Affinion 2 Dropping Numbers from both Operator ID and Specimen ID When Scanning?

We did and were finally told that the barcode reader needs to be placed where it scans without being picked up.  If it is picked up, then the numbers get dropped.

We have been having dropped numbers and changing of the first digit on patient ID's. Our patient ID starts with a 1 but the scanner will randomly change it to a 4. The missing digits will happen in the middle or at the end of the ID.  I do not think we have noticed issues with our operator ID's but that might be because many of them manually enter their ID's. We are in the middle of replacing the original scanners (black scanners with a black stand) at all our sites to a different model that was suggested by our Abbott contact. We tested the model out at one location and it has not had any errors as of yet. A perk is that the new model has a smaller footprint!