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Bluetooth

Foundry Health does not use wireless scanners during the development and testing of ClinSpark. We generally have not found them as reliable as their wired USB counterparts.

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• Wireless scanners take additional time to set up with paired equipment

• Wireless scanners need to be charged

• Wireless scanners have more points of failure than wired

• If customers are using (or interested in using) a wireless barcode scanner with ClinSpark, please reach out to us and let us know about your experience.

Stationary Scanners

Some customers have inquired about the use of stationary scanners, perhaps in situations where there could be a concern with staff inverting an already-centrifuged tube in order to scan with a handheld scanner.

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If selecting a non-Zebra (or Motorola) branded device, it’s important to check to make sure it will fit the size and dimensions of whatever scanner is being used.

QWERTY and AZERTY

Certain barcodes configurations that create printed labels require that scanners are set to scan in a ‘QWERTY’ keyboard layout in order to scan the labels properly. QWERTY keyboard layout ensures that scanned barcodes are properly input into ClinSpark, especially when barcodes are produced of a certain character length and delimiters. Scanners that are set to AZERTY keyboard configurations often have issues properly scanning barcodes for input and use in ClinSpark. It is key to match the locale settings of your scanner with your computer keyboard. Ensure that Caps Lock is off at all times when scanning.

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We most commonly see our customers using both data entry computers and scanner configurations that match QWERTY keyboard layouts. Ensuring that the same layout match between keyboard layout and their barcode scanner configurations will also help reduce the chances of barcode scanning issues.

Notes on Foot Pedals

Occasionally customers will ask us about using USB foot pedals with ClinSpark in lieu of a mouse (or other input peripherals) such as a laboratory settings, to improve workflows.

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Those are just a few of the areas we’ve considered. Our goal in ClinSpark is for users to leverage the scanner as much as possible for the best possible user experience in context of various workflows as a way to make a foot pedal not necessary.

Troubleshooting

When your scanner doesn’t seem to work in Clinspark a good first step would be to try & scan the barcode in a text editor, like notepad. A more advanced editor like Notepad++ comes in handy to detect correct characters.

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