We are looking to open a new office and want to consider going paperless. Is there a system out there that everyone is happy with. We are looking to open up in a month and a half and would like to start it in our existing office first.
:cheers:
Paperless Office
We are looking to open a new office and want to consider going paperless. Is there a system out there that everyone is happy with. We are looking to open up in a month and a half and would like to start it in our existing office first.
:cheers:
Just a warning, there is no system out there that is completely paperless. We use the computer for our accounts, bookings, sales, inventory, and everything and we still have a lot of paper.
If you start out that way, as opposed to trying to catch up on an old paper system and back-up every day plus have some way of operating with paper when the computer goes down (they all do) you will probably be O.K.
But of course you must personally be able to operate the computer and the system, as even key employees quit, get sick, or whatever. Plus it's nice to be able to have some idea about what is going on and what the help is doing.
Chip
Last edited by chip anderson; 07-09-2006 at 07:44 PM. Reason: More comment
OK ... but which software do you recomend?
You will find everything you need in Microsoft Office Small Business Edition. With Office and a little bit of talent you can do anything.
As to the term “paperless.” It’s baloney. Paper sales have increased dramatically every year since the acceptance of the computer as a business tool. My nephew has been a salesman with Hammermill since the early eighties and business just keeps getting better and better.
I remember promises of a paperless opticians when computers were being introduced. Now it seems you cannot sneeze without a piece of A4 being printed to record the fact.
Amen, hallelujah (or however it's spelled!)Originally Posted by rbaker
Paperless sounds great on paper!:D
Pun intended.
But you could easily be in trouble if the computer crashes with irrecoverable data.
Well we have had computers since 1989. Have not had a problem like that; however, we back up daily.
I could go on and on about CompuLink's Eycare Advantage - suffice it to say I don't like it.
but we like RLI although we don't use the paperless feature. I agree with cjcarlen about Compulink. We tried it and it was a nightmare.
Good luck to you!!
Days where my gratitude exceed my expectations are very good days!
What do you back up onto, some type of 100% fail safe media?
We use My Vision Express. It is newer but the guy will work with you to get a system set up just how you want. There are draw and scan features as well. There is a learning curve to anything but the biggest thing is to make sure the employees are comfortable with it or it will not work.
Nothing out there will be totally paperless. Insurance companies like DavisVision, EyeMed, and others require signatures from some patients...
RLISys (150/mo) has no real paperless setup. The closes ones are VersaSuite(10-20k), MaximEyes(15-25k), and Officemade/ExamWriter(900+/yr).
RliSys is being phased out. End-of-Life for RLI was announced a couple weeks ago. If you currently run it, you will have to PAY to convert your database over to OfficeMate. The time frame is 18-36mos.
My office uses some web pages/php/mysql. Everything is scanned with an HP Digital Sender and shreded. Our server and backup server are housed in an 84" Rackmount cabinet, and the database replicates to my home on the other side of town.
The beauty of our setup? No ledger, schedule book, or charts. Everything is PDF and there's no ongoing expense.
-Brian
We back up onto 2 thumbdrives; one goes home with me, the other goes with a key employee. I also back it up directly onto my laptop so I can SEE that the info is actually there, and not just have to hope.
We back up onto the hard drive and an alternative server.
The server itself... raid mirror to an identical harddrive.
The on-site backup server has 4 drives in it. Each one backs up the previous day (so 4 different backups)
The backup server off-site is an up-to-the-second replication of the main server.
We use OfficeMate....its great! We scan everything in....HIPAA, insurance cards, medical hx...you NAME it. We use a back-up tape every night too of course.....and one of us takes at least one tape home every week in case of a break-in. I highly recommend OM if you are looking to make it really easy.
VVC,
Just how far do you intend to go with a paperless system? Are you going to record your clinical notes on computer as well?
I ask because my initial experience with a paperless system was disastrous. We set everything up with the program vendor. The developer hmself come to Vancouver to train all the staff and set up our backup system. A couple of months later, our network crashed and all data was lost. The backup was totally useless, even though we followed his instructions daily. The company insisted it was our fault and we insisted it was their fault. They provided no help whatsoever, and all we could do was reconstruct the clinical data as best we could.
As well, for the first 2 years of using a paperless system, some of the staff were so uncomfortable with the idea of scheduling on the computer that there was a schedule book and the computer schedule going at the same time. I thought it was ridiculous; twice the work and twice the likelihood of double-booking by accident.
Other things to consider:
- Does the program and your equipment give you the flexibility to draw clinical findings?
- What will you do with reports coming in from GPs or OMDs? Ideally, your program will have a feature to scan those documents in.
- Do all your staff have enough basic computer knowledge to learn the system?
- What will you do if you do have a system crash? (Tip: Test your backup frequently to make sure it really works.)
- What kind of technical support will you get from the program vendor?
- Do you have a reliable computer technician locally to manage your hardware?
- From what I understand about HIPAA, if you have internet access at any computer in your network, you'll have to take precautions to make sure your data is secure.
I'm sure you've thought about these already. Just from an optometric assistant's view ... paperless seems like a great idea, but all of the glitches and problems and crashes will fall on the assistant to deal with. All the ODs I've worked for don't want to deal with computer issues. If something doesn't work, they don't care how it gets fixed as long as it's fixed. I'm not saying this is a bad thing (I figure it's part of being an assistant). I'm just saying be aware of what will happen.
My 2 cents (or I guess that's 2.25 Cdn. cents)
Myra
No way can you get paperless! Your vendors, insurance, customers, etc. won't allow it. Even the HIPAA procedures will hamper you. However, you can reduce paper, and please recycle!:finger:
We are paperless. We have been for 6 years.
We just opened another office, and the new optician asked when we were going to get the file cabinets. I said, "You mean the shredder?"
We file NOTHING. We scan and shred. We use the shredded paper for sheep bedding, and then we spread it on the fields in the Spring.
I used to hire high school kids to come in and file at the end of the day, and it would take us forever to line up the files for the day's exams. Not anymore. With a few keystrokes, the dr/recepionist is in the file, and we off and running.
Also, I don't have the opticians doing anything besides checking in jobs, and dispensing. The way we have it set up, the receptionist can schedule,invoice and order faster and more accurately since they do it all day. Again, after the invoice, a few keystrokes send it to the lab, and the job is in process. No more trays sitting around waiting to be (incorrectly) ordered, no more call backs from the lab about material availability,and no more faxes. (Like most of you, we use WinFax,so we don't print faxes anymore,and we don't do outbound faxes anymore either, as it's easier to just attatch it as an e-mail.)
I didn't think paperless was possible, until I saw how my CPA and my insurance agent ran their offices. No paper, no clutter, no extra help.
Life is good...
Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry
We have been using MaximEyes PM and EHR software since 1996. I highly recommend MaximEyes as the software easily integrate all aspects of our practice and every insurance claim is sent when we walk out the door.
The main reasons why we continue to use MaximEyes—and there are many—are the ability to easily customize the software to fit our needs, its ease of use, equipment integrations, built-in e-prescribing, and the Eyefinity-VSP Link and VSP Calculator.
As with anything new, including adding new PM/EHR software to your practice or upgrading to the latest version, it’s best to take one step at a time, or you and your staff will become overwhelmed. Learning a new process can be challenging in the beginning for everyone, no matter which software you choose. We have always welcomed other practices to come and see how we use the MaximEyes software program.
We recently upgraded to the latest version of MaximEyes and the customizations we had in the previous version and any new issues were promptly fixed during the upgrade process.
Another very important factor when upgrading any software program is you need to follow the suggestions from the software vendor as to the proper computer equipment. You should also hire someone local who is experienced to help you with installations, networking and upgrades. This person should also monitor your computers and service monthly. This has allowed us to be free of any computer hardware problems.
We made the right decision to stay with MaximEyes for more than 16 years. Our efficiency and income has increased over the years, and part of this is due to a great PM and EHR software. I understand there are new companies out there selling cloud software. We have seen many companies come and go. First insight is very stable and has a strong staff team. They are here for the long haul. You get what you to pay for.
As some other have said, the term paperless is mostly a myth. Crystal Practice Management is what we use and it is very versatile and cost effective. It does offer the advantages that John's mentions...Look into it.
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