Redact a medical record before sharing it

Records get shared for second opinions, insurance and research, and almost always need the identifying details off first. This removes them from the file and stamps the copy as redacted.

• Identifiers are removed from the file, not hidden under a rectangle.
• The copy is stamped, so it cannot be mistaken for the record.
• Runs on this device from start to finish.

Covered is not removed, and here that matters most

A black rectangle drawn over a patient name looks right on screen and leaves the name in the file underneath, recoverable by anyone who selects the text or opens the document in a different reader. Redactions have been published that way by organisations with considerably more process than a person with a PDF and an afternoon.

The characters are taken out of the page content here, and the mark is drawn afterwards. What remains in the file is the mark. Check the result before it goes anywhere: patterns find identifiers and contact details reliably and find an unusual name written into a free-text note less reliably, and only you know what the record contains.

Why the copy is stamped

A redacted record and the real record look alike at a glance, and they end up in the same folder. A visible mark on every page is the cheapest possible way of making sure the redacted copy is never filed as the record, and that the record is never sent as the redacted copy.

The stamp goes on after the redaction and before anything that compresses, and if you add a compression step the plan moves it for you and prints the reason: a mark added after compression re-inflates most of what the compression saved.

Everything runs inside the tab. A medical record is about as far as it gets from a document to upload to a free tool, and that is exactly what people do when the alternative is a licence and a week of procurement.

Does this make a record research-safe?

It removes what it is asked to remove. Whether that meets a particular standard is a judgement for whoever set the standard.

Can I redact a handwritten note?

Only text can be removed as text. Draw over a handwritten region in the redaction tool directly.

Support and billing: support@gosmartpdf.com. Operated by Mrityunjay Kumar, India. Payments by Dodo Payments, our merchant of record.

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