CHART PREP AND SCANNING CLERK

General Purpose of Job:

Prepares documents for scanning into the electronic document management system. Scans documents into the electronic document management system. Examines pages and verifies patient identification on each page. Appropriately batches documents. Maintains scanning equipment.

Essential Duties:

This job description is intended to cover the minimum essential duties assigned on a regular basis. Associates may be asked to perform additional duties as assigned by their leader. Leadership has the right to alter or modify the duties of the position.

• Reconcile paper records with departmental documents to verify receipt of all records.
• Confirm patient name, medical record number, and account number on every page in the record, front and back.
• Identify and tape any torn edges.
• Mount and tape down any sheets less than 8.5 by 11 inches on an 8.5-by-11-inch sheet.
• For sheets with rhythm strips or other mounted documents, tape down the top of the strip so it does not catch in the automatic document feeder (if you will be scanning in "Portrait" mode).
• Remove all staples.
• Perforate and number pages for fan-folded sheets.
• Put tape over sticky materials.
• For any documents on card stock or manila, such as Kardex or ambulance run sheets, make a photocopy before scanning.
• Arrange multipage documents in date order, either chronological or reverse chronological, per department guidelines.
• Ensure all pages are in the same proper orientation.
• If a document is identified as likely to result in poor image quality once scanned, photocopy the document, adjusting the copy contrast (lightness/darkness). This may help improve the quality of the scanned image. If improvement is not noted, follow departmental guidelines for processing poor-quality originals.
• Once all documents are prepped for scanning, clip them together and place them at the front of the folder. Set them aside until you are ready to deliver them to the scanning staff. Segregation of these documents in the folder allows all of the record to stay together (i. e. in the patient folder), and the scanning staff can select only the part of the record that is to be scanned.
• Perform daily maintenance of the scanner *
• Calibrate the scanner for proper image quality *
• "Fan" the stack of documents to be scanned in order to make sure the documents separate easily and that any previous hole punches or stapled pages do not stick together. Purpose: Reduce the number of automatic document feeder misfeeds. *
• Once records are scanned, remove them from the scanner's out tray. Begin process of verifying the quality and accuracy of the scans. With the records faceup, view the hard copy and the scanned image to confirm all images can be read and all pages were captured. This can be done by flipping through the hard copies as you verify each image, page by page. Purpose: Reduce the number of rescans as a result of poor image quality or skipped pages.
• As images are reviewed, change the rotation, switch sides, etc., as needed. For example, documents that are typically viewed "landscape" should be rotated so they present to the end user in landscape mode. If a docu-ment was sent through the scanner so that the back page was scanned as the front page, switch sides to put the images in the appropriate order. Purpose: Improve the readability and use of the images by the end user.
• If an image is identified to be of poor quality, adjust the scan sensitivity or use the copy machine to enhance the quality of the document to be scanned. Once the scan sensitivity is changed or the document is enhanced via the copy machine, replace the image. Purpose: Reduce the number of records returned for rescan as a result of poor image quality.
• Once initial quality review has been completed, transfer the folder to Assign Document ID. Clip or bundle the hard-copy pages together and forward them for document ID assignment. Purpose: The process of document ID assignment will provide a second review to identify issues with image quality or skipped pages. The hard-copy record must be available in order to accomplish this.