Home Forums Need Scanner recommendation

Hello,
We are needing a recommendation on an industrial scanner. We have a lot of scanning to do and need to know what is the fastest and most durable scanner we should either purchase or lease.
Thanks,

Robynne

I recommend the Fujitsu ScanSnap. The latest version is the S1500. I have 2 SnapScans in my office, scanning daily since 2007, never a jam or failure. Very fast, scans both sides with 1 pass, converts while scanning to a PDF. It is not TWAIN compatible, which only means you use their software to scan, instead of Windows flakey Fax & Scan software or a third party scanning program.

I have been using Fujitsu ScanSnap since 2008 and still going strong. Staff is pleased with performance and usability. We use a Docketport 687 to scan the insurance cards.

Fujitsu ScanSnap here also

Scansnaps are great. We have one at the front desk

I picked up a couple of industrial Fujitsu scanners (M3097) from EBay for copying all the charts. There are a few parts that are easily replaced and brought to like new. Although the 3097 is the one I bought, many of them are similar. Some are guaranteed to work. Only paid about $50 each and maybe another $50 for replacement parts. They can do 40 pages double sided. That said, they have older SCSI interfaces. Once set up they work well, but can take a bit to get them right.

The new ScanSnaps are USB, wonderful software to remove blank pages and easy to transfer to other folders. They are not directly TWAIN compatible but you can still use them with AC. I have a ScanSnap fi-5110EOX2 that I have been using for about 4 years at the front desk. 1 button scanning, very nice.

Another vote for SnapScan. We use the S1500, which handles plastic insurance cards. You get a free copy of Acrobat with the scanners, which is very useful.

Thanks for the info. We just bought a SnapScan also S1500 but it only does 20 pages per minute. It will be great at the front desk for insurance cards and miscellanous papers but I need something to copy charts that is super fast. We have patients that date back to 1990 and they have big fat charts that are taking way too long to scan. It needs to be heavy duty and handle a lot of pages. We have 4 providers and been in business for over 20 years and only copying current patients as being seen.


Thanks,

Have a long-time client that does financial business.

They picked up a Canon DR 9080C scanner at auction. It is a beast of a scanner. It does 90 PPM, and will feed entire loan files at a time - single or duplex. Different size, weight papers - no problem.

Software is easy to use, save scanning profiles for different job types, saves .pdf just fine.

The feeder feet are rubber wheels, and it took a while to find the parts, but replacing the maintenance parts (less than $100) resolved feeding after we got it from the auction. No problems since then.

Indy,
Do you know where I might find a "Scanner Auction"? That would be good way to go from the sounds of it.
Robynne

Ditto on all the Fujitsu recommendations, I have used the 4120c for about 5 years and literally have scanned hundreds of thousands of pages without any issues. This unit was several hundred dollars at the time and came with full version of Adobe Acrobat; retrospectively it was worth every penny.

This particular unit is business-grade. I do not buy any home-use tech products for use in the office.

GNicoll

I have been using fujitsu scanners for more than 7 years love them.

Fujitsu fi 6130 40ppm or 80 ipm, works very well. Twain complient.
Worth every penny.

We have 2 Fujitsu fi 6130 and are very happy with them.

I just bought Scansoft s 1500. How do you scan the documents/reports to pts charts. we scan about 70 to 80 reports / day into pts charts. Scansoft copies all of them into one pdf files
Your help is much appreciated.

Help! My Scansnap S510 started making a terrible noise today and stopped scanning! At this point all of my paper charts have been scanned in so I just need a unit for daily scanning of letters, etc. Any recommendations on the currently available scansnap models?

Any significant difference between the Scansnap 1500 and the Scansnal fi-1630?

Main Differences
*The fi-6130 is more than double the price.
*The fi-6130 has TWAIN Drivers which means you can use the scan function in Amazing Charts instead of having to drag and drop to imported items. There are also other benefits.
*The fi-6130 comes with more advanced software like KoFax VRS. (This really brings up the cost, usually $300-350 on its own)
*The fi-6130 is twice as fast at 40 PPM while the S1500 is at 20 PPM.

If you have a lot of scanning to do, I'd probably go with the fi-6130. I know a lot of people don't even install the KoFax software but it basically auto corrects many common errors, i.e. scanning upside down and removing blank pages. Also it's faster.

Not to hijack this thread, but since we are on the topic of fi-6130's, I wonder if anyone can help us with a small mystery.

We used our 6130 to scan tens of thousands of pages when we went with AC. It worked beautifully. In fact, it still does when used on the particular machine we started with. But when we moved it to a different client, the background on the scans is grey so the image quality is poor. We assumed the scanner needed cleaning, but that did not fix the problem. The weird thing is that back on the original machine, it still gives perfect scans.

Is this a driver issue? A setting somewhere? We have tried to duplicate these exactly on the two machines, without any luck.

Thank you so much for the emergency help. Our scansnap is central to our functioning at the front desk. Just spoke to Fujitsu support who are AMAZING! He figured out the problem over the phone, gave me the part to replace and it will be fixed! And I do not even have a support contract! What a great company!

Perhaps your scan color settings are set to grayscale instead of black and white? Or maybe even the other way around. Try it on each setting and let us know what happens.

I have a question. If you view the scanned file on a different computer, does it appear to be grey?

Glad to hear. Their user reviews are all pretty positive.

Want to add that Fujitsu has a model 1100 that is perfect for each exam room. I use them for any papers brought in by the patient and anything I sign, triplicates, notepad notes, etc.

We use the model 1500 for my office manager, for faster scanning of occasional papers, since it has a document feeder.

We use both the 6130 and the Epson S50 for bulk scanning of old charts, we are back to 2007. The Epson is $100 less and the scanners actually prefer it to the 6130, and think the software is a little faster. Not by much though.

Dan

My workhorse HP Multifunction suddenly lost it's TWAIN ability. All the TWAIN rollbacks, re-installations, universal TWAIN drivers etc. couldn't restore the TWAIN's mojo and thus it's scan function is kaput. Heeding this thread, I ordered and today received a refurbished Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500. It is slick and incredibly fast! The duplex or double sided scans are fantastic. Thanks to all who gave this tip (includes my AC user son). My office manager simply says Hallelujah!

Those Fujitsu document scanners are very nice. I wish I could've gotten them. I bought my scanners before they were released.

Hi, I am new to amazing chart. I have started to use amazing chart since last week. The next step is to pick up a scanner. My choice is between Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500, Fujitsu PA03607, or Fujitsu PA03630, among the Fujitsu family. The only one with twain driver is Fujitsu PA03630 ($ 879 from Amazon). It come with Acrobat X Standard for Windows, which is about 299 for retail. The other alternative is Canon imageFORMULA DR-2010C Office Document Scanner for 446.49. The Canan has twain driver but does not come with Acrobat. My question is that how important is it to have twain driver? Is it true that with twain driver you can scan PFT/ EKG/ old med records directly into patient's chart, but not the demographic information into fields in amazing charts?

We have used a Fujitsu scanner for several years and they are very good. It is great to have Acrobat and from my recall you actually get 2 licenses. The most important feature is the Twain driver.

The TWAIN driver doesn't make much difference. You can directly scan into a patient's chart using the drop down menu. With the ScanSnap S1500 it goes in a folder and you drag and drop into the imported items. Not exactly a deal breaker for the S1500. The fi-6130z is faster though, has a TWAIN driver, and comes with some nicer software.

I can't think of any scanner that can populate the demographic section. The software would have to know the form of every type of medical chart in existence and the position of every field in various charts. You can however OCR charts to make it easier. OCR will allow you to copy+paste recognized text into various fields. This can be done with Acrobat.

If you're planning on scanning a lot, check out the fi-6130Z. It's faster. It'll do things such as auto-straightening the pages, removing blank pages, and boosting the overall quality for OCR. (KoFax VRS) It's also faster. The software included with the fi 6130Z is pretty nice, and I'd imagine one of the reasons for the big price difference.

They both have Acrobat though which can be very useful in an office settings. The S1500 is also easier to setup. Better for the average user. It's also a workhorse.

What I would like is to be able to scan driver license/ insurance info directly into imported item in amazing chart , then control-C/ control-V the address/ insurance information into the demographic field. I am hoping to avoid xeroxing the information then shred the paper later. What do other offices do to scan/enter the demographic information? I really don't know much about scanner. Thanks.

I am confused by this. We scan items so we don't have to keep the paper around. If you want to scan "directly" into Amazing Charts, you will need the fi-6130z. Bear in mind, the ScanSnap S1500 would simply require you to drag and drop the scanned PDF into the chart.

If you are planning on scanning a lot, get the fi-6130z as the higher PPM will benefit you.

S1500 Process:
1) Open patient chart
2) Press One-Touch Button to Scan to a PDF
3) Arrives in Folder, Then Open It
4) Run OCR Using Acrobat
5) Drag and Drop to Imported Items in Patient Chart

fi-6130Z Process:
1) Open Patient Chart
2) Go to File>Import Drop Down Menu>Select Import Images Via Scanner
3) PDF arrives in Imported Items
4) Open PDF
5) Run OCR Using Acrobat

Acrobat's OCR tends to be better than the ScanSnap one.

I think what they are trying to get at is that if you do not enter the demographics from the original and scan into imported items it is hard to then enter the information into the demographics page without printing as you have to toggle back and forth.

I actually encourage my staff to type and verify the information with the patient as they check in so it is all entered before the paperwork is scanned. I have found no inexpensive/reliable card scanner to use for licenses, etc.

Thank you for all the information. I have decided to go with an older model of fujitsu scanner. It's two generation older than the current fujitsu 6130. I got one from ebay, including shipping and handling for 240.00, no software or feeder tray. (I have adobe 7 professional already). The spec is 25-ppm/50-ipm scanning. There is another older model that's in the 4000 series for 100, but is slower.

That's good you already have adobe professional. That's one of the main reason I recommend the Fujitsu scanners over the other ones. The software bundled with it actually costs more than the scanner.