If you’re currently in your workplace, look around a bit. You may notice a stack of paper somewhere in your vicinity. Between reports, invoices, and other documents, workplaces in the U.S. consume countless pieces of paper every day.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, an average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of paper every year. Apart from the cost of each blank sheet, businesses spend on printing, filing, and storing paper. They also lose a significant amount of time trying to locate printed documents, which results in lost income due to unproductivity while they search for missing or misfiled documents.
These are only some of the downsides for businesses that still haven’t gone paperless. Meanwhile, the benefits of doing so—monetary savings and lower environmental impact, to name a few—are significant, primarily when implemented industry-wide.
That said, the following are industries that can—and should—start transitioning to paperless operations.
Finance
Banks, accounting firms, and insurance agencies are some of the most important institutions that deal with people’s finances. They are also some of the most prominent users of paper in their daily operations.
Banks use paper for statements of their clients’ accounts, loan agreements, deposit slips, checks, and other printed documents. Accounting firms use paper a lot as well, such as payroll records, sales documents, and inventory reports. Some accountants even use paper ledgers still. Insurance agencies, meanwhile, use reams upon reams of paper to print insurance policies, claims, and other documents.
As a result, these financial institutions are spending a lot of money on paper when they don’t have to. Every day, new technology is being developed that the finance industry can use. Fortunately, more and more banks are enabling mobile banking and sending bank statements to their clients through e-mail. Dozens of software help accountants digitize their clients’ records, and insurance companies can store their documents digitally.
By reducing the use of paper in the finance industry, financial institutions will not only be able to save on costs but also streamline their operations.
Healthcare
For the longest time, the healthcare industry has relied heavily on paper for its different processes. From small practices giving out prescriptions to hospitals accumulating countless patient files, using paper is at the core of the healthcare industry.
However, keeping paper records presents a lot of risks, including data security. First, patient records and other documents lying around the hospital premises might be seen by those not privy to the information these documents contain. Second, in case of disasters like fire or water damage, these paper records can be destroyed instantly. Finally, it can be time-consuming when doctors have to search for past patients’ files in dozens of cabinets filled with different documents.
Luckily, going paperless isn’t impossible for the healthcare industry. In fact, many software developers have focused on transforming traditionally paper-based hospital processes into faster, digital ones.
Electronic medical record (EMR) systems, for example, allow both a physician and his or her patient to see the medical chart of the patient. Through software like EMR systems, physicians can track patients’ data over time and monitor how they’re doing in just a few clicks. What’s more, these technologies also improve the quality of care a medical practice provides. All these are possible without having to go through mounds of medical records.
Education
Students and educators spend hours preparing and printing all sorts of documents, from lesson plans and quizzes to essays and other homework. These pieces of paper end up at the bottom of students’ backpacks and eventually in the trash. There are also the books and binders that students lug around from lockers to classrooms or their homes.
The good news is around 98 percent of schools in the U.S. use computers with an average ratio of 10 students to one unit. However, only 64 percent of U.S. schools have access to the internet, according to the Computers and Classrooms report. What’s more, the units aren’t being utilized for every class, leaving students and teachers still relying on printed material.
Still, as technology develops, schools are more likely to halt the use of printed material in classes and overall operations. Students can now easily access and edit PDFs of books and lessons, conduct classes through video messaging applications, and send or receive feedback and scores through e-mail. What’s more, it’s not an exaggeration to say that instructors and students alike all have a computer, laptop, or smartphone that they can use to participate in the digitization of classes.
The education sector may never truly go paperless. But with e-books, e-mail, and other digital means of learning and submitting requirements, schools and their students can reduce the need for paper.
Looking into the Future
With the sheer number of technology accessible to the public today, transitioning into a paperless workplace won’t be much of a hardship. When implemented industry-wide, not only can businesses save on costs, but they can also help reduce the strain paper production has on the environment.
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