Patient safety: how name matching works
How the Akuru browser extension's patient name matching works: the EMR-to-i-scribe safety check, what the amber mismatch warning means, and why transfers block.
Every time the Akuru browser extension moves something between your EMR and i-scribe (pulling a patient in with New Patient, starting transcription, generating outputs, or inserting an output back into the EMR) it first checks that the patient open in your EMR is the same patient loaded in i-scribe. This is a safeguard against filing a consult against the wrong record.
The name match is a safeguard, not a guarantee. You remain responsible for confirming that the right patient is loaded before you transcribe a consult or transfer any outputs. Always check the patient is correct yourself.
How the check works
The extension compares the patient name in your EMR with the patient name in i-scribe. Before comparing, it tidies both names up so small differences don't trigger a false warning:
- Everything is lowercased.
- Titles are stripped: Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss, Dr, Prof.
- Extra spaces are collapsed.
So "Mr. John Smith" and "john smith" are treated as the same patient. The check runs before New Patient, Start, Generate, Insert Outputs, and Send to EMR: every transfer point.
What a match looks like
When the EMR patient and the i-scribe patient agree, the Akuru toolbar sits in its normal connected (green) state and transfers go ahead without interruption.
What a mismatch looks like
If the names don't match, the extension stops and warns you in three ways:
- The toolbar turns amber.
- The patient name is shown with a ⚠ warning icon.
- A modal appears showing both names (the one in the EMR and the one in i-scribe) with two choices:
- Cancel blocks the transfer (the safe default).
- Proceed Anyway overrides the warning and continues.
Why transfers block. Because every transfer point gates on this check, a consult can't be silently transcribed or filed against the wrong record. If you see the amber bar and the ⚠ icon, stop and check before doing anything else.
Why this matters
Without the check, it would be possible to start transcribing while the wrong patient is open in i-scribe, or insert one patient's letter into another patient's record. The match makes that mistake hard to make by accident, but it can only compare the names it can read. If you choose Proceed Anyway, you are confirming you've checked the patient yourself.
Got a warning and not sure what to do? See "No patient loaded" and patient name mismatch warnings for what each warning means and how to clear it.
Will the warning fire if only the title differs (Dr vs no title)?
No. Titles (Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss, Dr, Prof), capitalisation, and extra spaces are ignored before the names are compared, so "Dr Jane Doe" and "jane doe" match.
Can I turn the name check off?
No. It's a patient-safety safeguard and runs before every transfer. If the names genuinely match but you still get a warning, see "No patient loaded" and patient name mismatch warnings.
What does Proceed Anyway do?
It overrides the warning and continues the transfer. Only use it when you have confirmed the patient is correct yourself, for example when the EMR and i-scribe hold the same person under slightly different name spellings.
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