Many industries depend on a registration process for certain aspects of their business, but none depends on it more than the medical industry. Many components of the medical office have gone paperless. The registration element is, in some cases, still paper-based, with there continuing to be a great deal of paper waste.
That’s not the least of it, with staff continuing to take time away from more productive tasks to enter data, shred, scan, file. The use of paper places a threat to patient privacy with risks for misplacement.
More practices, hospitals, and dental clinics are investing in electronic registration software in an effort to streamline their front offices and provide greater security for their patients. Implementing these systems has proven effective in the quality of patient care and a means to satisfy the physicians’ desire to go paperless. Read to learn the benefits of e-registration for the dental community.
What is E-Registration?
Within the medical industry, it has been a slower process for going paperless with the registration process still, in some cases being paper-based. More healthcare facilities are grasping the concept, with physician approval that the frontline can run much more smoothly.
These professionals handle important patient tasks, including records such as patient demographics, prescription information, lab testing, and many more sensitive details. Maintaining the security of patient privacy has always been a challenge with paper documents.
The digital age has made it possible to convert the healthcare forms to paperless interpretations without losing essential data from the form. And patients are adapting well to the technology with the ability to register for their appointments online using various devices, including mobile compatibility.
Benefits Of Paperless Registration
Not only for the medical industry, but any business going with an electronic registration system, there are substantial savings, including time, energy, space, waste. It equals a multitude of benefits for the staff, clients they serve, and those in charge.
More businesses are choosing to eliminate paper from their offices with the era of paper ending or at least drastically reducing. The likelihood is high that there is a digital counterpart for any data gathered within a company. Here are the reasons all organizations should invest in the paperless concept:
1. Eco-Friendly
The use of paper decreases the tree population. Massive amounts are used with even a small business over the course of time. Each person is supposed to reduce their carbon footprint as a means to clean up the planet. But until the companies do so, there won’t be a significant impact.
2. Space Savings
In any office, you’ll find numerous files for a multitude of purposes, whether for the clients, forms, office-administrative, and so much more. These take up significant space that could be used either for key components needed to run the office or a smaller office saving rental costs.
Going digital is also a considerable saving in staff productivity as far as eliminating the need for maintaining a filing system, scanning documents, and shredding when files need to be removed.
3. Save Costs
In many instances, running a digital office is cost-effective as a whole. There is less use of printers and copiers, meaning less need to replace toners, ink cartridges, or purchase paper products and store those things.
You not only can decrease rental costs in favor of a smaller place but people to operate it. The need for staff to manage these things is significantly decreased, meaning you can hire fewer employees. This creates savings in salary, benefits packages, and training programs.
4. Higher Efficiency
Particularly in the medical and dental fields, sending out forms to be signed and returned can result in a time-intensive process in getting a patient in for an appointment. With technology, it’s merely a matter of emailing the paperwork to fill in, complete with an electronic signature, and send back. The process allows patients a faster scheduling process, and those in charge can implement a greater appointment flow into their daily routine.
Especially noteworthy is the fact patients can fill out their registration packet prior to their appointment with the staff inputting before they come in prepared with a copy on the day of the visit. It keeps the day moving rather than waiting for people to finish their documents.
5. Productivity Level
Digital offices allow for higher employee productivity due to the amount of time saved from reducing the extra tasks associated with paper-based duties. Being streamlined allows fewer employees to get more work finished in less amount of time.
Generally, the staff on the frontlines are responsible for working face-to-face with clients. In using technology, the process is faster, efficient, and satisfies the client on a greater level.
Particularly in the medical field, having the registration process digitized allows patients the opportunity to take their time filling in the information at home rather than rushing through it in the office. It keeps appointments running on time instead of having patients sitting in the waiting room for extended periods of time.
For the most part, the people who go to a doctor’s office are not well. No one wants to fill out paperwork when they feel bad. Those around them would prefer they not be touching office supplies in their condition. It’s also better if they are in the waiting room for as minimal an amount of time as possible to avoid passing illness or virus to others. E-registration prevents the spread of germs from one person to another.
Final Word
Technology is not always viewed in a positive light within each industry. Some people tend to feel threatened by automation. But with e-registration, particularly as it pertains to the patient community, it is beneficial to everyone involved, most importantly, the patient.
Rushing through documents in the office, particularly when you may not feel well, is often challenging, resulting in missed or incorrect information. With the ability to do remote registration, patients can take their time filling everything out thoroughly, correctly allowing the healthcare, dental and wellness facilities to operate in a productive capacity.
Salman is a prolific environmental writer, and has authored more than 500 articles in reputed journals, magazines and websites. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management, sustainability and conservation all over the world.
Salman can be reached on salman@cleantechloops.com
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