Think of how much paper your dental office uses every day. Forms, new patient paperwork, charts, bills, and receipts – it adds up. This excessive paper use has an environmental impact and can hold your business back.

More dental offices than ever are switching from paper forms, records, and charts in favor of using digital data. Staff and care providers are reaping the benefits of cheaper, more efficient, and more streamlined patient data management. With paperless resources like Dental Intelligence's template for dental treatment plans, the move to paperless is easier than ever.

Do dental offices have to go paperless? If your goal is to attract more patients to your practice, the answer is yes. Switching to a paperless dental practice is possible for any office and comes with several benefits.

Downsides to Paper Records and Forms

While paper records may be what you're most familiar with, they can cause issues that you don't get with paperless solutions. 

If your office moves locations, staff may misplace paper forms and charts or leave them out where unauthorized people could access private patient data. If personal health information ends up in the wrong hands, you may be subject to HIPAA violations. 

The risk of damage is another drawback to using paper charts and forms. Take care to store paper documents safely to prevent damage. While paper can be damaged or even destroyed, you can securely store digital data virtually forever. 

Storing patient data online in secured cloud storage eliminates the risk of damage, destruction, or theft of your patient's sensitive health information.

Going Paperless in Your Dental Office: The Benefits

Do dental offices have to go paperless? The benefits are numerous: 

• Your patients can complete necessary forms online before their appointment. This eliminates the need to arrive early to fill out pages of paper forms, saving your patients time.
• Going paperless is eco-friendly. Not only does it save waste, but it appeals to some of your best patients: Millennials. This demographic is more likely to pay for services that protect or benefit the environment.
• Storing necessary forms and private health records digitally eliminates the need for physical copies, making it easier to adhere to your state and region's record retention guidelines.
• Your office will save money by going paperless. Imagine where you could better use those funds when they're available for expenses other than paper. 

How to Make the Switch to a Paper-Free Office

The transition to an entirely paperless office can take time. Begin the shift to a paperless dental practice by making small changes. Here are some valuable tips for transitioning to a paper-free office environment:

1. Get your staff members on board with going paperless. Provide training, highlight the benefits, and open up a dialog for feedback.
2. Enforce strong password protection for online data and records. Use two-factor authorization to enable access.
3. Be sure to back up all digital data according to HIPAA regulations.
4. Familiarize yourself and your staff with local guidelines surrounding record retention. Online storage is infinite, and you technically never need to delete anything. Digital record-keeping makes maintaining this requirement much easier.
5. Stay consistent in your digital organization. Paperwork and filing procedures will become streamlined among your staff.
6. Explore cyber liability insurance options. The right plan can protect your business and patients from online security breaches and data leaks.
7. ‍Make forms, essential documents, and paperwork available online. Patients can save or submit these digitally for a completely paper-free experience.
8. Allow patients to pay their bills online and receive digital receipts.
9. Make the switch to email and text-based advertisements and appointment reminders.
10. Digitize your inventory system.

Paperless Solutions for Dental Offices to Streamline Patient Care

The shift from excessive paper usage to more earth-conscious methods is ongoing and growing. Staying current and open-minded to eco-conscious trends is essential for the future and sustainability of your dental practice and to ensuring a stellar new patient experience. 

Do dental offices have to go paperless? Staying on the cutting edge of owning a dentistry business garners patient trust. These changes do require initial investments, but the long-term savings are substantial.

At Dental Intelligence, we make the shift to paperless easy with streamlined digital tools for everything from paperless forms to paperless billing. Schedule a demo today to learn how our solutions could benefit your practice.

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