The progression of technology over the last decade has been unprecedented. Not long ago, cell phones were a rarity and wireless internet was just becoming a staple in American homes. Fast forward to today and schools have active Instagram accounts, and students check in at the nurse’s office with an iPad.

We’re not strangers to the technology conversation either… After almost 10 years of working directly with schools to help them bring their student health records online, we know that technology has enormous benefits, especially during the enrollment season. We’ve seen schools that we work with completely transform their enrollment process by bringing their health and signature-only forms online. So if you’re wondering how to make enrollment run more smoothly, then you came to the right place! Let’s talk about how Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) can change the way you think of enrollment.

Increased efficiency

We’re huge advocates of saving time and being more efficient in the school health center. But, saving time isn’t just important for school nurses. The admissions office can save valuable time, too! To start, take a look at the list of enrollment forms you currently have. Then, look at how many of those are health-related or signature-only forms.

The enrollment process may include collecting Consent to Treat forms, Insurance information, emergency contacts, physicals, and much more. Wouldn’t it be nice if each of those forms could be completely erased from the stack of enrollment forms that get mailed to you each year? We think so! That’s why electronic forms are so helpful. Nothing needs to be printed, mailed, or returned to the school since all of this information lives in an online account where parents and applicable students can manage their health records.

For Magnus users, online parent accounts are hosted by our secure parent portal. It’s the one-stop shop for parents to easily fill out and manage student health forms, including those that are due during the school enrollment period. And, don’t forget about one of the co olest time-saving features made possible by electronic forms: Conditional Questions. Instead of asking every parent to fill out an allergy form, you can ask a conditional question such as “Does your child have any allergies?”, so that only parents who answered “yes”  need to fill out their respective Action Plan.

Everything stored in one place

Time savings is a very substantial benefit for using electronic forms. But, let’s not forget about the most important benefit: Saving your sanity…Do you ever feel like you’re going to disappear under the never-ending stacks of paper? Electronic forms can eliminate this struggle. Schools can control when forms are due, run compliance reports, utilize the system to send automatic email reminders to parents, and even email parents directly based upon student groups such as sports teams or graduation year. EMRs are the most innovative way for your school to collect, track and manage student forms. Now that sounds like a good way to maintain sanity!