Advantages of Paperless Forms in Dental Practices

Have you noticed paperless forms becoming more prevalent in dental offices? Even that one colleague you never thought would make the switch to paperless, actually did – and is loving it! What is it that makes paperless forms a hot trend for practitioners? That’s what we’ll discuss along with the secret of how to make sure you select the right one for your practice.

Efficient Flow

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when patients think of your office’s check-in process? Stacks of tedious paperwork – a total drain that patients want offices to do away with.Maybe you’ve even had patients switch dentists just for a smoother check-in experience. You can probably guess what they’re wanting to avoid – the lengthy time it takes to fill out forms, being called back for missing signatures, having to pull out their ID, insurance card, medication list for scanning into the system, ambiguity on insurance coverage, and waiting forever to be called in for the exam.What’s it like with paperless forms? Patients receive intake forms digitally via text or email, and complete them at home from any device. They capture and upload their ID, insurance card, photo, medication list, and any other requested documents. Once e-signed and submitted, your office receives it for approval, to have it seamlessly  integrated right into your practice management system (Open Dental, Eaglesoft, Dentrix, and Dolphin). What this means for the patient is – no more clipboards, missing or illegible information, or scanning documents. And, the automated system easily facilitates fast insurance eligibility verification before the visit, to significantly cut down waiting room time. Paperless forms streamline the process to give patients the convenience they’re craving.

Happier Patients

Your dental practice’s success is completely dependent on patients – right? So, it’d make complete sense to cater to what patients want. Knowing that paperless forms cut down 35% of documentation time, and reduce 80% of waiting room time – it becomes a no-brainer why so many offices make the switch. Patients become loyal when they feel that their convenience and time are valued. Giving patients the self-serve option of form completion remotely, along with capturing and uploading all documents while on their sofa – saves them so much time and hassle. With paperless forms, patient information directly syncs into the office’s practice management system, sparing patients from having to wait on your front office to enter data, or scan documents. It’s a total win-win for patients and staff.

Eliminates Paper Hassles

Conventional paper forms carry the headaches of needing charts, a storage cabinet, a scanner, printer, copy machine, shredder, ink cartridges, and loads of paper. Lost files, printer issues, and maintaining HIPAA compliance are everyday struggles caused by paper forms. Once paperless, life in the front office becomes a breeze. All the forms and patient information are digitized, and synced into your system, serving as an automated front office hand. Your front office staff will be able to give better quality time and attention to patients, rather than be held up with administrative work.

So you’re thinking that going paperless will cost you an arm and a leg – right? The reality is that it actually saves practices an average of $60,000 annually, in addition to eliminating the headaches of data entry errors, wasted front office time, and patient frustrations. Office managers themselves have attested to this…“We’re saving up to 7 hours a week spent on data entry as well as saving on the overhead costs of hiring another admin, which overall saves us $65,000 a year. It just wouldn’t make sense not to use (paperless forms). By using paperless forms we can prioritize serving our patients.” Mary Jo | Office Manager at Lift Dental 

Modernized Appeal

Want your practice to stand out above the rest? A professional appeal as a paperless office that streamlines operations, will do wonders to attract more patients. No more front desk clutter, or frantic staff searching for missing charts. You’ll more easily maintain HIPAA compliance and top security with paperless forms, and no longer need to worry about a passerby seeing patient information on forms lying around, or about staff improperly disposing patient data. You’ll build solid patient trust, and reliability that’s far above and beyond what paper forms can offer. Going paperless is the hottest trend that’s already spreading like wildfire among dental practices -due to its professional and high tech capabilities.

Conclusion

Paperless forms have proven to be the go-to for dental practices across the nation. From making your front office more efficient to saving an average of $60K on administrative and paper costs, there’s no question about the value of going paperless. Patients and staff both love the convenience and simplicity of having the intake process automated, and done remotely. mConsent has streamlined 5000+ practices, automating their intake process, and improving their patient care.