Abridge Common Errors Skill

Abridge Common Errors

Overview

Comprehensive troubleshooting guide for Abridge clinical documentation integration. Covers authentication failures, EHR connectivity, audio streaming, note generation, and FHIR push errors.

Error Reference

Authentication & Authorization Errors

| Code | Error | Root Cause | Fix | |------|-------|-----------|-----| | 401 | INVALID_CREDENTIALS | Expired or wrong partner secret | Rotate credentials in Abridge Partner Portal | | 401 | TOKEN_EXPIRED | SMART on FHIR token expired | Refresh token before 60-min expiry | | 403 | ORG_NOT_PROVISIONED | org_id not activated | Contact Abridge sales engineer | | 403 | SPECIALTY_NOT_LICENSED | Specialty not in contract | Check licensed specialties in Partner Portal | | 403 | PROVIDER_NOT_ENROLLED | Provider not onboarded | Complete provider enrollment in Abridge admin |

Session & Encounter Errors

| Code | Error | Root Cause | Fix | |------|-------|-----------|-----| | 409 | SESSION_ALREADY_ACTIVE | Duplicate session for same encounter | Reuse existing session_id | | 422 | INVALID_SPECIALTY | Unsupported specialty code | Use codes from /specialties endpoint | | 422 | PATIENT_NOT_FOUND | Patient ID not in EHR context | Verify FHIR Patient resource exists | | 408 | SESSION_TIMEOUT | Session idle > 30 minutes | Create new session; old ones auto-expire | | 500 | SESSION_CORRUPTED | Server-side state error | Create new session; report to Abridge support |

Audio & Transcription Errors

// Common audio streaming diagnostics
async function diagnoseAudioIssues(wsUrl: string): Promise<string[]> {
  const issues: string[] = [];

  // Check WebSocket connectivity
  try {
    const ws = new WebSocket(wsUrl);
    await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
      ws.onopen = resolve;
      ws.onerror = reject;
      setTimeout(() => reject(new Error('Connection timeout')), 5000);
    });
    ws.close();
  } catch {
    issues.push('WebSocket connection failed — check firewall allows wss:// on port 443');
  }

  // Check audio format requirements
  // Abridge requires: 16kHz, mono, 16-bit PCM little-endian
  const requiredFormat = { sampleRate: 16000, channels: 1, encoding: 'pcm_s16le' };
  issues.push(`Verify audio format: ${JSON.stringify(requiredFormat)}`);

  return issues;
}

| Symptom | Root Cause | Fix | |---------|-----------|-----| | Empty transcript | Microphone not capturing | Check audio input device; verify 16kHz sample rate | | Garbled transcript | Wrong encoding | Must be 16-bit PCM LE mono at 16kHz | | Speaker mislabeled | Single-channel audio | Use stereo mic or speaker diarization hints | | WebSocket drops | Network instability | Implement reconnect with buffered chunks | | High latency | Large audio chunks | Send 100ms chunks, not full sentences |

Note Generation Errors

// Note generation failure handler
async function handleNoteFailure(sessionId: string, error: any): Promise<void> {
  const status = error.response?.status;
  const code = error.response?.data?.error_code;

  switch (code) {
    case 'INSUFFICIENT_CONTENT':
      console.error('Transcript too short — need at least 30 seconds of clinical conversation');
      break;
    case 'UNSUPPORTED_LANGUAGE':
      console.error('Language not in Abridge supported set (28+ languages)');
      break;
    case 'TEMPLATE_NOT_FOUND':
      console.error('Note template not available — use: soap, hp, progress, procedure');
      break;
    case 'GENERATION_TIMEOUT':
      console.error('Note generation exceeded 120s — complex encounter, retry once');
      break;
    default:
      console.error(`Unknown note error: ${status} ${code}`);
  }
}

FHIR Integration Errors

| Error | Root Cause | Fix | |-------|-----------|-----| | FHIR 422 Unprocessable | Invalid DocumentReference | Validate against FHIR R4 schema | | FHIR 401 Unauthorized | Epic token expired | Re-authenticate via SMART on FHIR | | FHIR 404 Not Found | Wrong FHIR base URL | Verify Epic FHIR endpoint in EHR config | | FHIR 409 Conflict | Duplicate document ID | Generate unique DocumentReference IDs | | Epic SmartPhrase error | Template mismatch | Verify SmartPhrase names match Epic config |

HIPAA Compliance Errors

// PHI leak detection in error logs
function auditErrorLog(error: any): void {
  const serialized = JSON.stringify(error);

  // Check for accidental PHI in error output
  const phiPatterns = [
    /\b\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}\b/,        // SSN
    /\b\d{10}\b/,                     // MRN (10-digit)
    /\b[A-Z][a-z]+\s[A-Z][a-z]+\b/,  // Patient names (heuristic)
    /\b\d{1,2}\/\d{1,2}\/\d{4}\b/,   // DOB
  ];

  for (const pattern of phiPatterns) {
    if (pattern.test(serialized)) {
      console.error('WARNING: Possible PHI detected in error log — redact before logging');
      return;
    }
  }
}

Diagnostic Script

#!/bin/bash
# abridge-diagnostic.sh — Run before opening a support ticket

echo "=== Abridge Integration Diagnostics ==="

# 1. Check credentials
echo "Checking credentials..."
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ABRIDGE_CLIENT_SECRET" \
  -H "X-Org-Id: $ABRIDGE_ORG_ID" \
  "${ABRIDGE_BASE_URL}/health"

# 2. Check FHIR server
echo "Checking FHIR connectivity..."
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" \
  "${EPIC_FHIR_BASE_URL}/metadata"

# 3. Check WebSocket
echo "Checking WebSocket..."
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" \
  --header "Upgrade: websocket" \
  "${ABRIDGE_BASE_URL/http/ws}/ws/health"

echo "=== Diagnostics Complete ==="

Output

Identified root cause from error code lookup
Applied targeted fix for the specific error
HIPAA-safe error logging verified

Resources

Next Steps

For collecting debug evidence for support tickets, see abridge-debug-bundle.

Agent Skills: Abridge Common Errors

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