Going paperless in a dental practice
What does going paperless actually mean?
Going paperless means moving the paper that flows through a dental practice, patient files, medical-history questionnaires, consent forms, sign-in sheets and appointment cards, into digital records held securely in the cloud. Instead of a filing cabinet behind reception and clipboards in the waiting room, each patient has one digital record the whole team can find in seconds. It cuts the admin of printing, filing and re-keying, keeps information legible and up to date, and makes it far easier to look after patient data properly. It is less a single project than a steady switch, one form and one process at a time.
How a dental practice goes paperless
Going paperless is easiest when you tackle it in stages rather than all at once. Start with the paper that reaches reception most often, new-patient intake, medical histories and consent, then move your existing files across as patients come back for recalls. Dentipoint keeps the digital patient records, forms and history notes a paperless practice needs, all in one secure place.
Where paper piles up in a practice
Three areas create most of the paper in a typical practice:
- New-patient intake and medical-history forms filled in on a clipboard, then typed up by hand.
- Consent forms printed, signed and filed for each course of treatment.
- Reminder and recall cards posted out, and appointment slips handed over at the desk.
Digital patient records
A filing cabinet and a stack of clipboards make it slow to find a history and easy to lose a form. With Dentipoint, each patient has a single digital record with their contact details, medical history, visit notes and recalls, so anyone on the team can pull it up in seconds and it stays current without re-typing.
Online intake and consent forms
Instead of handing over a clipboard, patients complete intake, medical-history and consent forms digitally before or at their visit, and the answers land straight on their record. That removes the re-keying step, keeps everything legible, and gives reception time back instead of chasing paper.
Secure cloud storage
Paperless records are held securely in the cloud rather than in a cabinet, so they are backed up, access-controlled and available from any surgery. It also makes it easier to keep patient information accurate, secure and quick to retrieve, in line with the GDC's Standards for the Dental Team on protecting patients' information. See pricing or start a free trial to keep paperless patient records from your first appointment.
Records, not paperwork
Dentipoint keeps every patient record digital and in one place
Dentipoint gives each patient a single digital record, contact details, medical history, visit notes and recalls, updated as they book and attend. Intake and consent forms are captured digitally and land straight on the record, so reception is not re-keying clipboards or hunting through a filing cabinet, and nothing goes missing between the waiting room and the file.
- One digital record per patient, updated as they attend
- Intake, medical-history and consent captured digitally
- Held securely in the cloud, available from any surgery