How Patient Portal Has Offered a Smooth Transition to Digital Tools at Dr. Amarjot Sajan’s Practice

Depending on the age and size of a practice, making the jump to a digital-only chart may leave you with questions. How will you handle transferring previous records? What should be done with a third-party integration? Will everyone ever really learn to log in? This case study will show you how Patient Portal is designed to provide a smooth transition for both patients and staff!

When Dr. Amarjot Sajan Inc.  took the leap in February of 2019 to ditch physical charts, the staff did their best to digitize records and found a process that worked well – until COVID arrived. They had tested the right integrations, and were happy with how much of their processes were left on paper, and what ended up in the circuit board. Once they returned to work, that quickly changed. “We were trying to figure out how do we get paperwork from us, to patients, back to us, without that physical paper that we were transferring back and forth.” Serving patients across Victoria, British Columbia, they were open to any technology that could streamline their processes, but they also had their doubts. 

Just like anyone that has seen how technology is adopted by different age groups, Dr. Sajan’s team was concerned for their older patients, despite already leveraging tablets in their waiting rooms for intake. “It was a product we knew that we needed…” to ensure all of their practice management software was correctly communicating with each other. But how would it go over with patients that struggled with their smartphone? 

“People in their 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s might need a little hand-holding, but they’re happy to use the portal.” Embracing not just smartphones and tablets, Patient Portal is available on any computer through a web browser, letting patients access their own records at their own speed. Though they can still get stuck along the way, the feature to view the same screen the patient sees in real–time has made the investment a no-brainer for Dr. Sajan. “It reduces so much time of them being physically in the office, that it’s worth it for us to take the time with them on the phone, to make sure it’s getting done.” 

Now that ClearDent’s Patient Portal is slowly replacing all previous communications and records that needed paper, it means simplifying office tasks. Dr. Sajan’s practice is no longer searching out space for a decontamination station, and they’re cutting the 15-20 minutes of intake forms and review that came when they reopened. Patient Portal has helped draw the focus away from logistics, and back to patient care. That’s a common trend that’s developing for practices across the country.