebrahim, OD, D Vision Eyecare, Allen, TX
• It works! Less time than mailing. — BJ Chambers, Carrera Optical, McQueeney, TX
• No doctor in my office so when I call other places for an Rx, they will only fax. — Bob Schmittou. New Eyes Optical, Wyandotte, MI
• Some of us old people still communicate the cave man way. — Scott Keating, OD, Vision Trends, Dover, OH
• Doctor’s offices still use it so we still use it. — Cindy Henderson, Eyear Optical, Hixson, TN
• Many of our tertiary care providers still send reports back to us via fax. — Quick and easy! Kenneth D Boltz, OD, Dublin, OH
• Old fashion but immediate response and no typing! I’m 73 have 7 places and it’s worked for 40+ years. — Alexander Saper, Great Glasses, Houston, TX
• We still fax reports to other doctor’s offices. — Kimberly Riggs OD, Ligonier, PA
• You don’t really want to know! — Stephanie Crowley, Sie Eyecare, Charlotte, NC
• I don’t think my office knows what an eFax is. — Jade Kowalick, Ryczek Eye, St. Petersburg, FL

No: 15%

• I recently switched to electronic fax and direct messaging. I’m SO glad I did! The system I use is called Kno2. — Angela Patteson, Sunset Eye Care, Johnson City, TN
• Emails are much quicker. — Will Taylor, Eye 2 Eye Contact, Northville, MI
• Email! — Leah Johnson, Central Texas Eye Center, San Marcos, TX
• Computer. — Martha Davenport, Safe Vision, Wheatfield, IN
• eFax. — Bart Parker, OD, Vision Source-Fox Optical, Lake Worth, FL
• Papers are scanned and faxed via computer. — Pauline Buck, OD, Behavioral and Developmental Optometrists, Miami, FL
• Computer based fax. — Judith Whitelaw, Dr. Gregory Char, OD, Orange, OR
• Well sort of. We fax using this thing called the internet. Faxes come through our email and we use our fax machine once in a while to make an old-school copy. — Harris Decker, Eye Designs of Westchester, Scarsdale, NY
• We use an internet based provider. — Steve Geis, Metro Eye, Milwaukee, WI
• We have a tool through our customized software that allows us to fax, email and text right through are program. — Steve Nelson, Eye Candy Optical, Westlake, OH
• We use Office@Hand to provide facsimile requirements of HIPPA. This way all of our staff can send and receive faxes from their computer. — Deborah Bosner, Northwest EyeCare Professionals, Columbus, OH
• EFax. — Megan Lott, OD, Lexington Eye Care, Lexington, MS
• EFax. — Richard Frankel, Atlantic Cape Eyecare, Wildwood, NJ
• SFax. — Adam Ramsey, OD, Iconic Eye Care, Palm Beach Gardens, FL