Benefits of a secure digital patient diary

Keeping notes on your clients and sessions is essential to be able to provide a great service. While many people are switching to digital diaries, there is still plenty of people that prefer the more traditional ways of keeping patient records. There are many reasons for not switching to digital – from simply preferring to write things down, to things such as security concerns, learning new systems. etc. Every practitioner knows best what works for them, and what they are interested in. Maybe you are on the fence about trying out a digital diary? We will help you decide by elaborating on some pros of keeping a digital diary! Maybe you can even find a system that works for you that includes both – handwritten and digital notes!

1. Simplicity of a digital diary

Taking into account the initial hurdle of getting familiar with a new system, digital diaries offer a lot of simplicity in note keeping. One of the great strengths of digital notes is that it is easy to manage the timeline of entries. They are stored and kept in chronological order that is easy to navigate. With paper notes, it is always possible to mix up or lose papers which will make it hard to navigate the timeline of your notes.

One more advantage lies in the fact that digital notes are always easy to read for everyone. Different handwritings may be difficult to read and create extra hassle in trying to decipher them.

You can access your digital notes, anytime, and anywhere. The notes are easy to share with authorized employees and don’t require physical copies. They can be used by multiple people at the same time, and it is easy to edit them and add or remove relevant information while still looking neat and easy to read. Also, you can easily send them to your patients if it is necessary.

Often, you will have to collect similar information many times over. Creating templates and using them for these situations will save you a lot of time and work. Also, you can add pictures and files to your notes, which will further improve and simplify them.

2. Security

Many people find security as a deterrent to using digital diaries. And while that is a valid concern, the same could be said about paper diaries. Both of these systems have their own unique security issues. Your paper records could be compromised in many ways, from something simple as getting lost due to a human error, to things like break-ins, or fires and floods.

Digital security has come a long way, but there is no denying that many systems are vulnerable to security breaches. With the legislation about data protection getting more and more strict, many providers are investing in top-notch security. It is important to find a provider that is 100% compliant with the legislation and takes security seriously. There are providers, like EasyPractice that offer the possibility of two-factor authentication that adds another layer of security. We also have an employee app that allows you to give your employees access only to data that is relevant to them. This way, you can have multiple ways of making sure your journals are only accessible to authorised users.

Besides that, there is always encryption in place that keeps data safe, and data backups prepared for the worst-case scenario.

3. Cost

If you want to make sure that your electronic patient records are safe, it is best to use a trusted provider. Since this is a service, there are, of course, some costs involved. However, when you take into consideration that an electronic system requires less labor and time to maintain, as well as significantly less space – the cost might be lower than expected. Especially, if you use a system like EasyPractice, that offers many more functions, the value increases even further.

Would you like to try keeping a digital diary?

At EasyPractice we provide a secure user-friendly journal and plenty of other functions that can make your workday a bit easier!

You can read more about our journal system if you are interested in learning more!

In our Help Centre, we have a whole section dealing with Journals.

If you have security concerns, we are happy to tell you that we are GDPR and HIPAA compliant.

We are happy to help you with any further questions you might have. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected]!