No I am not joking. As you know I am a very, very serious poster, lol.
No, I don't use Updox.
Something similar is that most high-end fax machines can use Internext fax. It rarely is blocked by incoming faxes and is much faster. But, it only works if the recipient on the other end has Internet access and has a fax machine turned on.
As I see it, the federal government missed the boart over ten years ago, when they could have worked on similar things to HIEs and make sure EMRs work together.
It is certainly doable in this day and age, to be sitting in the room and make a referral to a consultant. Then choose certain data in the EMR that would be viewable by the consultant. The patient would give you the number of days they could be viewable, hopefully maybe 30 days past the consult. The consultant could then view the entire chart and after, type or dictate his or her condult note directly into the chart. The EMR would then email anyone you wished, say you and your receptionist and referral specialist to the doctor for sign off and viewing. Questions on the consult could be sent back (actually using the last phrase that the consultant states, "Please feel free to contact me with questions or concerns." Meanwhile the consultant could decide whether to send none, some or all of the consultation back to the patient in a patient portal.
You would see the plan, x-rays, etc. that the consultant decided to do along with a section of things he or she wished for you to do. These resultsl would then make their way into the chart.
And, along the way, if any of it were slightly or completely HIPAA compliant, f..k it.
