Abridge Install & Auth

Overview

Configure Abridge ambient AI platform credentials and EHR integration tokens. Abridge is an enterprise clinical documentation platform — it does not have a public npm/pip SDK. Integration happens through EHR-embedded workflows (Epic Pal, Athena, eClinicalWorks) and partner API access.

Prerequisites

Healthcare organization with Abridge contract
EHR system access (Epic, Athena, eClinicalWorks, Cerner, or AllScripts)
Abridge Partner Portal credentials from your sales engineer
HIPAA-compliant infrastructure (required for PHI handling)

Instructions

Step 1: Obtain Abridge Partner Credentials

# Abridge uses partner-issued credentials, not self-service API keys
# Contact your Abridge sales engineer for:
# 1. Partner API client_id and client_secret
# 2. Organization ID (org_id)
# 3. Sandbox environment URL

# Store credentials securely (never in source control)
cat > .env.local << 'EOF'
ABRIDGE_CLIENT_ID=partner_xxxxxxxxxxxx
ABRIDGE_CLIENT_SECRET=secret_xxxxxxxxxxxx
ABRIDGE_ORG_ID=org_xxxxxxxxxxxx
ABRIDGE_BASE_URL=https://api.abridge.com/v1
ABRIDGE_SANDBOX_URL=https://sandbox.api.abridge.com/v1
EOF

chmod 600 .env.local
echo ".env.local" >> .gitignore

Step 2: Configure Epic EHR Integration (Most Common Path)

// src/config/abridge-ehr.ts
// Abridge is Epic's first "Pal" — integration uses Epic's FHIR R4 APIs

interface AbridgeEpicConfig {
  epicClientId: string;           // From Epic App Orchard registration
  epicFhirBaseUrl: string;        // e.g., https://fhir.epic.com/interconnect-fhir-oauth
  abridgeOrgId: string;           // From Abridge partner portal
  abridgeApiBaseUrl: string;      // Partner API endpoint
  smartLaunchUrl: string;         // SMART on FHIR launch URL
}

const config: AbridgeEpicConfig = {
  epicClientId: process.env.EPIC_CLIENT_ID!,
  epicFhirBaseUrl: process.env.EPIC_FHIR_BASE_URL!,
  abridgeOrgId: process.env.ABRIDGE_ORG_ID!,
  abridgeApiBaseUrl: process.env.ABRIDGE_BASE_URL!,
  smartLaunchUrl: `${process.env.EPIC_FHIR_BASE_URL}/oauth2/authorize`,
};

export default config;

Step 3: Authenticate via OAuth 2.0 (SMART on FHIR)

// src/auth/smart-fhir-auth.ts
import axios from 'axios';

interface SmartTokenResponse {
  access_token: string;
  token_type: 'Bearer';
  expires_in: number;
  scope: string;
  patient?: string;         // Patient context from EHR launch
  encounter?: string;       // Encounter context from EHR launch
}

async function getAbridgeToken(
  authCode: string,
  redirectUri: string
): Promise<SmartTokenResponse> {
  const tokenUrl = `${process.env.EPIC_FHIR_BASE_URL}/oauth2/token`;

  const response = await axios.post(tokenUrl, new URLSearchParams({
    grant_type: 'authorization_code',
    code: authCode,
    redirect_uri: redirectUri,
    client_id: process.env.EPIC_CLIENT_ID!,
    client_secret: process.env.EPIC_CLIENT_SECRET!,
  }), {
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded' },
  });

  return response.data;
}

export { getAbridgeToken, SmartTokenResponse };

Step 4: Verify Connection

// src/auth/verify-connection.ts
import axios from 'axios';

async function verifyAbridgeConnection(): Promise<boolean> {
  try {
    // Verify partner API access
    const response = await axios.get(
      `${process.env.ABRIDGE_BASE_URL}/health`,
      {
        headers: {
          'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.ABRIDGE_CLIENT_SECRET}`,
          'X-Org-Id': process.env.ABRIDGE_ORG_ID!,
        },
        timeout: 5000,
      }
    );

    console.log('Abridge connection verified:', response.data.status);
    return response.status === 200;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Abridge connection failed:', error);
    return false;
  }
}

Output

.env.local with partner credentials (chmod 600, gitignored)
EHR integration config pointing to correct FHIR endpoints
SMART on FHIR OAuth flow for clinician authentication
Verified connectivity to Abridge partner API

Examples

In a sandbox onboarding session, obtain a non-production client from the partner portal and place its values in the deployment platform's secret store or a local, gitignored environment file with restrictive permissions. Complete a SMART-on-FHIR authorization using a sandbox redirect URI, then call the health endpoint and record only its HTTP status and organization-safe request identifier. A 200 response proves connectivity, not production readiness. If verification returns 401 or 403, stop and confirm the client, scope, organization provisioning, and redirect URI with the service owners; never paste a credential into a ticket, shell history, or source file.

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
`401 Unauthorized`	Invalid partner credentials	Contact Abridge sales engineer for new credentials
`403 Forbidden`	Org not provisioned	Verify org_id matches your Abridge contract
SMART launch failure	Epic App Orchard not configured	Register app in Epic App Orchard first
CORS errors	Wrong redirect URI	Update allowed redirect URIs in Epic portal
Certificate error	Self-signed cert in sandbox	Use Abridge-provided sandbox CA certificate

Security Checklist

Credentials stored in environment variables, never in code
.env.local is gitignored and chmod 600
OAuth tokens stored in encrypted session store
PHI data encrypted at rest and in transit (HIPAA requirement)
Audit logging enabled for all Abridge API calls
BAA (Business Associate Agreement) signed with Abridge

Resources

Next Steps

After authentication is configured, proceed to abridge-hello-world for your first ambient session test.