If you use i-consult, the Akuru extension can pull your upcoming Xestro appointments into i-consult in one click, so eligible patients can be invited to complete a pre-consult questionnaire before they arrive. You choose how many days ahead to sync, review what's about to change, and confirm.

Before you start, make sure:

You're on your Xestro day view so the appointments you want to sync are on screen.
i-scribe and Xestro are open in the same Chrome browser window, in a single Xestro tab.
You have an i-consult account. The Sync i-consult button appears for everyone, but it's only useful if you're set up for i-consult (see What if I'm not set up for i-consult? below).

What syncing does

When you sync, the extension reads your upcoming appointments out of Xestro and hands them to i-consult, which works out what's new, what's changed, and what's gone since last time. For each eligible appointment, i-consult can then invite the patient to a pre-consult questionnaire ahead of the visit.

For each appointment in your chosen window, the extension reads the patient name, date of birth, mobile number, appointment date and appointment type. Before anything reaches i-consult it filters out:

Past appointments. Only upcoming ones are synced.
Appointments with an invalid mobile. The number must be a valid Australian mobile (starting 04).

Which appointments actually create a patient episode in i-consult depends on your appointment-type mappings: only consult types you've classified as New Consult create episodes. See Set up your appointment-type mappings.

Run a sync

Open your Xestro day view.

In the green Akuru toolbar, set days ahead, which is how far into the future to sync. You can choose 1 to 14 days; the default is 7.

Click Sync i-consult.

The extension sweeps your appointments for that window and opens the i-consult import page, where you review what's about to change (see below).

Check the grouped results, then confirm the import.

A success message reports the counts: how many were created, changed, cancelled and unchanged, and how many were excluded because they were in the past or had an invalid mobile.

The days ahead value lets you keep i-consult in step with your diary. A daily 7-day sync keeps the next week's patients invited. Pick a shorter window if you only want to sync the next day or two.

Review the import page

Before anything is finalised, i-consult shows you what the sync found, grouped so you can see exactly what's about to happen:

Created. New episodes for appointments i-consult hasn't seen before.
Changed. Appointments that already existed but have updated details (e.g. a new time).
Cancelled. Appointments that were synced previously but are no longer in Xestro.
Unchanged. Appointments already in i-consult with nothing to update.

Review before you confirm. The import page is your chance to check the sync matches your diary. Nothing is finalised until you confirm.

Reconciliation: how progressed patients are protected

Each sync reconciles your diary with what's already in i-consult, rather than wiping and re-importing. That means appointments that have already moved forward in i-consult, for example a patient who has started or completed their pre-consult questionnaire, are protected and won't be clobbered by a later sync. You can re-sync as often as you like without undoing patients' progress.

The reconciliation happens on the i-consult side; the extension's job is to gather the appointments and hand them over.

What if I'm not set up for i-consult?

The Sync i-consult button appears in the toolbar for everyone, including people who don't yet have i-consult. If you're an existing i-consult user, sync just works. If you're not set up for i-consult, clicking it takes you to i-consult, where you may not be able to log in yet. A smoother first-time experience is being built. If you're unsure whether your account has i-consult, check with your practice admin or Akuru support before relying on sync.

Patient safety & data

You remain responsible for who gets invited. Review the import page against your diary before confirming, and remember the patient's mobile is read from their Xestro record. If a record holds the wrong number, the wrong person could be contacted. See What patients receive after a sync for the SMS details and an important caveat about next-of-kin numbers.

Appointment details move from your Xestro tab to i-consult through your browser. The extension itself doesn't store patient data.

If it doesn't work

Sync did nothing or errored → make sure you're on the Xestro day view, in a single Xestro tab, in the same window as i-scribe, then try again. See My i-consult sync stopped working.
A patient is missing from the results → they may have been excluded as a past appointment, had an invalid mobile, or their appointment type isn't mapped to New Consult. See Set up your appointment-type mappings.
The button took me to i-consult and I couldn't log in → your account may not be set up for i-consult yet (see above).

How many days ahead can I sync?

Between 1 and 14 days. The default is 7.

Will re-syncing overwrite patients who've already started their questionnaire?

No. Reconciliation protects appointments that have progressed in i-consult, so re-syncing won't undo their progress.

Why are some appointments missing after a sync?

The sync skips past appointments and appointments with an invalid mobile number (it must be an Australian mobile starting 04). It also only creates episodes for appointment types you've mapped to New Consult. The success message tells you how many were excluded and why.

Do all appointment types create an episode?

No. Only consult types classified as New Consult create episodes. Follow-up and Excluded types are skipped. See Set up your appointment-type mappings.

When do my Xestro appointments become available to sync?

This depends on your Xestro diary. If recently booked appointments aren't appearing, check they're on your Xestro day view first.