INFO: Fax Failures to External Providers

CLINICAL RECORD: Elation EMR

How will I know if a fax fails to send?	If a fax fails to send, the sender will automatically receive a notification in their Urgent inbox in their Practice Home page. The notification will include the error message disclosed by our fax provider and an expandable details section that provides additional context about the error along with troubleshooting instructions. Here is an example of what the error message and expandable details section looks like for one the error messages:  Important Note: The ‘sender’ is defined as the following: For Referrals= The Provider Level User that sent the fax. If the Referral was sent by a staff delegate then the Letter will appear in the delegating Provider Level User’s inbox. For Letters to Providers= The user that sent the fax, regardless of their user level.
What should I do when my fax fails to send?	When your fax fails to send, the sender will automatically receive a notification in their Urgent inbox in their Practice Home page. The notification will include the error message we received from our fax provider and an expandable details section that provides additional details about the error along with troubleshooting instructions. Click the “Tell Me More” button at the top of the notification to see the context about why the fax failed. Follow the troubleshooting instructions to resend the fax by clicking “Actions” -> “Refax” or reach out to Elation Support for assistance.   If you do not wish to resend the fax, click the “Acknowledge” button to dismiss the notification.
How many fax attempts will Elation make before marking the fax as 'failed'?	Elation will attempt to resend the fax up to 5 times in a 30 second period. If Elation is unable to successfully complete the transmission, the fax will be marked as 'Failed' and will appear in the sending provider's Urgent inbox.
After I send a Letter or Referral, how long will it take for the Sent/Failed status to display int he patient's chart?	It can take up to 20 minutes for the Sent/Failed status to appear in the patient’s chart. This is due to the latency time between the various communication attempts between Elation and our fax provider.
How do I resend a failed fax to the same fax number?	Anyone can click the "Resend" button on a failed fax to attempt to fax it again.
How do I resend a failed fax to a different fax number?	You must create a new Letter or Referral with the new fax number in order to send the information you want to send to the new fax number. You will not be able to edit the fax number of previous fax transmissions, even if it failed to send.
My fax keeps failing but the recipient's fax number is correct.  What should I do?	Elation uses Voice Over IP for faxing, which is the method of faxing documents using internet connection. Voice Over IP faxing breaks down the fax into “packets” of data, and sends them out in chunks. If the transmission is interrupted (which commonly occurs regardless of faxing method), it only takes a few consecutive interrupted packets to reach the failure threshold and this will cause the fax to fail. If the receiving line is busy receiving other faxes at the same time your fax is sent, this will increase the likelihood of the transmission failing which is why you may need to retry a few times.  If the recipient has a functioning fax number but faxing to them occasionally fails, we recommend trying the following: Call the number to confirm a proper fax tone right before you attempt to send the fax. A healthy fax tone is clear, high pitched and devoid of static A healthy fax tone may ring like a normal telephone 2-3 times prior to the fax tone If the fax continues to fail even though you have verified a healthy fax tone we recommend: Asking the recipient if they can adjust the settings on their fax machine to allow for longer fax transmissions Asking the recipient if they are having issues receiving faxes in general (i.e. line issues, jams, out of ink) If you continue to have trouble faxing, please contact the Support Team by filling out an ‘I need help’ form from the top of your Elation account in the patient’s chart and send us the details listed in the "Tell Me More" section of the failed fax notification. You can also contact Support by clicking here and filling out our contact form.
The status of my fax in the patient's chart says 'Sent' but the recipient said they never received it. Why?	The ‘Sent’ status displays when our Fax Provider notifies us that the fax transmission was successfully completed (100% with no interruptions). This means the fax has reached the intended fax number on file. Usually if the recipient says they did not receive the fax it is because they misplaced it or they did not recognize the communication is from your office. We recommend asking the recipient to check their fax inbox for a fax that looks like this:
Why do I see an 'Opened' or 'Unopened' status next to my Letter/Referral instead of the 'Fax Sent' status?	The ‘Opened’ and ‘Unopened’ statuses appear instead of the ‘Fax Sent’ status if the recipient is an Elation EHR provider or Provider Portal user. This means the recipient has access to a secure account (such as the Elation EHR or the Provider Portal) to view records you sent them. For this reason, we tell you if the recipient has opened the communication in their account. Elation EHR providers have a logo next to their name. Elation Provider Portal users have a or (P) logo next to their name.
The 'Opened' and 'Unopened' status does not appear consistently for Letters or Referrals that I send. Why?	The ‘Opened’ and ‘Unopened’ statuses only appear under the following circumstances: Patient Letter sent to a patient Referral or Provider Letter sent to an Elation EHR provider (they have a logo next to their name). Referral or Provider Letter sent to an Elation Provider Portal user (they have a or (P) logo next to their name) The ‘Opened and ‘Unopened’ statuses will not appear for any other recipient types.