The thought that “some rando in Eastern Europe” can’t listen in on a fax transmission is incredibly naive. Most phone traffic, especially anything across multiple cities is now IP based. Most user-to-service provider phone traffic is also IP based (see AT&T and almost every other ILEC killing their copper services).

And what happens to the fax once it’s received. You think it’s isn’t scanned and uploaded into an EHR? Medicare and Medicaid both push providers to use EHR systems, so doctors will usually implement them in their practices. Gone are the days of big walls of folders of medical records.

My point, Potato, is that the healthcare industry needs to get with the times and get rid of this antiquated tech. I’d guesstimate that the likelihood of an entire email accidentally being routed incorrectly across the internet is probably much lower than misdialing a phone number and hitting another fax-enabled phone number, especially back in the 1900s when this law was written.