Improving Practice Efficiency With Online Forms (While Remaining HIPAA-compliant!)

Creating an efficient workplace is a priority for any dentistry practice. Collecting data from patients can be one of the most time-consuming aspects of your staff’s day-to-day tasks. One of the most effective ways to increase the efficiency of your practice — while maintaining strict HIPAA compliance — is to use online forms to collect that information safely and securely.

There are many different types of information that your dental practice needs to collect from patients, such as:

• Patient intake information
• Confirming their appointment
• Wellness screening before an appointment
• Feedback about your practice, including reviews
• Vital statistics necessary for providing great oral healthcare
• And more!

Let’s dig into how online forms — built to meet HIPAA compliance standards — can help your practice become more efficient.

Online forms reduce manual tasks

“Time is money” is a well-known saying. Nowhere is this truer than in running a small business. One of the best things you can do for your dental practice is to find ways to save on this costly resource while ensuring HIPAA compliance every step of the way.

A very effective strategy to save staff time is through reducing manual tasks. For many practices, paper forms are a reality of the day-to-day workload. These forms perform a variety of functions, including:

• Intake forms for new patients
• Forms regarding scheduling and appointments
• Tests and questionnaires
• Medical history
• Waivers
• And more!

With paper forms, your staff must spend time organizing, keeping track of, and filing these documents — not to mention ensuring they are stored in a HIPAA-compliant manner. Paper forms can also lead to lost time in other ways. For example, filling out a form for an appointment does not guarantee that the patient will come in. Plus, asking patients to arrive early to fill out paperwork often detracts from their overall experience at your dental practice.

This is where HIPAA-compliant online forms come in.

Utilizing secure online forms significantly decreases the time your staff spends managing paperwork logistics while safeguarding patient data. It saves the trouble of filing, tracking, and physically securing forms, and also gives time back to your patients. With a HIPAA-compliant online form solution, your patients can fill out forms ahead of time from the comfort and privacy of their own homes — all while knowing their personal health information is protected.

The nuts and bolts of online forms

There are a number of important functions that online form tools can perform for your dental practice. Firstly, they are built to keep all information confidential and secure. Online form tools must always remain HIPAA and PIPEDA compliant to ensure you meet both legal requirements and patient expectations. This guarantees that sensitive health information is handled with the utmost care.

Online forms also offer many opportunities to gather essential information about your patients. Often, form software integrates easily with your broader platform, syncing emails, addresses, medical histories, and more — all under HIPAA-compliant protections.

A modern online form tool makes setup and follow-through user-friendly for your staff, usually offering features such as:

• E-signatures (captured in a HIPAA-compliant manner)
• Pre-set templates
• Custom form building
• Reusable form elements

Online form tools can also offer additional features, such as:

• Digitizing your current paper forms
• Customizing your branding
• Adding patient photos
• QR code check-ins for a contactless experience
  
  

Of course, ensuring that all these features operate within a HIPAA-compliant framework is essential when selecting your solution.

Finding the right HIPAA-compliant online form tool for your practice will depend on your specific needs. Whether you’re a general dentist or a specialist, online forms can make a major impact on your efficiency — all while keeping patient data safe.

At Intiveo, we’re dedicated to patient engagement

Intiveo offers a library of resources for dental and oral surgery practices across Canada and the United States, including guides, templates packages, and more! You can also check out our podcast, The Patient Experience Blueprint.

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