Paper intake forms may seem manageable day to day, but the small delays they create can quietly add up to hundreds of hours of lost time each year. What looks like a minor 5 to 10 minute slowdown from missing fields, illegible handwriting, or last-minute paperwork at check-in becomes a compounding workflow problem when it happens repeatedly across every patient. Most intake breakdowns come from two sources, accuracy errors and arrival-related delays, both of which force staff to spend time verifying, correcting, scanning, uploading, and transcribing information into the EHR. By identifying where these bottlenecks occur and shifting intake to digital workflows with required fields and validation, practices can reduce errors, speed up intake, and reclaim meaningful time for both staff and patients.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Always consult a qualified attorney or compliance professional when interpreting HIPAA regulations.
Efficiency matters in every medical practice. Slow workflows make everything else suffer. Patients get frustrated, staff gets burned out, and revenue dips. Physical intake paperwork is one of the biggest sources of inefficiency.
Outside of the compliance work that comes with paper forms, they are simply slower than their digital counterparts. It’s also a big change to switch away from them, and the hesitation is fair. Accuracy is important and implementing a new system can come with training and an adjustment period.
It’s easy to see why many providers stick with what they know. Paper works and it still seems good enough. However, there are many more inefficiencies than most people realize. Once they’re all laid out, it becomes easier to see why switching to digital workflows is so valuable.
This blog will explore how small delays add up quickly, the most common workflow breakdowns, and recommended next steps for your practice.
It’s easy to miss the big picture when it comes to the little things. A few missed lines on an intake packet or handwriting that’s hard to read seem like minor issues. They’re simple mistakes and it’s hard to get upset with anyone for making them, it’s just human nature. Plus, a 5 to 10 minute delay seems like it won’t create too much chaos.
The problem is when those delays are repeated and suddenly become part of the workflow. If a provider sees an average of 15 patients in a day and spends an extra 10 minutes on each one, that’s 2.5 hours lost per day. Over a whole year, that’s 625 hours* of lost time simply because of little mistakes.
* This calculation is based off 250 work days in a year.
The time cost is even more dramatic when you realize that it is generally not associated with many big mistakes. It’s exactly the opposite. Big mistakes often don’t stick around because they’re easy to see and get fixed quickly. The little things pile up. A few minutes here and there suddenly becomes over 600 hours by the end of the year. The most common workflow breakdowns generally originate from two sources:
Accuracy errors arise when info is missing or incorrect or handwriting is illegible. This can create two problems. Incorrect information in your system could lead to issues with diagnoses, allergies, or insurance claims. These are serious issues that are often caught by your diligent team. However, the second problem is that catching those mistakes still results in lost time because your staff has to verify and update the information.
These problems are more common because they are simply a product of paper intake forms. Patients might be instructed to arrive early to fill out their forms but can only make it at the time of their appointment, meaning they need 15 minutes to fill out their intake packet.
There are more delays when your staff has to scan, upload, and manually transcribe documents into an EHR. Then providers will need to review the information that was hastily added at the last minute.
Many providers build extra time into their schedule to account for these issues, but that’s still time that shouldn’t have to be spent, and it is not always enough either.
One of the hardest parts of fixing your practice’s inefficiencies is spotting them. Sometimes they’re hiding in plain sight, and you just need to be pointed in the right direction. That’s why we’ve developed this quick and free practice efficiency quiz. There are four sections with 5 questions each. Each section is focused on a specific category of your intake workflow. It’s designed for clinics who are still using paper intake forms, but it works for any practice looking to speed things up.
It takes less than 10 minutes. At the end of your quiz, you’ll instantly see your results. You get a score for each section as well as an overall letter grade. This can help you find hidden inefficiencies and see which intake stage is causing delays. You’ll also be given access to a calculator that uses your results and explains how much time you could be losing based on patient volume.
In just a few minutes, you can pinpoint exactly where your practice is doing well and where it might be struggling.
After receiving your results, you should focus on your lowest scoring section first. This is where you can get the quickest wins and see the fastest results. Ultimately, you’ll want to tackle every category and ensure they are scoring highly.
The easiest way to remove inefficiencies in your paper intake process is by switching to digital forms. It’s true that patients can accidentally enter information wrong, even in a digital system. However, there are many key advantages.
First, digital systems don’t suffer from missing data. Required fields prevent users from submitting forms without all the necessary information. Additionally, digital forms generally have validation features that can prevent inaccurate information on fields like phone numbers and emails. Staff also no longer has to decipher poor handwriting. On top of that, your team gets to avoid transcribing form info into a digital system as it’s already online. It’s much quicker and more accurate.
Making this transition can seem daunting, but it’s well worth it. Check out our free quiz to see how much time your practice could be losing by sticking with paper workflows!