Huge waste from rampant printing

In the digital age, with just a computer or smartphone, most information can be easily stored and shared. However, the widespread printing of documents is still happening in many places, especially in educational, medical and office environments.

This not only costs money and puts pressure on parents and patients, but also has significant consequences for the environment.

Implementing electronic medical records helps save paper and ink costs and reduces the pressure of storing paper records.

The first waste that must be mentioned is in the hospital environment. The situation where a patient going to the hospital has to receive a lot of documents with all kinds of medical records, each content printed on one page of paper is very costly and wasteful.

Ms. Do Thuy Oanh (Tu Liem Ward) recounted that her general health check-up at a private hospital in the ward in mid-September gave her a memorable experience. She received 12 sheets of paper including forms such as medical examination registration, medical examination, temporary collection, payment voucher, test, ultrasound, service order, prescription, test results, instructions for drug use, etc. Ms. Oanh said that this shows that the amount of printing in medical examination and treatment is very large and the cost is not small.

In fact, over-reliance on paperwork causes a lot of inconvenience to patients. Many patients who come to see a doctor or receive treatment at many hospitals that have not yet implemented digital transformation when they lose their admission papers or deposit papers are forced to wait for hospital staff to verify the original information, which is both time-consuming and creates more pressure. If replaced by a QR code or integrated information on a phone application, patients only need to scan the code to access the entire medical record. Thus, with just a single piece of paper or even without paperwork, patients can still easily look up their health status.

At each clinic and hospital, doctors and nurses can track patient data entered into the system, so eliminating printed forms is completely appropriate, can save operating costs, reduce the pressure of storing paper records and help patients escape the hassle of administrative procedures.

According to the Hanoi Department of Health , as of September 22, 30/42 public hospitals under the Department have completed the implementation of electronic medical records. Thus, many hospitals have not yet completed the implementation of electronic medical records and continue to have a lot of expenses for paper, ink and storage. Therefore, comprehensive digitalization at hospitals to avoid this huge waste is extremely necessary.

The story of wasting paper and ink is also clearly reflected in the files and documents distributed at meetings and seminars in agencies and offices. There are meetings where printed documents are dozens of pages thick and are distributed to delegates and meeting attendees.

Waste also exists in the educational environment. Many parents said that the application of digital technology in schools has reduced the distribution of notices and documents for students to take home. However, at present, in many educational institutions, there are still notices sent by the school for parents to sign, such as commitments to join clubs, commitments to participate in health insurance or not to participate in health insurance, notices about going on picnics... Many parents believe that this information can be completely converted by digital technology through setting up the "Create poll" section on Zalo to get opinions from parents and students.

In reality, document digitization is no longer a distant dream with the development of science and technology today. The education sector can build a digital learning materials system instead of printing documents for students. The health sector needs to promote electronic medical records, electronic prescriptions and QR code applications in hospitals and clinics to reduce the situation of "both paper and digital", while limiting the inconvenience of lost documents. Administrative agencies should expand online meeting software and electronic document management.

The most important thing is to change the habit of "printing for peace of mind". Only when agencies and units realize that each extra printed sheet is a lost budget amount, a tree cut down, will saving become a voluntary and regular action. Saving from small pages of paper, from wasted documents is a contribution to building a civilized, modern, and sustainably developed society.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/lang-phi-lon-tu-in-an-tran-lan-717366.html