> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://portaldocs.peartelco.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Practice settings

> The settings a practice controls for Aria Scribe: consult recording, consent wording, how long audio and transcripts are kept, and handing a clinician's work to a colleague

## Overview

Most of Aria Scribe needs no setting up by the practice. The settings on this page are agreed with Pear when Scribe is switched on, and this page explains what each one does so you know what to ask for.

> [!NOTE]
>
> At present these settings are changed by Pear Support only. To change any of them, log a case using the **Support** link in the left menu of the portal, saying which setting you want changed and to what. See [Support](https://portaldocs.peartelco.app/support/support.md) for how to log a case.

## Consult recording

The **Consult recording** card controls recording in the room or on screen from the browser.

* **The feature switch.** Turning it on lets clinicians record a consult from the browser and write a note from it. Turning it off stops new consults being recorded; existing recordings and notes are untouched. Phone calls and handset dictation are set up on the phone system instead and are not affected by this switch.
* **How this practice records consent.** A short sentence offered to the clinician in the **Before you record** window so they confirm rather than retype, for example "Consent recorded at intake in Best Practice". It does not stand in for their confirmation; a consult still cannot be finalised until somebody confirms consent for it.
* **Days to keep audio after the note is finalised.** The clock starts when the note is accepted, not when the consult was recorded, so a note reviewed the following week can still be checked against the audio.
* **Days to keep audio for a consult nobody writes up.** A hard ceiling from the recording itself, so an unfinished consult cannot keep its audio forever.
* **Days to keep the transcript after the note is finalised.** Leave it blank to keep transcripts, which is what most practices want. Set it and the words are removed on that schedule while the notes written from them are kept.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Phone call recordings follow the retention period set on the phone system, which is separate from these fields.

## Features

Each practice has a **Features** page listing what it has been given, with a switch beside each. **Consult recording** is one of them. This is where a feature is turned on for one practice and not another.

## Handing a clinician's work to a colleague

For a clinician who has left, is on leave, or cannot do it themselves, the **Consult sharing** panel lets a practice manager give their consults to a colleague.

Log a case with Pear Support saying:

1. Which clinician's work needs covering.
2. Which colleague should have access.
3. Whether the colleague should see everything the clinician has already recorded, or only new recordings from now on.

Access is granted, never transferred. The consults stay recorded by the original clinician and their notes stay theirs; the colleague can read, listen and write their own notes. The grant appears on the clinician's own **Who can see my consults** page, and the clinician can take it back with **Revoke** at any time, or ask Pear Support to.

## Prompts and the practice's field

The prompts a practice starts with depend on its field: medical, legal, IT support or general. The field is set by Pear when the practice is set up. Managing the prompts themselves is covered on [Prompts](https://portaldocs.peartelco.app/aria-scribe/prompts.md).

Whether clinicians may keep prompts of their own is also a per-practice switch. Ask Pear to turn on personal prompts if you want it.

## Phone calls and the recording announcement

If your phone system plays "this call may be recorded" before calls connect, Pear can confirm that on the phone system, and phone consults from it will no longer ask clinicians to confirm consent on every note. Ask Pear Support to check and confirm it. See [Consent and privacy](https://portaldocs.peartelco.app/aria-scribe/consent-and-privacy.md#phone-calls).

## Frequently asked questions

**We changed the retention days. Does it apply to old recordings?**

Yes. Each recording's removal date is recalculated from the new setting, and shown on the recording.

**Can we turn off transcription for one clinician?**

Not per clinician. Recording is per practice, and who can record is controlled by roles and permissions. Log a case with Pear Support if you need a clinician's access changed.

**Is there a limit on how much we can transcribe?**

Your practice has a monthly transcription allowance agreed with Pear. When it is used up, new recordings are kept and show **Over the monthly limit** on the Scribe list until the month rolls over or the allowance is raised.


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