A company that made its name in developing faxing and secure file transfer solutions for the legal industry is now finding its niche in healthcare.
Biscom, based in Chelmsford, Mass., is touting its cloud-based file transfer capabilities in ongoing projects with the National Institutes of Health and Boston Children's Hospital, just two of thousands of healthcare clients. The company also made its presence known at the 2013 HIMSS Conference and Exhibition, where officials showed off enhancements to an iPad app that allows for the transfer of large volumes of data.
"Simplicity is big," said William Ho, Biscom's president. "Especially in healthcare, where doctors … just want to (move data) from one place to another. This is very much like an e-mail app for them."
While marketing its fax solutions to an ever-growing healthcare client base, Ho said Biscom is placing great emphasis on mobile technologies that make use of secure, cloud-based servers. Safer than an e-mail system or the ubiquitous drop box, the company's secure file transfer technology enables clients like hospitals, physician networks and pharmacy companies to transfer documents, photographs and videos of all sizes from one location to another.
One client, Minnesota-based Medtronic, is using Biscom technology to transfer EKGs from cardiac devices back to the company's headquarters for dissemination to healthcare providers. Others are using Biscom to fax ePrescriptions, referral letters and documents through the electronic medical record, or to transfer images during an examination to specialists.
Company officials say the healthcare market accounts for one-third of Biscom's business and close to two-thirds of its hosted cloud service clients.
“Today’s healthcare providers and payers are challenged to reduce costs, create efficiencies, reduce medical errors, secure PHI communications and increase quality of patient care. These organizations need technology that enables easy, secure and efficient communications. That’s where Biscom can really help,” said Don Dunning, the company's CEO, in a press release issued last year. “Biscom products are helping healthcare organizations save significant time and costs, easily secure PHI information and enhance patient safety.”
Another client is PLUS Diagnostics, a national provider of anatomic pathology services with offices in New Jersey, California and Texas. The company uses Biscom's Digital Fax solution to enable physicians to securely send high-resolution color images and documents.
“The faxing technology we had in place didn’t do enough to provide quick, clear and concise reporting. We knew we wanted a new system, and we knew we wanted it to be secure, Internet based, and easy to use on both ends,” said Michael Adriani, the company's director of IT, in a press release. “Biscom’s Digital Fax was the right fit for PLUS Diagnostics because it met all of those needs, securely transmits in full color, and integrates seamlessly with our PathFlex LIS laboratory system and infrastructure.”
Ho said the company is pushing into the mobile healthcare market as more and more customers look to develop bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies and connect with more remote physicians or clinics. The company's iPad app was first designed with the legal community in mind, he said, but it's gaining ground in healthcare.
Later this year, Ho said, the company will roll out more capabilities for sharing data across various medical devices, allowing for more real-time collaboration.
"We're kind of a horizontal technology for them," he said. "We've got plenty of experience and knowledge of communications, and we add a layer of security and management on top of that."
