The current shortage of paper affects more and more industries and does not stop at medicine. For example, the general vaccination requirement against the coronavirus also failed recently, among other reasons, because the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds stated that it did not have enough paper. Not all insured persons could have been notified. However, not only due to recent delivery difficulties, but above all for reasons of efficiency and the introduction of digital health records in 2021, more and more doctors are choosing to digitize their practice. But how can you specifically benefit from the advantages of a cardless medical practice?
These are the benefits of a paperless practice
In addition to the saved printing costs, the paperless or cardless medical practice offers many other benefits for you and your practice staff. These can be roughly divided into three categories: practice process, patient satisfaction and administrative processes.
More efficient practice thanks to paperless processes
Is a lack of time due to paper chaos and stressed employees trying to keep track of things part of everyday practice? Not anymore! You can now carry out many time-consuming activities digitally using software. Your benefits:
- They eliminate sources of error that often arise when manually transferring data.
- You relieve your staff, who have to print out fewer documents and index cards and manage them archived.
- You can access important information on your digital devices from anywhere and at any time.
- You and your employees have more time to care for and treat your patients.
Many of these aspects involve interaction with your patients and therefore have the potential to increase patient satisfaction.
Higher patient satisfaction through digital processes
Thanks to the latest software, your patients can fill out and sign important documents directly on their own smartphone or tablet at home. This makes it much easier for them to get to your doctor's office. In addition, you no longer have to “chase” missing information. This is because you have the option to mark input fields as mandatory information. It is therefore a good idea to digitize these documents:
- medical history sheet
- Treatment contracts
- Information letter (e.g. Covid-19 information)
- Privacy statement
Happy patients are happy to recommend you and your practice to others. Patient satisfaction is also reflected in positive reviews on Jameda and Co., making it look like free practice marketing.
Paperless administration saves you time
Saved information can be transferred with just a few clicks. In this way, digital processes also save a lot of time when it comes to administration, for example when creating these documents:
- Doctor's letters
- Settlements
- floor plans
- Work and vacation plans
You will notice that the efficiency of your administrative processes increases significantly as soon as you no longer use index cards in your medical practice. But be careful: There are a few things to consider, especially when dealing with sensitive personal (health) data!
Data backup Retention periods and access restrictions: You should keep this in mind!
You open your digital practice management program and realize: All data is gone! This is probably the most common horror idea of doctors in connection with the paperless or cardless medical practice. Not only would you have to reckon with financial losses in this case, you would also violate your storage obligation.
Back up your data regularly and in compliance with GDPR!
To prevent the described scenario from becoming your reality, you can use various backup strategies to back up data. It is important that you collect your data at regular intervals (preferably daily!) secure. This is how you keep the potential damage low. You can also store your data in multiple locations. You can use the following options to do this:
- External data carriers (hard drives or USB sticks)
- Secure cloud solutions
- Seperate servers
More information on data backup in medicine can be found at aertzeblatt.de. Note: Always, but especially when using a cloud, ensure that the provider complies with GDPR standards!
The storage period and access restriction for patient records also applies digitally!
As a doctor, you are not only required to adequately document treatments, but also to keep relevant evidence safe. The length of time you need to store information about your patients varies between one and 30 years.
Digital data protection when handling patient data
But storage is not the only thing regulated by law. Access to data is also subject to strict requirements (keyword: medical secrecy). Only you and your practice staff can access them. Of course, this applies not only to analog archives, but also to digital ones. Data protection is therefore an absolute priority even in paperless practice, from anamnesis to storage of documents.
Tip: You can find out how you should handle health data at datenschutz.org.
It's so easy to take a GDPR-compliant anamnesis with Nelly
Faster, safer, more convenient — it's all Nelly. Because with Nelly software, you can make anamnesis easier for yourself and your patients. Here's how:
- Your patients fill out the medical history sheet on their own smartphone at home or in practice.
- The signature is made with many documents legally compliant with one click.
- The data is automatically transferred to your practice management system.
This makes patients happy: No app needs to be installed to use Nelly, as input is made directly via the web browser. Now you too can create a digital workflow in your practice. Wir advise you without obligation and free of charge to your individual case!
The personal names used in this article always refer equally to all persons. Dual naming and alternate names are omitted in order to improve readability.
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