Practice operations
Move patient records off paper, step by step
1 min read
Start with the front of the record, not the back
The highest-value part to digitise first is the live workflow: today's appointments, today's consultations, today's billing. Historic paper records can be scanned and attached to a patient over time — they do not need to block go-live.
Let the starter kit do the setup
A clinic that tries to build every template before seeing a patient never goes live. Enable the specialty, take the starter kit of presets and templates, and refine it from real visits in the first two weeks.
Put one person on data entry for the first fortnight
New patients go straight in. For returning patients, enter the record at the point of the visit — the receptionist or assistant captures the basics, the doctor adds the clinical history as they consult. Within a fortnight the active patient base is digital.
Keep paper as a fallback, briefly
For the first week, keep the paper process running in parallel for anything the team is unsure about. Drop it deliberately once the digital flow is comfortable — not indefinitely, or you end up maintaining both.
Measure the thing you were promised
If the reason to go digital was faster billing, fewer missed recalls, or clearer reporting, look at those numbers at one month. That is what tells you the move worked.