When every disclosure has to be defensible, the access log is the product.
Firms handling medical records, and the release-of-information teams on the other side of those requests, move large volumes of sensitive documents between organizations that have no shared system. VitalFax gives both sides a transport that keeps a record of exactly what was sent, to whom, and who opened it.
The situation
What this usually looks like
Requests and responses both travel by fax
Authorizations go out, records come back, and the only proof is a confirmation page in a drawer.
Large packets fail silently
A 200-page record set fails partway and nobody learns until the deadline has passed.
Access is hard to reconstruct
Months later, showing who viewed a document means reconstructing it from memory and email.
Portals everywhere
Each institution has its own portal, its own login, and its own idea of how long a link should live.
With VitalFax
What changes
An access trail you can produce
Every view and download is recorded with actor, object and timestamp in an append-only log, including opens by external recipients of a secure link.
Links you control after sending
Secure exchange links expire, can require an access code, can cap downloads, and can be revoked individually after the fact.
Failures that explain themselves
A failed transmission carries the actual reason — busy, no answer, no fax tone — and safe failures retry automatically.
Matter-level organization
Categories and tags group documents by matter or request, and search covers titles, filenames and counterparties.
Routing
Rules you would actually write
Workflows are built from triggers, conditions and actions in the product. Nothing here requires custom development.
When
A fax arrives on the records-request line.
Then
Route to the Records queue, tag it "ROI request" and create a task due in one business day.
When
An inbound document exceeds 100 pages.
Then
Tag it "large packet" and assign it to the paralegal responsible for record review.
When
A secure exchange recipient downloads a document.
Then
Notify the sender, so delivery is confirmed without a follow-up call.
When
An outgoing fax fails with an invalid number.
Then
Create a task rather than retrying — an invalid number will fail the same way every time.
Straight answers
Questions we get asked
- Can we export the audit trail?
- Administrators can read the audit log in the compliance centre, filtered by event, object and date. Export controls are part of the compliance centre; the format is a plain record of actor, event, object and timestamp.
- How long do secure links last?
- You choose, between one hour and thirty days. There is no option for a link that never expires, deliberately.
- Is a BAA relevant to a law firm?
- If you handle protected health information on behalf of a covered entity, it usually is. VitalFax presents a versioned agreement in-product and records acceptance either way. Whether you need one is a question for your counsel, not for us.
- Can we send to another VitalFax organization directly?
- Yes. When a recipient address belongs to an existing VitalFax organization, the exchange also surfaces inside their account. The link still works, and both paths are audited identically.
Something not answered here? Send us the question and we will answer it plainly, including when the answer is “not yet”.