Blue Merino FAQs — Setup, Cliniko, Billing & Your Data

Question 1

How quickly can I get started?

Accepted Answer

Within minutes. As soon as you connect Blue Merino to Cliniko, it begins learning your writing style and the treatment note templates you already use. There’s no need to train it, prompt it or tell it how you want your notes structured. Blue Merino works with the way you already document, so you can get up and running straight away.

Question 2

Which allied-health practitioners is Blue Merino designed for?

Accepted Answer

Blue Merino is built around the way allied-health practitioners work, including osteopaths, physiotherapists, exercise physiologists, podiatrists, chiropractors and other clinicians managing ongoing patient care. As Blue Merino grows, we’ll continue expanding support across allied health.

Question 3

Which browsers can I use?

Accepted Answer

On a desktop or laptop, Blue Merino works in Chrome, Safari and Edge. We recommend Chrome. It’s the browser we test most heavily and the one that gives the most reliable recording experience, so if you have the choice, use Chrome.

Question 4

What devices does Blue Merino work on?

Accepted Answer

Blue Merino works on phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers. There’s nothing to install. You simply log in through your browser. On an iPhone or iPad, use Safari. On Android, Windows and Mac, we recommend Chrome.

Question 5

What internet connection do I need?

Accepted Answer

A stable connection, not a perfect one. Because your consultation is transcribed live as you talk, Blue Merino needs a connection that stays available rather than one that’s especially fast. A normal NBN connection in the clinic is plenty. Blue Merino also works well over 4G or 5G if you’re recording away from the clinic or your clinic Wi-Fi is patchy. If your connection drops briefly during a consultation, keep going. Your recording continues buffering and catches up when you’re connected again.

Question 6

Do I need to install anything?

Accepted Answer

No. Blue Merino runs through your browser, so there’s no software or app to install before you start.

Question 7

What files can I upload?

Accepted Answer

You can attach: PDFs. Word documents, including DOC and DOCX. JPG images. PNG images. GIF images. WEBP images. Files can be up to 20MB each. That covers the kinds of documents you’ll commonly want Blue Merino to read, including imaging and pathology reports, GP referrals, specialist letters, previous notes and photos.

Question 8

Do I need to record the whole consultation?

Accepted Answer

No. You can use Blue Merino during the consultation, dictate your notes afterwards, or use a combination of both. It’s designed to fit around the way you prefer to work.

Question 9

Can I dictate my notes after the consultation?

Accepted Answer

Yes. If you don’t want to record the full consultation, you can dictate your clinical notes afterwards instead. You can also combine consultation recording and dictation if there’s extra information you want to add once the patient has left.

Question 10

What happens if my internet connection drops during a consultation?

Accepted Answer

Keep going. Blue Merino continues buffering your recording during a brief interruption and catches up when your connection returns.

Question 11

What happens to the consultation recording?

Accepted Answer

Consultation audio is transmitted over an encrypted connection and transcribed on Blue Merino’s own infrastructure in Sydney. By default, consultation audio is deleted automatically once your transcript has been produced. Blue Merino does not keep a copy. A clinic owner can choose to retain audio for up to seven days. The only reason to do so is recovery: if something is wrong with a transcript, the consultation can be re-transcribed from the original audio rather than lost. Outside that window, and by default, it is gone. Audio is never used for advertising, profiling or AI-model training.

Question 12

Does Blue Merino use my existing Cliniko templates?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Blue Merino works with the treatment note templates you already use in Cliniko, so you don’t need to recreate your documentation structure just to start using it.

Question 13

Do I need to train Blue Merino or keep prompting it?

Accepted Answer

No. When you connect Blue Merino to Cliniko, it begins learning from the way you already document. It uses your existing treatment note templates and adapts to your writing style, so you don’t need to spend hours creating prompts or teaching it how you want every note structured.

Question 14

How does Blue Merino learn my writing style?

Accepted Answer

Blue Merino learns from the clinical documentation you already create. It looks at the way you structure and write your notes so the documentation it prepares feels consistent with the way you already work. Each practitioner has their own workflow, templates and writing style, rather than a single clinic-wide style being applied to everyone.

Question 15

Can I edit the note Blue Merino creates?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Blue Merino prepares your documentation for you, but you remain in control. You can review and edit the note before anything is published to the patient record.

Question 16

Do I review the note before it goes into Cliniko?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Blue Merino prepares your clinical documentation, but you stay in control. You review and approve each note before it is sent to the patient record in Cliniko. You can choose to publish it as either a draft or a completed note.

Question 17

What if Blue Merino gets something wrong?

Accepted Answer

You should review every note before publishing it, just as you would review clinical documentation you had written yourself. Blue Merino is there to prepare the documentation and reduce the work involved, while the practitioner remains responsible for reviewing and approving the final clinical record.

Question 18

Does Blue Merino only work with Cliniko?

Accepted Answer

Blue Merino is currently built specifically for Cliniko. This allows it to work closely with your existing patient records, templates and clinical workflow rather than operating as a separate standalone scribe. If you use another practice management system you’d like to see supported, we’d love to hear from you.

Question 19

What patient information can Blue Merino use?

Accepted Answer

Blue Merino can work with the clinical context already available in the patient record, rather than treating each consultation as an isolated appointment. That can include previous notes, relevant clinical history, files and attachments. This helps Blue Merino prepare documentation with a better understanding of the patient’s ongoing care.

Question 20

Can Blue Merino read previous notes and patient history?

Accepted Answer

Yes. One of the key differences between Blue Merino and a standalone transcription tool is that it can use relevant information from the patient’s existing clinical record to help understand the context of the consultation.

Question 21

Can Blue Merino read attachments?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Blue Merino can read supported documents and images attached to the patient record, including PDFs, Word documents and common image formats. This can be useful for information such as imaging reports, pathology results, GP referrals, specialist correspondence, previous notes and photographs.

Question 22

Does Blue Merino replace Cliniko?

Accepted Answer

No. Blue Merino works alongside Cliniko. Cliniko remains your practice management system and clinical record. Blue Merino helps you record, prepare, review and create documentation using the information and workflows you already have there.

Question 23

What can Blue Merino create besides treatment notes?

Accepted Answer

Blue Merino can help create a range of clinical documents, including: referral letters. general clinical letters. reports. management plans. treatment plans. exercise plans. These documents can use information from the patient’s clinical history and consultation rather than requiring you to start again each time.

Question 24

Can Blue Merino create referrals and letters?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can generate referrals and other clinical correspondence using the patient context already available to Blue Merino.

Question 25

Can it create treatment or management plans?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Blue Merino can help create treatment plans, management plans and other patient-facing clinical documents from the information already captured during care.

Question 26

Can documents use my clinic branding?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Documents such as letters and treatment plans can be produced using your clinic or practitioner branding.

Question 27

Where is my data stored?

Accepted Answer

In Australia. Your clinical data, transcripts and generated notes stay within Australian infrastructure. Blue Merino’s transcription takes place in Sydney, and AI processing also takes place in Sydney. Patient and consultation information does not leave Australian infrastructure.

Question 28

How long do you keep my transcripts?

Accepted Answer

Consultation audio is a separate thing from the transcript. By default it is deleted automatically once the transcript has been produced; a clinic owner can choose to retain it for up to seven days so a consultation can be re-transcribed if something is wrong. Your transcript is stored alongside the treatment note it produced and remains there for as long as you’re a Blue Merino customer. We retain it because the transcript provides a source record for how the clinical note was produced. Health-record retention requirements can vary depending on the practitioner, jurisdiction and circumstances, and some records are required to be retained for extended periods. Once information is no longer required to be retained, you can ask us to delete the associated transcript. We don’t delete your clinical information according to an arbitrary Blue Merino timetable while you remain a customer.

Question 29

How long do you keep generated notes?

Accepted Answer

Generated notes are retained for as long as you’re a Blue Merino customer. Where the relevant record no longer needs to be retained, you can request deletion.

Question 30

What happens to the original consultation audio?

Accepted Answer

The audio is different from the transcript. By default, consultation audio is deleted automatically once your transcript has been produced. Blue Merino does not keep a copy. A clinic owner can choose to retain audio for up to seven days. The only reason to do so is recovery: if something is wrong with a transcript, the consultation can be re-transcribed from the original audio rather than lost. Outside that window, and by default, it is gone. Audio is never used for advertising, profiling or AI-model training.

Question 31

What about audit logs?

Accepted Answer

Actions within Blue Merino are recorded in an audit log, including who performed an action, which record it related to and when it occurred. The audit log cannot be edited or deleted, including by Blue Merino administrators. This provides a record of activity if you ever need to establish who accessed or changed something.

Question 32

Is patient information used to train AI models?

Accepted Answer

No. Your patient information is not sold or used to train AI models. The AI provider does not retain the content used to generate your notes for model training.

Question 33

What information does the AI see?

Accepted Answer

Patient background retrieved from your practice-management system is de-identified before it is used for AI processing — age, sex and visit history are included; names, dates of birth and contact details are not. Text carried forward from earlier notes and uploaded documents is filtered to remove identifying details where they can be detected automatically. Consultation transcripts are processed as spoken, so they may contain identifying information mentioned during the consultation.

Question 34

Is my information encrypted?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Patient information is encrypted while it is being transmitted and while it is stored. Blue Merino uses TLS for information in transit, database encryption at rest, and additional AES-256-GCM encryption for sensitive fields.

Question 35

How long is the free trial?

Accepted Answer

The Blue Merino free trial runs for 14 days from the day you activate your account. You don’t need a credit card to start.

Question 36

What happens when my free trial is nearly finished?

Accepted Answer

We’ll let you know before your trial ends. Five days before the end of your trial, we’ll email you to let you know it’s finishing. We’ll send you another reminder one day before the trial ends. If you haven’t subscribed by the end of the 14 days, your Blue Merino account will be locked until you add a credit card and start a subscription.

Question 37

Do I lose anything when my trial ends?

Accepted Answer

No. Your notes and patient data remain in your account if the trial expires. When you subscribe, you can continue from where you left off.

Question 38

Do I need a credit card to start the trial?

Accepted Answer

No. You can use Blue Merino for the full 14-day trial without entering a credit card.

Question 39

How much does Blue Merino cost?

Accepted Answer

Blue Merino is $55 including GST per practitioner, per month, with all features included. There are no lock-in contracts.

Question 40

Is there a minimum contract?

Accepted Answer

The minimum subscription period is one month. After that, you can cancel whenever you like.

Question 41

How does clinic billing work?

Accepted Answer

You only pay for practitioners. Owners and administrators who aren’t seeing patients do not take up a paid practitioner seat. As practitioners are added or removed, your subscription adjusts to match the number of practitioner seats on your clinic account.

Question 42

Can I have more than one practitioner on an account?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Blue Merino is built for clinics as well as solo practitioners. There are three main account roles: Owner Full access to the clinic account, including billing and clinic settings. A clinic can have more than one owner. Administrator Designed for practice managers, reception teams and other staff who need access to help run the clinic but do not see patients themselves. Practitioner The clinicians using Blue Merino for consultations, clinical notes and documentation. You only pay for practitioners. Owners and administrators who aren’t seeing patients do not take up a paid seat.

Question 43

Can I have more than one owner?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A clinic can have multiple owners where more than one person needs full access to the account and clinic settings.

Question 44

What can a clinic administrator do?

Accepted Answer

Administrators currently have broad access across the clinic. We’re also developing owner-controlled permissions so clinics will be able to decide more precisely what individual administrators can see and change. Rather than Blue Merino deciding what every practice manager or reception team should be able to access, clinic owners will have more control over what makes sense for their own clinic.

Question 45

Do administrators cost extra?

Accepted Answer

No. You only pay for practitioners who use Blue Merino clinically. Owners and administrators who are not seeing patients do not require a paid practitioner seat.

Question 46

Can I add or remove practitioners as my team changes?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can add or remove practitioners through your clinic settings whenever you need to. Your subscription adjusts to reflect the number of practitioners on the account.

Question 47

Does each practitioner have their own writing style?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Blue Merino adapts to the way each practitioner documents rather than forcing the whole clinic into a single writing style.

Question 48

What happens if I cancel?

Accepted Answer

Your account remains active until the end of your current billing period. After that, the account closes and your Blue Merino data is retained for 90 days. During that period you can sign back in to read and export your records, or resubscribe and continue from where you left off. We email you before the end of that period. Once the 90 days have passed, the data held within your Blue Merino account is permanently deleted.

Question 49

Can I come back after cancelling?

Accepted Answer

Yes. If you resubscribe during the 90 days that follow cancellation, you can pick up from where you left off.

Question 50

Can I get my data out?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can ask us for an export of your notes and records. If you’ve been publishing your completed notes into Cliniko as you go, those clinical records already remain within your Cliniko account regardless of whether you continue using Blue Merino.

Question 51

What happens to notes already sent to Cliniko?

Accepted Answer

They stay in Cliniko. Cancelling Blue Merino does not remove clinical records that have already been published to your Cliniko account.

Question 52

My microphone isn’t working. What should I check?

Accepted Answer

First, make sure your browser has permission to use your microphone. If you’re using a desktop or laptop and have the choice, we recommend using the latest version of Chrome for the most reliable recording experience. On an iPhone or iPad, use Safari.

Question 53

My clinic Wi-Fi is unreliable. Can I still use Blue Merino?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Blue Merino can work over a normal mobile connection such as 4G or 5G, so you can use your phone or another connected device if your clinic Wi-Fi is unreliable. A brief connection interruption during a consultation does not mean you need to stop. Blue Merino continues buffering and catches up when your connection returns.

Question 54

I still need help

Accepted Answer

If you can’t find the answer you need here, get in touch with the Blue Merino team and we’ll help you work through it. Contact Blue Merino →

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