Pharmacy-nursing facsimile systems: set-up considerations and operational issues

The use of facsimile (fax) machines for the electronic transmission of physician's orders from nursing areas to a hospital pharmacy has become increasingly popular. Although the uses and benefits of fax machines are straightforward in this practice setting, namely a significant decrease in order processing turn around time, the problems that may develop are often not described in the literature. This article describes some of the set-up concerns, operational problems, forms considerations, staff training, paper costs, equipment needs, transmission volume, and equipment maintenance involved with fax systems.