A tour of the extension
A tour of the Akuru extension bar: every button left to right, the colour states (green, red, amber, navy), the patient match indicator, and how to move the bar.
The Akuru extension shows up as a thin bar across the very top of your EMR page. This tour gets you oriented. It covers what each button does, left to right, what the bar's colour is telling you, and how to move the bar if it's ever in your way.
An in-app guided tour that points these features out the first time you use the extension is on its way. Until then, this article is your map. (You can come back to it any time from the Help button on the bar.)
The bar, button by button
The bar runs left to right. Here's each control and what it's for.
- New Patient pulls the patient open in your EMR into i-scribe (name, date of birth and clinical background). You stay on the EMR; nothing switches tabs. See Start a consult in i-scribe straight from your EMR.
- Start begins transcribing the consult in i-scribe. While you're transcribing, this button reads Pause and the bar turns red. (You stay on the EMR and run the consult as normal.)
- The transcription indicator is a pulsing dot and a running
m:sstimer. It's shown only while you're transcribing, so you can see at a glance that a consult is being transcribed. - Generate produces your outputs and switches you to the i-scribe tab so you can review and edit them. It's greyed out until there's something to generate.
- Insert Outputs (N) is a dropdown of your ready outputs; the (N) is how many are ready. Click the field in your EMR where you want an output to go, then pick it from here. It's greyed out when there's nothing to insert. See Send outputs back to your EMR.
- Sync i-consult sends your upcoming appointments to i-consult, with a small days-ahead input next to it. See Sync your appointments to i-consult.
- Help opens help and "what's new". A small red dot here means a newer version of the extension is available.
Start vs Generate. Clicking New Patient or Start keeps you on the EMR. Only Generate switches you to i-scribe. That's deliberate, so you land where you review and refine the outputs.
What the colours mean
The whole bar changes colour to tell you its state at a glance.
| Colour | What it means |
|---|---|
| Green | Connected and idle, ready to go. |
| Red | Transcribing right now. Start reads Pause, and the timer is running. |
| Amber | Patient mismatch: the EMR patient and the i-scribe patient don't match. The patient name shows a ⚠ warning. |
| Dark navy | Disconnected. |
"Reconnecting…" If the bar shows "Reconnecting…" and the buttons are disabled, the extension has lost touch with i-scribe or its information has gone stale (more than ~10 seconds old). Make sure i-scribe is open in the same Chrome window and give it a few seconds to reconnect. If it doesn't, see The extension can't see my i-scribe or EMR tab.
The patient / match indicator
The bar shows the current patient's name so you can confirm at a glance who you're working with. This is also a safety check.
Before any transfer (pulling a patient in, transcribing, generating, or inserting an output) the extension checks that the patient in your EMR matches the patient in i-scribe. If they don't match, the bar turns amber, the name shows a ⚠, and a warning appears with both names so you can Cancel or Proceed Anyway. This stops a consult being filed against the wrong record by accident. The check is a safeguard, so you remain responsible for confirming the patient is correct.
For more on how this works and how to clear a mismatch, see Patient safety: how name matching works and "No patient loaded" and patient name mismatch warnings.
If the bar is in your way
The bar sits across the top of the page and pushes the page down slightly. Occasionally it can cover something you need, such as a save or cancel button near the top of your EMR.
The bar is draggable. If it ever covers a control you need, just click and drag it down or out of the way. It'll stay where you put it, so you can keep working.
Where to go next
- To run your first consult end to end, see Start a consult in i-scribe straight from your EMR.
- To get outputs back into your EMR, see Send outputs back to your EMR.
- To sync appointments, see Sync your appointments to i-consult.
What does the number in "Insert Outputs (3)" mean?
It's how many outputs are ready to insert: three, in that example. Click the EMR field where you want one to go, then open the dropdown and pick it.
The bar is grey / "Reconnecting…" and I can't click anything.
The extension has lost connection to i-scribe, or its information is stale. Make sure i-scribe is open in the same Chrome window and wait a few seconds. If it persists, see The extension can't see my i-scribe or EMR tab.
Why is the bar amber?
Amber means the patient in your EMR doesn't match the patient in i-scribe. Check you've got the right patient loaded in both. See "No patient loaded" and patient name mismatch warnings.
There's a red dot on the Help button.
That means a newer version of the extension is available. Open Help to see what's new.
Is there a guided tour inside the extension?
A first-use guided tour is on the way but not available yet. For now, this article is your tour. Reach it any time from the Help button.
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