The new year is upon us, have you written down your resolutions yet? Although it may seem arbitrary, the start of the year is the perfect time to focus on new ways to improve your business in the coming year.
One thing that you will want to include in your resolutions this year, is to go paperless! The idea of dental practices going paperless is not very old, but technology and the industry are changing so rapidly that going paperless is becoming more and more crucial to your success.
Here are 4 reasons why you should resolve to go paperless this year:
- Future proof your practice: CDAnet has already begun phasing old technology in favour of more current technology by no longer accepting telephone modem claim submissions. This is just one example of what will become an industry trend as technological advances allow for aspects of dentistry to be completed more accurately, and more efficiently. Your data will have to become digitized to effectively integrate with new technology, and you will want to use a software that is fully integrated.
- Protect yourself: File cabinets full of paper charts are vulnerable to damage and theft. A fire, flood, or burglary can destroy thousands of files in a matter of minutes. And, with no realistic way to effectively back up the information, this can set your practice back years. Electronic data, on the other hand, is easy to secure and backup with services such as ClearVault. Should an unfortunate event happen, you can be up and running again in minutes.
- Do more with less effort: Practicing dentistry today without using modern technology like digital x-rays is becoming unthinkable. It won’t be long before the same principle applies to going paperless. The reason is simple – everyday actions such as writing clinical notes, communicating with patients, and tracking outstanding treatment plans can become automated and efficient. Some actions can be complete eliminated, like phoning patients for appointment reminders. New automations with features like ClearConnect are saving paperless practices hundreds of hours every year.
- Increase practice value: If investment in upgrading to paperless is what has been holding you back, you’re not alone. In our Thrive Dental Conference in November, Henry Doyle, Managing Broker from Al Heaps & Associates, explained that to increase the value of your dental practice, upgrading your software (i.e. going paperless) should be done as soon as possible. Software is one of the only technology upgrades you can do that won’t depreciate over time. So, your investment in software today will give you immediate returns, but is also something that will keep on giving!
Your paper charts that were “good enough” in 2017 could be what holds your dental practice back in 2018. Resolve to give your practice the benefits that come with being paperless. Change might be intimidating, but the results you see won’t be!
See why ClearDent should be at the top of you list when choosing the software to go paperless with!
