Are Fax Machines across Healthcare Finally in Jeopardy?

FTA
Anthem has announced a collaboration with Epic to facilitate secure, bi-directional exchange of health information between providers and Anthem's affiliated health plans.  

The interoperability capability is intended to help close clinical and medication gaps.  

It will also help to streamline administrative processes, such as prior authorization, which has been an issue for hospitals and physicians. 

Providers will be able to send prior authorizations through Epic instead of using the phone or fax. Health plans can then quickly make decisions and electronically communicate back to the provider.
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As I was reading this article I started to wonder why this couldn't have been done 5 years ago. Was it the technology?  Was it the demand for this capability?  Why was this not a priority five years ago?  Just wondering.

#CHIME #HIMSS #Healthcare #HealthIT #CIO #CMIO

https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/anthem-collaborates-epic-give-providers-more-data-driven-insights