HIPAA fax for ophthalmology practices

An ophthalmology practice of five that sends and receives 500 pages a month pays $9.99 a month on Fax Pigeon's Standard plan, billed annually, with a signed BAA. SRFax Healthcare Basic costs $13.65 for the same volume, eFax Business $33.33 and iFax Pro with four team licenses $93.29, each billed annually.

What do ophthalmology practices fax, and to whom?

Ophthalmology practices fax prior authorization requests for intravitreal injections, laser treatment and cataract or glaucoma surgery to insurers, with the imaging and visual field results behind each request. Consult notes go back to the optometrists who refer patients in. For the optometry side, see HIPAA fax for optometry offices.

Surgery centers and hospitals need the operative plan for every case, while pre-operative clearance requests go to primary care. Specialty drug orders go to specialty pharmacies, and letters about diabetic eye findings go to primary care offices and endocrinologists.

What HIPAA rules apply to eye care records sent by fax?

Eye care records fall under HIPAA's general rules, and three points matter most on an ophthalmology fax: imaging printouts, outside requests and the receiving number.

Imaging reports and test printouts that carry the patient's name and date of birth are protected health information, so they go out under the same rules as the chart.

The minimum necessary standard covers an insurer's request, so the practice sends the pages the request names and nothing more. Employer and attorney requests need the patient's signed release first.

Confirm each receiving number against the referral form before sending, because a fax to the wrong office reaches someone with no role in the patient's care.

Before any patient record goes through a fax service, the practice needs a signed BAA with that service. Fax Pigeon signs one at signup on every plan, SRFax provides one on request and publishes no BAA price, and eFax's Business plan card carries the BAA. iFax offers a free BAA to Plus and Pro subscribers.

Practices that send prior authorizations for injections can read about the prior authorization fax steps.

What does a five-person ophthalmology group pay for HIPAA fax?

A five-person ophthalmology group handling 500 pages a month pays $9.99 a month on Fax Pigeon's Standard plan when billed annually, or $11.99 billed month to month.

The table shows the cheapest plan with a BAA for 5 people, as a price a month, at 500 and 1,000 pages sent and received.

The 500-page row puts Fax Pigeon's Standard plan at $119.88 a year. SRFax's Healthcare Basic reaches $163.80, eFax Business $399.96 and iFax Pro with four team licenses $1,119.48, so the margins against Fax Pigeon are $43.92, $280.08 and $999.60 across the year.

Standard carries 500 pages sent plus received and charges 5 cents on each page past that. eFax Business charges 7 cents on each page beyond its plan. iFax states no overage rate, and its Terms of Use add credits automatically at 95% of the plan limit, so iFax is priced on the plan that includes each volume.

A practice that outgrows 500 pages moves to Plus: $16.99 a month billed annually, or $203.88 a year, at 1,000 pages. Over a year at that size, SRFax's Healthcare Basic Plus reaches $354.00 and eFax Business $649.92. Fax Pigeon's plans and prices list each tier.

What happens to the bill when an ophthalmology practice has ten people?

A ten-person ophthalmology practice stays at the Standard price, $9.99 a month at 500 pages billed annually, because every plan has unlimited people.

The table shows the cheapest plan with a BAA for 10 people, as a price a month, at 500 and 1,000 pages sent and received.

On eFax Business, five users come included, and every user after those five adds $10 a month, or $100 a year when billed yearly. Ten people push the 500-page eFax price from $33.33 to $75.00 a month billed annually.

On iFax, a team of ten lands on Pro with nine team licenses, which runs $160.77 a month billed annually at 500 pages.

Over a year at 500 pages, Fax Pigeon comes out $43.92 ahead of SRFax, $780.12 ahead of eFax and $1,809.36 ahead of iFax, while SRFax still charges $13.65 for ten.

Who in the office can use one shared fax number?

Surgical coordinators, prior authorization specialists and billing staff can all use one Fax Pigeon number, since every plan has unlimited people and a shared inbox with roles and assignment. Assignment hands an injection approval to the person who owns that patient's case.

Other vendors count users another way. SRFax includes multiple user accounts on each Healthcare plan, while eFax Business has five users and iFax one user license.

Small practices weighing this can also read about a shared fax inbox for a small office.

Should an eye practice switch from SRFax, eFax or iFax?

An eye practice of five to ten people on SRFax, eFax or iFax should switch to Fax Pigeon, whose Standard plan costs $9.99 a month billed annually at 500 pages for either team size.

Pro, Premium and Max handle 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 pages, while Plus takes 1,000 and Standard takes 500.

An eye practice on eFax Personal has no BAA, and one on iFax Basic has no HIPAA terms. Each should change plans before its next surgical or injection record leaves the office.

Leaving eFax means its $40 administrative fee per number to port out, as its Customer Agreement lists. Fax Pigeon offers free porting.

* Prices last verified October 12, 2026, at each provider's own site. iFax's Terms of Use were last verified October 19, 2026. Fax Pigeon is not affiliated with SRFax, eFax or iFax.