Managing Received Faxes in Practice Better

In this article:

• Requirements and Plan Availability
• Viewing and Downloading Received Faxes
• Copying a Fax to a Client Folder
• AI Fax Classification
• Adding and Managing Fax Contacts
• Blocking Unwanted Numbers
• Deleting a Received Fax
• Managing Fax Preferences

Requirements and Plan Availability

Receiving faxes in Practice Better requires a dedicated fax number, available on Plus and Team plans. When a fax arrives, you'll receive a notification by email and Instant Alert so you never miss an incoming document.

📍 Note: Sending faxes is available on Professional, Plus, and Team plans. For sending steps and plan limits, see Sending Faxes with Practice Better →

To set up or manage your dedicated fax number, see Using a Dedicated Fax Number →

Viewing and Downloading Received Faxes

Access all incoming faxes from My Practice > Faxes > Received Faxes.

From this page, you can:

• View a fax by clicking the View button next to it.
  
• Download a fax by clicking the Download button next to it.
  

Copying a Fax to a Client Folder

If a received fax belongs to a specific client, you can copy it directly to their documents folder in Practice Better.

1. From your Received Faxes page, select the fax, then click the Copy to button.
   
    
2. If a client name has been identified through AI classification, you’ll be prompted to either create a new client with the name included in the fax or select an existing client with a matching name. 
   Optionally, click Skip to select from your list of existing clients.
   
    
3. From the pop-up, click on a folder, then click Select folder to copy the fax PDF.
   
    
4. You'll see a Fax Copied confirmation message near the top-right of your screen.

Once copied, you can rename the file, add a description, or share it with the client from their documents folder. See Managing Documents in Practice Better → for more details.

Copying a Received Fax to a Team Member's Client Folder

On the Team plan, received faxes arrive in a shared inbox. You can sort and file faxes by team member using the steps below.

📍 Note: Navigating directly to My Practice > Faxes only shows your own fax inbox. To access a team member's received faxes, you'll need to start from the Documents view as described below.

1. Go to My Practice > Documents.
    
2. From the Team Member dropdown on the left, select the team member whose faxes you want to organize. Once selected, you'll see your team member's profile image in the search bar.
   
    
3. In the left navigation, click on Faxes > Received Faxes to open that team member's inbox.
   
    
4. Hover over the fax you want to file and click Copy to.
    
5. Select the destination client folder and click Select folder.

Once copied to the client folder, you can edit the document name, add a description, or manage sharing from the client's documents folder. See Managing Documents in Practice Better → for more details.

AI Fax Classification

🪄 Practice Better automatically analyzes incoming faxes and applies a document category tag to help you identify and organize documents without manual review.

When a fax is received, an AI-generated category tag is applied and displayed in your fax list. You can also update a tag manually at any time if the assigned category doesn't match the document.

Document categories

Incoming faxes are automatically categorized into one of the following types:

• encounter_notes
• lab_results
• prescription
• referral
• radiology_report
• prior_authorization
• medical_history
• medication_history
• discharge_summary
• operative_report
• insurance_document
• fax_verification
• other

📍 Note: If none of the above categories match, the fax will be tagged as other. You can update the tag manually at any time.

Updating a Fax Category Tag Manually

The category tags you see when faxes are initially received are based on a set list from pb . These tags can be manually updated to better match the content of the fax, enabling you to see ata glance the purpose of each received fax. 

1. Click on the category tag on a received fax. 
    
2. Type in the pop-up to apply your own label.
   
    
3. Click the Update button to save your changes.

Adding and Managing Fax Contacts

Saving fax contacts makes it easy to identify the source of incoming faxes in your Received Faxes list.

1. Select a fax and click Save Contact from the right navigation menu.
   
    
2. Enter the required information: fax number, first name, last name, and occupation.
   
    
3. Manage your contacts anytime in Settings > All Settings & Preferences > Faxes.
   
    
4. Click Add another to save a new contact, or use the Fast Action Button in the bottom-right corner.
   

📍 Note: Fax contacts can be shared among practitioners on a Team plan. Learn more about Sharing Resources with Team Members →  

Once a contact is saved, their name appears next to the fax number for each matching received fax in your list.

Blocking Unwanted Numbers

You can block a number to stop receiving faxes from that sender.

1. From your Received Faxes page, click once on the unwanted fax.
2. Click Blacklist number from the right navigation menu.
   
    
3. Click the Add to blacklist button in the confirmation pop-up.
   

To remove a number from your blacklist, go to Settings > All Settings & Preferences > Faxes and click the trash button next to the number you want to allow again.

Deleting a Received Fax

1. Click once on the fax and click the Trash button, or click Delete from the right hand menu.
   
2. Confirm the deletion. Deleted faxes can't be retrieved.
   

⚠️ Important: Your regulatory body may require you to retain records of all documents associated with your clients. Confirm your retention obligations before deleting faxes.

Managing Fax Preferences

You can keep track of sent and received faxes by going to your My Practice > Faxes page. This central hub gives you access to both your Sent Faxes and Received Faxes folders, making it easy to review your fax history and monitor transmission status.

Configure your fax settings anytime in Settings > All Settings & Preferences > Faxes. 

From here you can:

• Set your default sender name for cover sheets.
• Enable or disable automatic inclusion of cover sheets.
• Configure notifications for approaching your monthly fax limits.
• Add new fax contacts to your shared contacts list. (Plus plan only)
• View and manage blocked numbers. (Plus plan only)