Worried about the cost and expense of a transition from paper to paperless? This is a very valid concern and there are many things to consider. First, how will the transition take place. In going from paper-based medical r
ecords to paper records, we recommend proceeding slowly.
Once you have decided on a veterinary practice management software provider, the first thing to do in the initial set up after getting your basic business information in (ie. name, address, logo, sales tax percentage, etc) is to load up your prices for services and products. Most providers will allow you to put all of your prices onto a spreadsheet like Excel and they will then
load them into their software database. Or you can enter them in one by one.
Next, take a good hard look at all those shelves or filing cabinets full of paper medical records. Converting them to your new veterinary practice management software system is a daunting task. Yes, you could pay a third party to come onsite and scan in all the thousands of patient records into i
ndividual pdf files for an exorbitant fee. Then you could upload them all one-by-one into the software wasting hours and hours of your staff’s time. Instead, we suggest that this is a great time to clean house. Instead of converting every medical record, take this opportunity to purge records.
The best way to do this is when you are ready to start using your new system, enter client and pet information into the computer only as those particular clients come in for services. You could also save time, if you have scheduledappointments, by entering client and pet information into the system the night before. Scan the old paper records into a pdf file at the same time. Many veterinary practice management software systems have a client registration screen where the client can do all the work for you by entering their current information directly into an iPad. When the client comes in, give them the iPad to enter their information. After a year of doing this, you can slowly purge that huge mess of paper medical records. And in time, you can slowly move the old paper records of clients no longer using your services to the back room for storage.
Above all, make the transition super easy on you and your staff. And use a veterinary practice management software system that is as easy to use as ordering something from Amazon.