Many dental offices are transitioning to a paperless model. Changing all of your systems will be a challenge at first so you may be nervous to try it. To help you realize what you’re missing, I created a list of the benefits of going paperless at your dental office.

The 5 Reasons You’ll Love Going Paperless

1. You’ll Save Money

Initially, there will likely be expenses because you might need digital storage and a new software program. Once everything is set up, you will save money on office supplies.

Think about all the manilla folders you have in your office. You have to start a new one for each new patient – but not if you go paperless!

2. A Higher Level of Efficiency

Gone are the days of handwritten charts that can be easily misfiled. Handling files on the computer allows for easy searching and readability.

Running all of your processes through an efficient system will really change how your office works! Sending email reminders for appointments, filing insurance claims, and managing accounts receivable are all handled in the same, organized place.

3. Easy Access

Fundamentally, paper charts are much easier to lose or damage. A computer filing system will backup everything regularly.

You can even decide who has access to the documents, who can edit them, and from where. Some dentists even choose to be able to view their files from their smartphones!

And you will want multiple people to be able to view the documents, but you may not want them to have the ability to edit. Less people editing the files means that the likelihood of accidental or intentional modifications goes down.

4. Your Patients will Love it!

We live in a digital age. Most of us use our smartphones and computers everyday. Most parents are accustomed to paying bills and responding to emails online.

You can now send your appointment reminders through email, rather than with a tooth sticker for their paper calendar that, let’s face it, they might not even have anymore!

You can even set up the option to have patients make payments online.

As you probably know, the more convenient you make things for your patients, the longer they will stick with you!

5. Keep it Legal, Keep it Secure

No doubt, you have your patients’ best interests in mind. You also want to keep things legal on your end. Computer systems are much easier to keep secure from theft and tampering.

Not only that, but computers back up to a separate location. That makes it much less likely that any weather or fire damage will destroy your records.

Bonus: If you’re an office that has Medicare patients and you decide to go paperless, you’ll become eligible for monetary incentives from the government!

Where to Start?

Stay tuned! In a couple weeks I will talk about how to start making this transition. It can be a daunting endeavor, but with a proper plan and timeline in place, you can do it

~ Jason