A world without paper?
Technology saves trees, improves efficiency
By Derek Greenwood

How much paper do you use? The answer, of course, depends on your office size.

But, if you were to add up the paper used for envelopes, letterheads, billing forms, healthcare records, and other miscellaneous printing, the amount would result in the equivalent of about two cases a month (24 a year).

“Tree huggers” would be interested in knowing that the 24 cases of paper used in a typical chiropractic office equate to 1.5 trees each year.

The 30,000 practicing chiropractors in the United States (a conservative estimate) therefore consume about 45,000 trees to accommodate the paperwork generated in their offices.

You do not have to be a tree hugger to understand that is a lot of trees.

Going paperless would save a lot of trees, but what benefits would your office experience directly? Here are a few:

• Real estate. You have to store paper in filing cabinets, which can be expensive and take up room. When you run out of storage space in the office, you may have to rent space to store old files.

• Handling expenses. An office built on paper incurs direct costs in addition to the cost of the paper, such as printing, mailing, and faxing. 

• Staff time. Besides the cost of paper and printing, your staff uses their time to make copies, sort, file, address, and mail. They also take time to stuff bills into envelopes, as well as label and stamp each envelope.

IS IT FEASIBLE?

The dream of being paperless is a good idea. But is it even possible? What would a paperless office be like? Here’s a short scenario:

A patient would enter your office and sign in on a digital pad. This pad would tell the computerized appointment book the patient has arrived.

The patient would go in for treatment, and the doctor would take her portable tablet PC and quickly enter her notes. She would check the diagnosis and  CPT codes rendered.

These notes and codes would be wirelessly transmitted back to the front desk, where they would be automatically entered.

The patient would pay the co-pay amount. If he uses a debit or credit card, the transaction remains paperless. If he uses a check, the first trace of paper emerges.

The clerk then gives the patient a receipt — oops, paper! — then sends him home.

Perhaps the office is not entirely paperless, but it comes close.

MORE PAPERLESS FUNCTIONS

In addition to scheduling and SOAP notes, other office functions can go paperless, such as: 

• Insurance billing and follow-up;
• Fax machines, which can be programmed to print only things you want in hand; and
• Document storage. Digital document-storage software can manage e-mails and faxes and allow you to scan documents patients bring to you instead of copying and filing them. Some software packages even read and store digital x-ray files.

Going paperless sounds good, but remember: The desired results depend on software. And, the software that runs your computers has to communicate with the software that runs your fax machines, scanners, and imaging equipment.

To achieve this communication, you have two options: Adapt separately purchased programs to “talk” to each other, or purchase a paperless office system from a single vendor.

YES OR NO?

At some point, you will have to go paperless. The trend has already started with electronic billing, e-mail, scanners, and now, electronic healthcare notes.

It is no longer a question of should you go paperless, but when should you go paperless. If trees could talk, they would answer, “Soon!” 

Rumors and ideas of paperless offices began circulating more than 30 years ago. Then, however, the idea was not feasible. Computers did not make a paperless office practical or affordable.

Now, in 2007, you can go 90 percent or more paperless and save staff time, real estate, money, paper, and some trees.

Paperless office operations do not happen overnight. You may need to replace your billing and note-taking software programs and add things, such as digital sign-in and document storage.

You cannot do all of this simul-taneously without overwhelming your office staff. You must develop a plan of your needs and then implement it one step at a time.

Start with billing, followed by scheduling with digital sign-in. Add electronic patient-documentation, and then finally, digital document storage.

The transition may take six months, but in the end, your office will run smoother, be less cluttered, and be more efficient.

Derek Greenwood is the founder and CEO of EON Systems, Inc., a manufacturer of practice-management and documentation software. He lectures at chiropractic colleges and practice-management seminars. He can be reached by e-mail at dgreen@eonsystems.net or through the Web site, www.eonsystems.net.