If you would like to know how to scan the medical records, the entire process is quite simple. However, you need to follow the instructions step by step to manage everything properly. Document imaging is an optimal way to translate, copy, and preserve charts in a digital format. The scanned documents can be accessed automatically, easily and quickly. Just follow some simple steps and try to avoid obvious mistakes to get the job done.

Get charts ready

Collect all the documents you want to scan. If the documents are old or damaged, it is imperative to repair them before scanning. Check the documents exclusively to make sure that there are no torn edges, wrinkles, and smudged ink. Remove paper clips and staples.  If the charts have post it notes or some other small pages, you may want to tape it to a clean sheet of paper.  Test the taped document to make sure it goes easily through the scanner.

Check your scanner or choose a scanning program

Clean a scanner properly before you get started. Clean the dust, fingerprints, and ink, from scanner beds. Some scanners offer the ability to fax and copy. Choose the right command/button to scan documents.

Choose a location to save scanned documents

When you are scanning documents, one important step of this process is to save the documents. Some scanners allow the users to scan the document directly to email or a file. You can directly save the scanned document in your computer. Select a folder location so that the documents can be found and organized as required.

Feed the documents into the scanner

Most scanners have automatic document feeders.  However, pay close attention if the documents are two sided.  This can be quite confusing.  Test a few two sided documents to make sure you understand the procedure you must follow.  Also in some cases the file to be scanned is too big to put into the document feeder.  Test the procedure so that you are competent in feeding large files into the scanner so they end up in one electronic file.

File Format Matters

When scanning documents you need to choose a file format. PDF, JPEG and TIFF are three common formats used most. JPEGs are comparatively smaller files and can be shared through email. On the other hand, TIFFs are best suited to make digital copies of historical documents. Make sure that you are able to see the files scanned in your computer. If the documents are not readable, adjust the scan quality by increasing the dots per inch (dpi).