Below is a digest of new blog posts across all the Connect Care clinician blog channels in the last week. For more info on the blogs, click here.
In the early hours of Thursday, July 10, 2025, between 00:30 and 02:45, the environment that controls information flow between clinical systems, the Regional Integration Engine, will be taking a scheduled outage. During this outage, Connect Care will continue to be available; however, there will be a delay in ordering and resulting messages flowing between systems integrated with Connect Care such as WellSky (Transfusion Medicine), AegisPOC (Point-of-Care Testing), and OBIX.
Information entered in or for Connect Care during the outage will be queued and automatically update at the end of the outage.
Below is a digest of new blog posts across all the Connect Care clinician blog channels in the last week. For more info on the blogs, click here.
Remote access to clinical applications, including Connect Care, happens through a software application called Citrix Workspace, accessed via the Citrix MyApps Store. The MyApps Store will have a scheduled upgrade on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, from 18:00 to 19:00. This upgrade introduces a refreshed user interface and some important changes to functionality that may impact prescribers. Access to Connect Care will continue during the upgrade without interruption.
As of June 26, 2025, a new “Discharge Transfer Gateway” can be found in all patient charts opened to an inpatient encounter. The Gateway replaces the prior “Transfer” and “Discharge” navigators. It provides simple instructions, together with help and other links to supporting information, to help prescribers select the best tool for facilitating patient journeys to different destinations. These include discharge to home, within-facility transfers, and inter-facility transfers (IFTs). For IFTs, the Gateway provides distinct pathways for Connect Care and non-Connect Care destinations, and whether the transfer is within Alberta or out-of-province. Selecting the best path ensures that the right information is reviewed, actions are taken and documentation is completed.
The new Gateway has three main sections, detailed below (click the camera icon to see a screenshot). Note there may be variances for some specialties (e.g., ASAP, Critical Care).
This change affects all inpatient Connect Care configurations. The Clinician Manual is updated with revised tip sheets and demos.
Prescribers continue to have the ability to personalize chart activity tabs, including favouriting individual tabs for the discharge, deceased and transfer navigators.
Below is a digest of new blog posts across all the Connect Care clinician blog channels in the last week. For more info on the blogs, click here.
Our monthly newsletter for prescribers, called "Between the Charts", summarizes key news items, Epic system updates, efficiency tips and extras that will help prescribers optimize their Connect Care user experience, all in two pages. The next issue is now out, available at the below link! This issue includes information on:
The previous issues can still be accessed, via the archive in the Connect Care Manual.
If you have any feedback on this issue or have a suggestion for content you'd like included in a future issue, please send us an email. Note there will not be a July issue, so the next will be in August.
Connect Quality is a free program created by the Chief Medical Information Office (CMIO) to help you meet your College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) Physician Practice Improvement Program (PPIP) project requirements! Our goal is to make your work easier. We have organized the resources, training, reporting tools, and documentation required for you to meet CPSA PPIP requirements, so you can focus on looking after your patients.
Four Connect Quality projects are currently available, covering the activities CPSA requires physicians to complete over a 5-year cycle:
…And have we mentioned that Connect Quality is FREE?!
Sign up today at connectquality.ca! For more information, reach out to your Site Medical Informatics Lead (Site MIL) or email CMIO.Optimization@ahs.ca.
Below is a digest of new blog posts across all the Connect Care clinician blog channels in the last week. For more info on the blogs, click here.
Below is a digest of new blog posts across all the Connect Care clinician blog channels in the last 2 weeks. For more info on the blogs, click here.
Below is a digest of new blog posts across all the Connect Care clinician blog channels in the last 2 weeks. For more info on the blogs, click here.
As part of our documentation quality improvement initiative, we promote practical ways for clinicians to provide clear and actionable communication at transitions of care.
Prior postings describe tools that can help clinicians request or confirm primary care services for patients. A related workflow helps clinicians seek or confirm continuity of care for patients leaving hospital or transferring between clinics or providers.
A Continuity of Care letter can facilitate properly documented transfers of care between prescribers, when a full referral workflow is not appropriate or needed. Optional chart content (e.g., patient care coordination note, consult note) can be selected to support the communication.
For more information:
Two new resources for lab ordering are now available on the Learning Home Dashboard (under "Specialty Guides – Lab Ordering"), as well as the Connect Care Manual.
Our monthly newsletter for prescribers, called "Between the Charts", summarizes key news items, Epic system updates, efficiency tips and extras that will help prescribers optimize their Connect Care user experience, all in two pages. The next issue is now out, available at the below link! This issue includes information on:
The previous issues can still be accessed, via the archive in the Connect Care Manual.
If you have any feedback on this issue or have a suggestion for content you'd like included in a future issue, please send us an email.
As of Wednesday, May 28, 2025, Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) will be required when users access Microsoft 365 (M365) applications - i.e., the web versions of Microsoft Office software, including Outlook, SharePoint, and OneDrive - from personal workstations such as laptops. This change may prompt MFA when accessing CMIO and other AHS resource links, as most of our materials are hosted on SharePoint; however, links clicked from within Connect Care will not prompt MFA.
What is changing and why?
AHS IT is restoring Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) for Microsoft 365 (M365) applications accessed from personal workstations such as laptops. MFA was previously required for M365 apps, but was temporarily removed in December 2024 while AHS' SharePoint was migrated to the cloud. The migration process is now largely complete, and so M365 MFA is being reactivated to align with AHS' security policies.
This change does not impact shared workstations, or any other applications including Connect Care.
What action do you need to take?
The M365 MFA will be triggered only on personal workstations when accessing the web versions of Microsoft software; this includes opening a Microsoft web app (e.g., Outlook) as well as opening a document created by/saved on Microsoft software (e.g., a Word file, or a document saved on SharePoint) on your browser. Users will be prompted for personal login as usual, and then prompted for MFA confirmation (such as a code texted to a mobile phone). Once the MFA step is complete, the user will not need to re-authenticate for at least 6 hours.
It's been a year since we first announced the Connect Quality initiative, and nearly 250 Connect Care prescribers have already signed up for this amazing free program. Have you checked it out yet?
Connect Quality is a free program created by the Chief Medical Information Office (CMIO) to help you meet your College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) Physician Practice Improvement Program (PPIP) project requirements! Our goal is to make your work easier. We have organized the resources, training, reporting tools, and documentation required for you to meet CPSA PPIP requirements, so you can focus on looking after your patients.
Three Connect Quality projects are currently available, one for each of the activities CPSA requires physicians to complete over a 5-year cycle:
…And have we mentioned that Connect Quality is FREE?!
For those in the Calgary area, members of the CMIO Prescriber Experience and Medical Informatics team will be visiting select sites June 2 and 3 to demo how Connect Quality and the Signal tool in Connect Care can be used to meet CPSA PIPP requirements. If you're at one of these sites or are nearby and are available, consider dropping by!
With their specialized health literacy expertise and intentional plain language reviews, the CMIO’s MyHealth.Alberta.ca content team works every day to make sure that Albertans can find, understand, and use the health information they need.
This work, along with contributions from partners across Alberta Health Services, was recently recognized with a major North American award for excellence in plain language communication. The immunization health topic website on MyHealth.Alberta.ca received both a ClearMark Award as the winner of the websites category and the top honour across all categories: the Grand ClearMark Award. One judge commented, “It is great to see an organization truly care about asking real users what they need and then delivering it.”
The immunization health topic website represents a collaboration of dedicated team members and stakeholders, each bringing unique skills, experiences, and perspectives. Partners on the MyHealth.Alberta.ca content team, Innovation and Digital Solutions, Communicable Disease Control, Communications, Information Technology, and Provincial Population and Public Health came together to create this valuable — and now North American award-winning — resource for Albertans.
The ClearMark Awards are hosted by the Center for Plain Language. They recognize outstanding plain language communication in English, French, and Spanish across North America.
This award is wonderful recognition of the plain language and health literacy work happening within the CMIO and motivates us to keep moving forward — using design, health literacy, and plain language to make a real difference in the lives of Albertans. If you have a health literacy question or need, the MyHealth.Alberta.ca team has health literacy and plain language experts who can help. Connect with the team at feedback@myhealth.alberta.ca.
Below is a digest of new blog posts across all the Connect Care clinician blog channels in the last 2 weeks. For more info on the blogs, click here.
As part of our documentation quality improvement initiative, we promote practical ways for clinicians to provide clear and actionable communication supporting coordination of care.
Alberta Blue Cross (ABC) drug special authorization form(s) must be completed, submitted and approved in order for a patient to be eligible for health insurance coverage of a number of outpatient medications that may be supported by programs administered by ABC. For example, a number of medications are covered for Alberta seniors (aged 65+ years) if specific clinical criteria are met.
Historically, clinicians have had to obtain printed forms, transcribe information from the medical record, and then mail or fax handwritten responses to ABC. These requests are often rejected for lack of information... or legible information.
Alberta Health Services is collaborating with Alberta Blue Cross to digitize all ABC special authorization forms (150+). The first 40 forms, representing the most common drug authorization requests, are now supported by semi-automated workflows in Connect Care. Available demographic and clinical information is automatically pulled from the chart, and clinicians are provided with key support information for assessments that they must enter directly into the form.
As we continue to build up the ABC form repository within Connect Care, we invite prescribers (physicians, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, prescribing pharmacists) to start using the new ABC authorization workflow. For more information:
Below is a digest of new blog posts across all the Connect Care clinician blog channels in the last week. For more info on the blogs, click here.
As previously posted, Provincial Enterprise Imaging (PEI) is replacing the IMPAX system as the new Picture Archive and Communication System (PACS). The next phase of implementation will be in South Zone, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. With PEI implementation, OrthoView will also replace MediCAD as the orthopedic templating software.
Calgary Zone will implement PEI in September (a reminder will be posted here close to implementation date); for more information, see the posters.
Our monthly newsletter for prescribers, called "Between the Charts", summarizes key news items, Epic system updates, efficiency tips and extras that will help prescribers optimize their Connect Care user experience, all in two pages. The next issue is now out, available at the below link! This issue includes information on:
The previous issues can still be accessed, via the archive in the Connect Care Manual.
If you have any feedback on this issue or have a suggestion for content you'd like included in a future issue, please send us an email.
Below is a digest of new blog posts across all the Connect Care clinician blog channels in the last week. For more info on the blogs, click here. Note: A camera icon in a post on any of our channels indicates that there is an accompanying screenshot - just click the icon to view.
Below is a digest of new blog posts across all the Connect Care clinician blog channels in the last week. For more info on the blogs, click here. Note: A camera icon in a post on any of our channels indicates that there is an accompanying screenshot - just click the icon to view.
As part of our documentation quality improvement initiative, we promote practical ways for clinicians to provide clear and actionable communication at transitions of care.
Ideally, patients have access to health care supports in their home community or facility. This is usually reflected through an attachment to a primary care provider (PCP; e.g., family physician, nurse practitioner) or primary care service (e.g., primary care network).
Connect Care displays PCP attachment information in multiple locations and workflows. Where PCP information is displayed within transition/discharge planning reports (sidebar, admission/discharge navigators, Rapid Rounds, etc.), new functions are available when an existing PCP link is selected:
For more information:
Below is a digest of new blog posts across all the Connect Care clinician blog channels in the last week. For more info on the blogs, click here. Note: A camera icon in a post on any of our channels indicates that there is an accompanying screenshot - just click the icon to view.
As part of our documentation quality improvement initiative, we promote practical ways for clinicians to provide clear and actionable communication at transitions of care.
Some patients suffer from chronic or recurring conditions that may present in settings where staff are unfamiliar with specific treatment requirements. Examples include rare bleeding disorders, complement deficiencies, and complex metabolic disorders, as well as multi-emergency department users requiring a consistent approach to management that may differ from typical practice.
Clinicians managing such patients may have devised individualized treatment plans that work best for a particular patient with a particular health condition. These "Exceptional Care Plans" (ECP) are documented in Connect Care using a workflow that ensures that the existence of the plan is highlighted for others.
ECP workflows have been optimized to ensure that alerts to the presence of ECP(s) are available in ED Trackboards, Patient Lists, Outpatient Schedules and within any patient Chart via a Storyboard alert. A new Chart Review Notes tab ("ECP Notes") means that such plans are easily recognized, without having to scroll through many other note types. Workflow descriptions, tips and demonstrations are updated:
Below is a digest of new blog posts across all the Connect Care clinician blog channels in the last week. For more info on the blogs, click here. Note: A camera icon in a post on any of our channels indicates that there is an accompanying screenshot - just click the icon to view.