In 2009, my office was paperless before we were chartless. Go figure! The only thing we were using the paper chart for was holding film X-rays because my doctor could not decide on which digital imaging system to transition. He was very happy with film X-rays and was sure that digital X-rays would not be as diagnostic as film. In the meantime, I was going on my third year as a Certified Dentrix Trainer and was using the software to its fullest potential.
In the Dentrix G5 update, there was a new module launched called the Questionnaires. I was super excited because it would allow me to transfer all my paper forms into an electronic version. Since that time, the Questionnaire module has gone through multiple updates and the functionality has been drastically improved.
We recently did a webinar on the versatility of the Questionnaires for our members and I was amazed at how many people are still not using this module. What I found was most people assume their patients won’t adapt to an online form or their team members will struggle with the technology. What we know for sure from market research is that people are adopting technology and using their mobile devices more now than ever before.
I remember when I first launched our online forms almost 10 years ago and I was a little nervous whether our patients would take to this new technology. When one of our 75-year-old patients walked in and said, “I love the new forms. It was so easy,” I knew we would be okay. Remember, the fastest growing segment of people online and on social media is people over the age of 55.
The Questionnaire module has many functions and you can start adapting this new module as early as today. In my story above, my office was still using paper charts only to house the film images. In today’s world, I find that that one thing the office is using the paper chart for is to house the health history. So, why not start here?
- Questionnaires in-office – Electronic forms in your treatment room will save you time, scanning and patients love them. You can create all your consent forms, health history and financial arrangement forms in Questionnaires and you don’t need any eServices to make them work. The only thing you will need to purchase is a couple of signature pads.
- Questionnaires on your website – The reason you might not be getting patient compliance now is because you are asking patients to print a PDF form, fill it out and bring it in with them. If you give them a true electronic form that they can fill out from their mobile phone, tablet or home computer, you will get more buy-in from your patients. Also, it is so easy to send them a link that they can use on any device.
- Questionnaires on an iPad – This is not my favorite choice, but it is an option. If you want to hand the patient an iPad instead of a clipboard in the office, you can do that now with the integration between your Dentrix software and the Kiosk software.
If you are ready to start using true electronic patient forms, then the Questionnaire module is your best bet. Let us know and we can help you with the transition.
