For healthcare workers, timely access to critical documents isn’t just about convenience, it’s about quality of care, patient safety, and compliance. From referrals and insurance forms to lab results and medical records, healthcare organizations process massive amounts of incoming mail daily.
But sorting, scanning, routing, and filing all that paper manually? It’s time-consuming, error-prone, and often inefficient.
That’s where mail scanning, also known as a digital mailroom, can make all the difference.
Below, we answer the most common questions healthcare organizations have about digital mailroom services, along with specific examples of how it can streamline operations while supporting better patient care.
What is a digital mailroom?
A digital mailroom for healthcare is a service that receives your physical mail at a secure facility, scans and digitizes it, and delivers electronic versions of the documents to your team, securely and quickly. Many mail scanning providers also offer data extraction and OCR services to collect your required data from your mail.
In healthcare, this means converting incoming paper (from patients, providers, payers, and labs) into structured, accessible digital files and data that can be routed to the right system or department without delay.
Why should healthcare organizations use a digital mailroom?
Because every day, paper-based workflows slow down:
- Patient intake and scheduling
- Referral processing
- Claims submissions and denials
- Compliance with HIPAA and recordkeeping rules
A digital mailroom helps healthcare providers:
- Improve operational efficiency and document accuracy
- Ensure timely processing of clinical and administrative documents
- Reduce lost paperwork and manual data entry
- Enable remote access to records
- Support HIPAA-compliant workflows
- Prepare for audits with better documentation trails
What types of healthcare documents can be digitized through a digital mailroom?
Just about anything your facility receives by mail, including:
- Insurance cards and forms
- Prior authorization requests
- Referrals and consult notes
- Explanation of Benefits (EOBs)
- Medical records and lab results
- Claims and billing documents
- Patient registration packets
- Government correspondence (Medicare, Medicaid)
- Workers’ comp documents
- Physician correspondence and certifications
- Legal notices and subpoenas
How are Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) handled?
EOBs are often one of the most paper-heavy workflows in healthcare. A digital mailroom can:
- Scan EOBs front and back
- Extract key data (payer, patient name, claim number, allowed amount, denied amount, reason codes, etc.)
- Format data for easy import into your revenue cycle or billing system
- Retain scanned images for audit and reconciliation purposes
- Route exceptions for human review (e.g., mismatches or incomplete data)
Can you process patient registration packets or intake forms?
Yes. Registration forms are scanned and indexed by:
- Patient name and date of birth
- Provider or clinic location
- Appointment or registration date
- Document type (e.g., consent, HIPAA form, ID copy)
Digital files can be automatically routed into your EHR or practice management system, or sent securely to registration staff for real-time intake.
What about referrals and prior authorizations?
These time-sensitive documents are:
- Scanned and identified by key form types (referral forms, auth requests, clinical notes)
- Tagged with metadata such as provider, patient, and procedure
- Routed directly to the referral coordinator or utilization management team
How secure is the personal health information that would be sent over?
Security and compliance are non-negotiable in healthcare. At Recordsforce, our digital mailroom service includes:
- SSAE-18 SOC audited facilities
- Encrypted transmission and role-based access control
- Background-checked staff
- Secure, man-trapped entrances to the facility
- Chain-of-custody logging and audit trails
You stay compliant, and your patient data stays protected.
Can documents be delivered into our EHR or document management system?
Yes. Scanned and indexed files can be integrated with:
- EHRs like Epic, Cerner, athenahealth, eClinicalWorks, NextGen
- Health Information Management systems (HIM)
- Revenue cycle or claims platforms
- Document management tools or cloud storage
- Secure email or SFTP delivery
We customize routing rules and naming conventions to match your system’s needs.
How fast will we receive digitized documents?
Most healthcare clients receive their scanned documents within one business day depending on volume and priority.
What happens to original documents after scanning?
Depending on your retention policy, you can choose to:
- Have documents securely shredded after a set period (e.g., 30 or 60 days)
- Receive physical originals back (for legal notices, signed consents, etc.)
- Store documents securely off-site if needed for long-term compliance
Chain-of-custody logs are maintained throughout the lifecycle.
Is this solution scalable across multiple facilities or locations?
Absolutely. Whether you’re a community clinic, large hospital system, or regional network, a digital mailroom can:
- Centralize incoming mail from multiple locations
- Standardize intake and routing processes
- Ensure all teams, on-site or remote, have secure, timely access to documents
- Reduce duplication, delays, and compliance risk
The volume of incoming paperwork in healthcare isn’t slowing down, but your workflows can. A digital mailroom gives you a smarter, more compliant way to process documents so your teams can focus on patients, not paper.
Want to see how it would work for your organization? Contact Recordsforce today to learn how we help healthcare providers digitize mail and accelerate your operation.