For dental practices, the health and safety of patients and team members always take top priority; amid COVID-19 that holds true more than ever before. With many changes already occurring within the office systems, a conversion to paperless processes is worth consideration.
Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not directly advise the elimination of paper products, many of the CDC guidelines for businesses and employers can be accomplished with this one action.
Today, going paperless provides protective benefits for those in the operatory chair and behind the desk, and for the world outside the office doors – the environment.
Not convinced yet? Here are the top 5 reasons to go paperless in your dental practice today:
1. Reduce the risk of transfer through paper: Coronavirus lives on paper surfaces for up to four days. Passing charts from employee to employee to patient pose a threat to a safe work environment. Once paperless, patients and employees will no longer have to break social distancing guidelines to share a paper or risk the spread of the virus through forms.
2. Increase accessibility for team members: Moments spent searching for files in cabinets and buried in desk papers, lessen time for high-value interactions with patients. Building relationships between patients and team members can make all the difference in patient care. Practices can spend more time on face-to-face customer care than on a paper chase.
3. Improve patient experience: Digital questionnaires allow patients the freedom to complete forms at their leisure. With less pressure to quickly scribble information, patients are more likely to complete forms with accuracy. Inaccuracies can lead to incorrect patient care or misfiling. Online forms make treatment easier for patient and practice.
4. Augment cash flow: Invoices emailed to patients offer potential for a quicker payment process, thus improving practice cash flow. Digital software makes it simple for a practice to track unpaid invoices and send follow-up payment requests. Keeping cash flow top of mind makes for a more lucrative practice.
5. Supplement office space: COVID-19 means more space needed in practices – more space in operatories, more space in waiting rooms, more space to stay six feet apart. A single four-drawer file cabinet takes up to nine square feet of floor. Switching to digital takes no new office space. Digital software installed on a computer rids practices of clutter and frees up much-needed space.
If going paperless interests you, visit OperaDDS for more information on how to transform your practice.
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