Paperless Office Ideas.....

**J.P.** · 04-11-2012, 10:57 AM

I'm looking for some ways to help our office go more paperless then we already are.

We have been trying over the past 4 years to become less dependent upon paper, but we've made no real stride in going less paperless other then using lab orders are done in OfficeMate instead of keeping a monthly paper log of orders for glasses and contacts.

We use OfficeMate and ExamWriter so we have our electronic records usage, but we still use routing sheets, constantly printing reports for patients, our techs just "Have to Have" a paper schedule in front of them. The highest usage of paper is for Contacts and Glasses. We print Lab orders for both, we keep them with trays, paper is used in writing up glasses with VSP, Cash Pay, and other insurances, Contacts use less paper, but it's still paper in what should be a paperless world. Every patients fills out 1 page of Demographics and 1 page for Privacy Act, all documents are scanned and saved but then shredded and just a wasteful and expensive.

I need Ideas on ways to reduce our paper usage and positive ways to present it to the doctors and staff so that using paper is no longer a safety blanket when our office has 25 computers with easy access to all staff to be able to view and review who and what is going on. And possible ways of even becoming more paperless with our patients (Except for receipts needed for FSA and Prescriptions).

Help, any and all ideas are welcomed

**Java99** · 04-11-2012, 11:11 AM

You could laminate a HIPAA form, have them sign with a wet erase marker, scan, rinse, repeat.

Other than that, I've got nothing. Paper gives you something to have in front of you to keep from making mistakes or forgetting some detail.

**J.P.** · 04-11-2012, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by Java99

You could laminate a HIPAA form, have them sign with a wet erase marker, scan, rinse, repeat.

Other than that, I've got nothing. Paper gives you something to have in front of you to keep from making mistakes or forgetting some detail.

That is something that we have thought of in the past, time to revisit that one again.

And you can have a computer screen in front of you too, and if you need to not forget something, just make a note of it. As for not making mistakes..... Are you a robot? LOL, Yeah I know we need some visual reminders to keep us from doing something stupid now and again.

**Java99** · 04-11-2012, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by J.P.

That is something that we have thought of in the past, time to revisit that one again.

And you can have a computer screen in front of you too, and if you need to not forget something, just make a note of it. As for not making mistakes..... Are you a robot? LOL, Yeah I know we need some visual reminders to keep us from doing something stupid now and again.

I didn't mean I never make mistakes :) I mean that if I am at the edger I *have* to have paper to put check marks on, so I don't miss anything. I do make notes, on paper, that's in front of me in the lab. I can dispense, sell, just about anything digital only. I do POS with an iPad. But some paper just can't go away for me. How you do things is up to you.

**J.P.** · 04-11-2012, 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by Java99

I didn't mean I never make mistakes :) I mean that if I am at the edger I *have* to have paper to put check marks on, so I don't miss anything. I do make notes, on paper, that's in front of me in the lab. I can dispense, sell, just about anything digital only. I do POS with an iPad. But some paper just can't go away for me. How you do things is up to you.

LOL, I was just joking with ya, I know that no one is out there that can't not make a mistake ..... Just as my grammar proves, lol

Hmmmm, not a bad idea to talk to my Doctor about iPads, Now that would be a way to sell and see patients, an iPad in every hand, and me being call a lunatic for suggesting a purchase of 10 iPads, lol

**Java99** · 04-11-2012, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by J.P.

Hmmmm, not a bad idea to talk to my Doctor about iPads, Now that would be a way to sell and see patients, an iPad in every hand, and me being call a lunatic for suggesting a purchase of 10 iPads, lol

Not to mention figuring out a way to make your current POS software work with it. What a headache.

**J.P.** · 04-11-2012, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by Java99

Not to mention figuring out a way to make your current POS software work with it. What a headache.

True that, and our IT guy is even more of a headach to get in the office, lol

**B101875** · 04-12-2012, 08:31 AM

I feel ya. The last office I worked at used Office mate. It was very depented on paper for everything. It was a hard system. The office I am at now uses Revelotion EHR. Much less paper. We use 4x6 optical cards in our trays. We kill less trees. We cut up our paper to use for scrap and then shred when done. Reprint on the other side, crossing out the back. The lab always sends back the our paper work. We only do this for interal work nothing to the pt. Laminate whatever you can to the pt. Even the superbill for the doc if you still use one, there is nothing wrong w/ that. But I am afriad the main part of your problem is your software Officemate. It uses alot of paper.

**MikeAurelius** · 04-12-2012, 08:36 AM

Personally, I think "paperless" is more hype than it is reality.

The major issue with going paperless (at least as I see it) is computer server space. Sure, you can scan every form, use digital signature acquisition and transmittal forms, but all that information has to be stored somewhere. Then, what happens if you have a break-in and the computers are stolen? Or worst yet, you have a natural disaster like a tornado, that takes out the server room and all of your backups. You also become very dependant on the power grid, not to mention your IT people to keep everything running...

**stresslesspaperles** · 07-24-2012, 05:07 AM

Originally Posted by B101875

We use 4x6 optical cards in our trays...

...main part of your problem is your software Officemate. It uses alot of paper.

You could tag each tray with a code or a number and mark that in any lab order recorded in your software. That will save you a 4x6 card.

I think the biggest hurdle to paperless is staff and doctor reluctance to, for instance, check your software for a code to find a tray that belongs to someone. When it's "easier" to just write it down on a 4x6 card where the information is readily available inside the tray.

What information is stored on that 4x6 card? Say for instance the 4x6 card contains the lab order. The real question is: is it "easier" to have the lab order written down and have the information only accessible in the tray? Or, is it "easier" to have all that information accessible at any time, by using any computer, in any room.

Paper is comfort and simplicity at it's finest. But I think that the portability and flexibility of sharing information on a computer far outweighs the benefits of paper.

(Officemate, as much as I hate it, can be used in a paperless way and any other subpar software can be used the same way. It's just a matter of dissecting your office flow and knowing the capabilities of not only your software, but the computer skills of the staff and doctors as well.)