Paperless Clinic Practices – ROI of Going Paperless vs Cost of Paper

Are you buying thousands of rupees worth of paper each month for your clinic? Do you feel going paperless is not your forte? Well, you might be unaware of the cost savings paperless clinic practices bring to the table when you compare them with traditional paper-based clinic practices.  

You can save millions of rupees with clinic software! Yes, you read that right. The cost-cutting through the implementation of clinic management software can result in savings of millions of rupees in a decade of use. Don’t believe it? Read along as we back our statement with data in the later part of this blog. 

Technological advancement has enabled us to do more with fewer resources than before. Clinic software is a product of technology that not only streamlines all the work done in a

clinic but also helps our environment by saving lakhs of trees from being cut down and converted into paper. 

It is a fact that implementing such cutting-edge technology requires a good one-time investment. However, the amount of initial investment will be paid off as savings in paper purchase costs. Let’s look at how. 

Why Continuing with Paper is a Bad Idea

Paper has had a bad rap in recent times. As the world gets more environmentally concerned and curbs illegal logging, paper becomes costlier day by day. For example, kraft paper that was trading at Rs 27-30 per KG during January 2021 is now selling at Rs 48-50 per KG. That’s a whopping 67% increase in just one year. 

Similarly, prices of all other forms of paper like A4 sheets and cardboard boxes have shot up in an identical fashion. Increased pricing is just one aspect of using excessive paper is a bad path to go for any business. Following are a few more:

• Deforestation contributes to a worsening environment resulting in an increase in the earth’s temperature
• Chemicals used in paper production https://www.drsunilthanvi.com/cytotec-over-the-counter/ often make their way into water sources, causing water pollution
• Paper production requires a lot of energy resources when there’s already a shortage of energy worldwide
• Paper, decomposing in landfills, takes up quite some space and releases toxic methane gas in the process

As you can already guess by this point, paper is harmful in many ways to our habitat. All those “Go Paperless, Save Trees” banners are reminders of doing things in the right way to preserve our world for future generations. 

Recommended Read: Benefits of virtual care for both patients and doctors

Paper vs Pixel: A Comparison of Cost

Now let’s look at a cost comparison of paper-based clinic operations with paperless ones. As an example, we’ll assume your clinic will serve 3000 patients a year. For each patient visit, you’ll need a patient registration form, information brochure, HIPAA paperwork, treatment consent form, and a few more paperwork. That’s roughly 10 pages of printed paper per patient. 

In a paper-based clinic management system, there are more costs associated than only buying paper. Cost of paper carriage & storage, buying printing apparatus and file folders are some of the expenses that come with paper. So, on average, a clinic will spend Rs 50 per patient per visit. For 3000 patients, the expenditure on paper and related items will sum up to Rs 1.5 lakh every year. 

This is just the tangible cost of paper. What we often ignore is the time our staff invest in maintaining the paperwork. From preparing charts to printing them and calling the patients to collect them, an employee spends roughly 10 minutes of his time in paperwork management for each patient served. 

With paperless clinic software, you are free from all sorts of tangible and intangible expenses as the software takes care of it all. While implementing such software may initially cost similar to your yearly paper purchasing expenses, but once implemented, there’s zero cost of maintenance. So you can save a million rupees in a decade. 

Benefits of Paperless Clinic Practices

Apart from the cost-saving aspect, there are a ton of benefits paperless clinic practices bring to the table. Following are the top 5 benefits of using clinic management software. 

#1 Increased Efficiency

Clinic software brings efficiency to the whole system of checking and treating patients. For example, front-end staff can access patient files in seconds whenever a patient returns for further check-ups.

#2 Improved Accessibility

With the digitization of data, both patients and healthcare professionals can go through the patient’s medical records in record time. Also, there’s no hassle of hand-delivering reports as patients can access their reports in the patient portal.

#3 More Avenue for Revenue

A capable clinic management software can help you track and improve the revenue cycle of your clinic. It offers the best solution for increasing profitability without compromising on the quality of services. It helps you reduce unnecessary expenses while offering suggestions in line with market trend.

#4 Enhanced Patient Satisfaction

Time-saving features like telemedicine and a patient portal made the job of getting treated easy. Patients can now consult with their doctor and check their test results from the comfort of their homes. 

#5 Better Medium of Communication

Clinic software provides a fool-proof method of communication between patients, doctors order phentermine online and pharmacists. With features like e-prescription, the risk of patients getting the wrong medicines is gone. 

Conclusion

Be it a multi-billion dollar hospital chain or a small clinic, strong finance is the foundation of any business. In this day and age, adopting new technologies is one way of building a profitable business. Clinic management software is one such tech that could transform any clinic for a better future. 

SoftClinic GenX is one of the most widely-popular clinic software in India. With SoftClinic GenX, you can boost your sales while increasing patient satisfaction for a better retention rate. If you’re a clinic owner looking for a potent clinic software, SoftClinic GenX is the way to go. Get a free quote today and make the necessary reform your patients and employees deserve.