HIPAA compliant fax for audiologists

An audiology practice needs a fax service that signs a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) on the plan it buys, gives the practice its own number and proves each delivery. Fax Pigeon does all three on every plan, from $4.99 a month billed annually for 200 pages. Medicare waives the physician order for certain tests only once every 12 months, so orders and reports keep moving between offices.

Why does an audiology practice still fax?

Orders and referrals. Under Medicare, audiology services start with a physician's order, in any care setting (CMS). The order comes from the treating physician or nonphysician practitioner, the one who uses the results to manage the patient's problem: an ENT or a primary care physician, a nurse practitioner, a physician assistant or a clinical nurse specialist (42 CFR 410.32(a); Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, chapter 15, section 80.6.1). The manual says an order can reach the testing facility as a written document that is hand-delivered, mailed or faxed, by phone, or by email, and both offices document a phone order. ASHA flags the timing: tests are not covered when the order comes after them (ASHA). UCLA Health's audiology department takes a Medicare patient's referral through UCLA MyChart or by paper fax (UCLA Health).

Reports. The practitioner who orders is the one who uses the results, so the report goes back to that office. HIPAA permits a covered provider to disclose protected health information for another provider's treatment (45 CFR 164.506(c)(2)). HHS says that can go by fax, with reasonable safeguards, and one of its examples is a laboratory faxing a patient's test results to a physician. For a number the office does not use regularly, a reasonable safeguard can be to confirm it with the recipient before sending (HHS FAQ).

The wider case for the channel is in Why do doctors still use fax?

Does Medicare still require a physician order for audiology tests?

Generally yes, with one exception that began on January 1, 2023. Under 42 CFR 410.32(a)(4), an audiologist may personally furnish certain diagnostic tests, once in any 12-month period, to a Medicare patient without an order. Non-acute hearing conditions qualify. Balance (disequilibrium) problems and hearing aid exams do not, and CMS says claims for the tests carry the AB modifier.

ASHA says a return visit inside the same 12 months needs a physician order on file before Medicare pays, and acute hearing loss needs an order from the first visit (ASHA). Balance testing, a second date of service and acute hearing loss therefore still reach the practice as orders.

What does an audiology practice need in a fax service?

A signed BAA on the plan you buy. A practice that bills health plans electronically is a covered entity, and a fax service that stores its faxes maintains protected health information for it, which makes the service a business associate (45 CFR 160.103). HHS's cloud guidance says the same of a service that stores electronic protected health information even when it cannot read the data. A covered entity may allow that only on satisfactory assurances documented in a written contract or other written agreement (45 CFR 164.308(b) and 164.502(e)). The referring physician is a different case: a provider receiving a treatment disclosure is not a business associate (45 CFR 160.103). Which plan carries the BAA differs by vendor, and the BAA price comparison lists them plan by plan. Every Fax Pigeon plan includes a signed BAA, executed at signup, and it covers the free first fax too.

A number that keeps working. Orders go to the number a referring office has on file, so a new number means telling every office. The number referring offices already have can become the practice's own number on a paid plan: the port is free, and the old provider keeps receiving until it lands, in 5 to 15 business days for most.

An inbox the whole practice works. Unlimited people share one number and one inbox at no extra cost. Every inbound fax arrives with an AI summary, and email notifications come per fax or daily. Roles and assignment send an order to the audiologist who will test and a payer letter to billing.

Proof of delivery. Every delivered fax gets a delivery certificate, the record to file with a report when a physician's office says it never arrived.

Can an audiologist use Doximity's free fax?

No, by Doximity's own lists. Its help center limits free fax lines to MDs, DOs, NPs, PAs, pharmacists, medical students, podiatrists and dentists, and its DocFax page names physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and pharmacists. Audiologists are on neither. Each member claims a line in their own Doximity mailbox, and Doximity's Terms bar letting others use the login. More in Is Doximity fax HIPAA compliant?

What does HIPAA fax cost for an audiology practice?

On Fax Pigeon, pages sent and received count together, and faxes keep arriving past the budget.

Take a practice that receives 60 orders and referrals a month at 3 pages each and sends 50 reports at 5 pages each. That is 430 pages. Standard is the plan for that practice: Basic plus 230 extra pages at 10¢ is $27.99 on annual billing, and Standard is $9.99.

The plans below offer a signed BAA, at 200 pages and at 500:

Fax.Plus includes its BAA on Enterprise only, at $79.99 a month billed annually ($99.99 month to month) for 4,000 pages. Fax Pigeon's Plus plan is $16.99 a month billed annually for 1,000 pages. Pro, Premium and Max are on the pricing page. Every Fax Pigeon plan has every feature, fax from your email included, and works in any web browser, on a computer or a phone.

Who should switch

Switch if orders and referrals still arrive on a machine in the back office, or if the fax service you use signs its BAA only on a plan above the one you pay for. An audiologist who was pointed to Doximity's free fax has a third reason, because the line is not open to the profession. Cancel the old line only after the number lands; the sequence that keeps the old number working has the steps.

* Prices last verified October 7, 2026, at each provider's own site. Fax Pigeon is not affiliated with SRFax, eFax, Fax.Plus or Doximity.