One of the "joys" of seeing an assortment of doctors or even one new physician is the amount of time that one needs to fill out the questionnaires they need filled. In other words, medical forms. Naturally, these have to be filled out prior to the physician seeing you, so often you are actually booked to see the physician up to half an hour later, giving you ample time to fill out the forms! Granted the paperwork is exceedingly important, as it informs the physician or dentist you see what your family history is, as well as your personal history too.

The problem is, of course, that this is a fast paced world we live in, and sitting in an office filling out forms is not only irritating but also very costly, considering that most of us need to take time off from work to visit a physician or a dentist. Taking time off to fill out medical forms just does not make sense.

It becomes all the more exasperating if you must balance the paperwork on your lap, along with insurance cards and such as the person sitting next to you peeks at your answers. Besides, when you finish answering all the questions, the receptionist then enters it all in your computer file for you, taking additional time before the dentist or doctor sees you! How wonderful would it all be if you could fill out all those forms at home using your own computer, and then simply emailing them to the office?

The thing that the patients like the most about the online paperwork is that they can fill it out whenever they have time. It does not matter if they do it in the middle of the night, or in the middle of the day. The only stipulation is that the forms have to be turned in before the patient's appointment.

You are not the only one overjoyed with these new benefits when using online medical forms. Office receptionists love them too! Imagine how much time is saved when the information comes to the office all filled out which does not necessitate a typist's job to re-enter it in their computer? It also stops the job of filing too, as the computer is now the file cabinet.

Now, rather than handling a cumbersome paper file, the dentist can merely call it up on their computer.

Granted there are a few drawbacks to online medical forms. First, if the person must ask a question with regard to the form, they will have to call in the question and wait or come to the health clinic for the answer. Also, the elderly frequently either do not have a computer, or they may be ill equipped to handle one, and thus will need to come into the health clinic to fill out the forms anyway.

Finally, privacy worries extend even to those people who are very computer literate. When encountering such a person, you will need to advise them to utilize their home computers to fill out those forms, however then they are to print them, and bring them into the medical establishment at the time of their appointment.