Always seek out a paperless office. Your health (and sanity) depend on it!

What does it mean to be paperless?

In medicine, a paperless office refers specifically to how an office handles your medical chart.

In a traditional office, providers write out medical notes after your visits and store them on paper in a filling cabinet or some sort of physical storage system. When a patient needs a copy of medical records, they often need to visit the office for printed copies.

In a paperless office, your providers input notes after each visit electronically, into an Electronic Health Record software. Providers can securely email patient records or invite patients to review lab results and medical notes in a secure patient portal online.

How does an office’s choice about paper impact my health and sanity?

Beyond the complications that arise when you want to access your medical records, offices that work with paper miss out on the benefits of technology in providing medical care. Here’s a scenario:

A patient with a chronic illness like HIV or diabetes comes to an office several times for ongoing treatment and management. After several visits, the patient’s chart grows significantly. A few months later, the patient learns that they have an allergic reaction to a certain type of treatment or medication and informs their primary care office. The provider adds a note to the patients growing file, now up to 150 pages. Do you really trust your provider, or anyone, to remember 150 pages worth of material when you come back in? Or to spend the time needed to review your extensive file each time?

Good patient care means that the provider needs to stay up on your medical chart and recall key issues like allergies, treatment regimens and more. Electronic health records help busy providers stay on top of your medical chart.

These softwares provide critical alerts to providers and work intuitively and interactively to help keep your current and future providers up to date on your medical treatment and profile. Providers are also more likely to add notes to your chart promptly after each visit when stored electronically, because an electronic record allows for added accountability that traditional paper charts can’t match.

And even better, whenever you want to access your medical record, a simple login to your patient portal will allow you to review your records, treatment plan, and more from any internet connected device.

How we treat paper at The Doctor.

At The Doctor, we value your health, your sanity, and your time. That’s why our founder decided three years ago that the office would be paperless, with all of your medical records securely stored in the cloud. We offer you 24/7/365 access to your patient chart through our online patient portal, and our providers keep your chart updated by promptly adding notes to your chart after each visit.