2023-12-04

Improve Patient Care and Outcomes with Key Dashboards in Connect Care

Three new feedback dashboards are made available in Connect Care as part of the Acute Care Bundle Improvement (ACBI) Initiative, which helps clinicians and managers improve quality of care and patient outcomes (learn more about ACBI here). Most managers, prescribers, Quality Management teams and reporting users will have access to these dashboards.

  • Minimum Use Norms Feedback – Group and Personal Dashboards
    • "Minimum Use Norms" are a set of practices that all clinicians should follow to assure safe and equitable use of Connect Care. Without them, decision supports, documentation aids, and inquiry supports do not work to clinician or patient advantage.
    • The individual dashboard provides feedback about trends in norms compliance. This information can help clinicians identify potential workflow challenges and consider options for optimizing both the user's experience and the quality of the health record.
    • The group dashboard provides anonymized group data to clinical oversight groups (e.g., unit managers), again helping recognize opportunities for both Connect Care and workflow optimization.
  • Meaningful Use Norms Feedback - Group Dashboard
    • "Meaningful Use Norms" are about how a clinical information system is used in ways that promote improved quality and efficiency of care. They apply to all clinicians. Connect Care contains tools and supports for meaningful use, but these depend on good compliance with minimum use norms.

The ACBI Initiative is a provincial quality improvement project that aims to integrate, or "bundle" evidence-informed best-practice projects under a common framework and shared user supports. This integration and coordination makes improvement projects more consistent, aligned and manageable for providers and patients across AHS. Examples of patient experience goals include: 

  • Fewer unnecessary days spent in hospital. 
  • Fewer avoidable readmissions to the hospital after discharge. 
  • Safer continuity of care across transitions from home to hospital to community care.

For information about accessing and using to Minimum and Meaningful Use dashboards: 

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2023-12-01

CMIO Prescriber Drop-ins Now Closed

As we approach the end of the fourth week of Connect Care at the Launch 7 sites, the CMIO Site and Virtual Drop-in Centres have now closed, and many Super Users have been pulled back. Though the launch support period may have ended at your site, that is not the end of Connect Care support available for prescribers. 

It is expected that new users will continue to have questions as they encounter situations perhaps not covered in basic training, or when returning to a workflow they need a refresher on, or when there is an opportunity to dive into some of the more advanced tricks and tools available to get the most out of the Connect Care clinical information system (CIS) and make your user experience smoother. There are a number of post-launch supports in place for these reasons. 

  • If you are experiencing a problem that has possible immediate patient care impact, call the IT Service Desk & Solution Centre at 1-877-311-4300 (#1 for Connect Care). The Service Desk is able to provide high-level workflow and training support; urgent issues will be escalated to an on-call CMIO training team member.
  • For all other issues, take a look at this FAQ to discover the best post-launch resource to use for help.
Don't struggle - ask for help. A solution is likely just a call or click away.

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2023-11-30

Obtaining CPD Credit for Connect Care Training

Connect Care physician training is currently eligible for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) credit with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, for self-directed and group learning activities. Credits through the College of Family Physicians of Canada have been offered in the past, however, they are currently unavailable. The CMIO is in the process of reviewing eligibility with the College of Family Physicians of Canada. When there is an update, we will post it here.

More information about available credit types and weights, together with procedures for claiming credits, is provided in a tip sheet, included in the Connect Care Manual:
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2023-11-24

On Other Channels...

Thank you for continuing to check the Connect Care update blog for prescribers (ideally, subscribe to multiple channels; see instructions). Recent additions to this blog and its various channels:

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2023-11-17

On Other Channels...

Thank you for continuing to check the Connect Care update blog for prescribers (ideally, subscribe to multiple channels; see instructions). Recent additions to this blog and its various channels:

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2023-11-14

All User Bulletin - PowerMic 4 Issues

All-user-bulletins highlight stumbling blocks that all prescribers need to be aware of when using the Connect Care clinical information system.

PowerMic 4 Not Compatible on Thin Clients

Dragon Medical One (DMO) requires a microphone to function. Connect Care provides the PowerMic Mobile (PMM) application as the default microphone solution for prescribers, but some may prefer to use wired/USB microphones. USB microphones are not a standard offering at AHS, and microphone peripherals are the responsibility of the user to purchase as bring your own device (BYOD).

Prescribers across the zones have reported issues with using their PowerMic 4 with an AHS device. While the PowerMic 4 may work on personal devices and some AHS full clients, PowerMic 4 is not currently fully supported on all AHS devices. In particular, they are not supported on AHS thin clients, which are the more common type of workstation in the North Zone. 

The AHS technology teams are currently in the process of testing PowerMic 4. In the meantime, prescribers are encouraged to use other tools such as the PMM app, or a device that is certified as being compatible with all AHS devices, such as PowerMic 3; see the 1-pager for a list of all compatible devices. 

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2023-11-10

On Other Channels...

Thank you for continuing to check the Connect Care update blog for prescribers (ideally, subscribe to multiple channels; see instructions). Recent additions to this blog and its various channels:

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Tickets, Tickets, Tickets!

Connect Care Launch 7 has gone well, credit to the clinicians, leaders, trainers, Super Users and many others who have worked so hard to prepare.

Launch success is less about absence of problems and more about rapid attention to problems. In this, Launch 7 is doing extraordinarily well. Most issues are resolved quickly. Many stimulate improvements that benefit entire Connect Care community.

What's left are a few tricky problems. These are context-dependent. When a specific print fails, for example, the fault can be device-specific or, sometimes, an intersect of device, department, function and location.

Cleaning up tricky problems is a group effort. Our technical specialists need users to:

  • Not ignore problems, even those that seem minor. Report by one means or another (if too busy to submit a helpdesk ticket, jot down the particulars in a secure message or In Basket note to a Super User).
    • Reported problems get "ticketed", which means that they are tracked and resolved as fast as possible. 
  • When reporting printer problems, always include any relevant order number.
For more information:
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2023-11-09

Issues with eScription

Some users have reported issues using the provincial eScription services. The in-system dictation system, Dragon Medical One, is strongly recommended for optimal user experience, and the eScription service will be decommissioned in the near future. 

If a clinician has to use eScription and experiences issues, refer to the Insite page for help, or contact IT Solution Center at 1-877-311-4300.

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Just-in-Time Learning!

Our new Connect Care Launch 7 prescribers are on the steeper part of their learning curve. Help is available!

A powerful way to reinforce basic training, while busy with clinical work, is to consider one or two high-impact tips per day. To that end, we regularly post "Tippies" on the Connect Care Tips channel (tips.connect-care.ca), which contain some simple but impactful suggestions as well as some more advanced tips. 

The easiest way to follow these postings is to subscribe to the Tips blog channel. Also consider subscribing to both the FAQ (questions.connect-care.ca) and the Support (support.connect-care.ca) channels. We answer common questions on the former and provide important news about fixes and enhancements on the latter. 

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2023-11-08

Improving Issue Reports and Help Desk Interactions

Problem reports (help.connect-care.ca "tickets") have been well within expectations so far with Connect Care Launch 7. Of course, more tickets are expected as clinical volumes ramp up with more outpatient activity. The good news is that tickets are resolved quickly, with critical tickets resolved within minutes to hours.

Helpdesk tickets route most efficiently when the user provides clear information at the right level of detail. See our tips for impactful issue reports:

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2023-11-05

Launch 7: We are GO!

All Connect Care systems activated on time at 05:00! 

Today, Connect Care welcomes 79 sites from across the province into the family; with this launch, all acute care AHS sites are now on Connect Care! The first few days will be intense, but with lots of help at hand we are confident that progress will be fast. 

Prescribers, please make use of the drop-in centres and other launch supports (launchhelp.connect-care.ca). Watch this channel for any updates, as well as the Support channel for information on "hot topic" common issues that have been flagged for Launch 7 prescribers.

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2023-11-04

Countdown Checklist L7: Drop In

Continuing a list of essential actions for Connect Care Launch 7 prescribers readying for launch November 5, 2023...
  • Drop In
This ends our countdown checklist, with conversion of old to new charts well underway today and tomorrow. We hope all goes well Sunday at 05:00 when the new charts become the official record of care!

Of course that's only the start. We'll have a working system but we'll need to grow it, and grow with it, to fulfill its potential.
Informatics specialists, Super Users and physician informatics leads are eager to help. Reach out.
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Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 0: Share and Learn

Continuing a list of essential actions for Connect Care Launch 7 prescribers readying for launch November 5, 2023...
  • Share and Learn
We are down to the final few hours. Any preparations that could be, have been. Now we must turn to one another in a spirit of collaboration.

Super Users are widely distributed. Look for yellow and orange lanyards (prescriber supports; pink caps in the OR). Don't struggle. Ask for help.
Super Users use social media to rapidly share learnings so they can be widely applied... ask them for help. They can also way-find when they are unable to provide immediate help themselves.
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2023-11-03

On Other Channels...

Thank you for continuing to check the Connect Care update blog for prescribers (ideally, subscribe to multiple channels; see instructions). Recent additions to this blog and its various channels:

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Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 1: You've Got This!

Continuing a list of essential actions for Connect Care Launch 7 prescribers readying for launch November 5, 2023...
  • You've Got This -- And We've Got Your Back
Physicians, nurse practitioners and other prescribers have dedicated time and energy to preparing for Connect Care Launch 7. You've got this! 
  • There are approximately 1,300 CMIO end users across the North and South Zones who are part of Launch 7: physicians, nurse practitioners, clinical assistants, physician assistants, dentists, residents, medical learners, and nurse practitioner students.
  • 137 CMIO Super Users are deployed across the North and South Zones, for at-the-elbow support totalling over 5,433 hours of scheduled availability. 
  • 1,696 hours of on-site drop-in support and 1,294 hours of virtual drop-in support are scheduled for prescribers during the pre- and post-launch period.
Watch for Connect Care posters in Launch 7 sites, prescriber updates, and the launch support pages in the Manual.
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2023-11-02

Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 2: Catch Up Dictations

Continuing a list of essential actions for Connect Care Launch 7 prescribers readying for launch November 5, 2023...
  • Dictate any pre-launch admission or transfer notes
Launch 7 inpatient facilities are supported for dictation of admission histories, transfer notes, consultation reports and discharge summaries. This is done through the provincial eScription service, with products appearing in the Netcare electronic health record. These dictations will also be available to refer to in Connect Care when it launches.

Succinct initial progress notes become possible in Connect Care if they can refer to an existing digital admission or transfer record and simply note any changes since. The same applies for Consults performed in the coming week for patients expected to still be in-hospital post-launch.
  • Take advantage of eScription to facilitate easier Connect Care cutover this weekend!
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2023-11-01

Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 3: Buddy Up, Team Up

Continuing a list of essential actions for Connect Care Launch 7 prescribers readying for launch November 5, 2023...
  • Buddy-Up and Team-Up
Every clinical group will have members who like, and others who dislike, information management. This is a good time to recognize this reality and identify buddies for providers who may struggle.

There are valuable human resources embedded in Launch 7 sites and others flowing in from Zone sites already on Connect Care. Pre-socialize your Super Users, Medical Informatics Leads, Area Trainers and other specialty, ward or clinic informaticians. Create and share a launch contact list that fits your local group needs. Prescriber launch supports (launchhelp.connect-care.ca) link to a Super User schedule - good contacts to start with.

This is also a good time to consider how clinical information system adoption work can be divided and shared. Some personalization tasks, for example, can dramatically improve the user experience but take time to set up. Many can be initiated by a team member who understands the preferences of colleagues then shared for adoption by a larger group. Examples of allocatable personalization tasks are listed in the Connect Care Manual.

Consider devoting group, division, or other business meetings to identifying, and sharing, remaining team readiness tasks.
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2023-10-31

Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 4: Unburden as Possible

Continuing a list of essential actions for Connect Care Launch 7 prescribers readying for launch November 5, 2023...
  • Unburden where and when Possible
Many clinical services have limited abilities to control patient numbers or clinical workloads. However, each Launch 7 zone is implementing strategies to ease launch pressures in ways that befit their units and capabilities. In addition, clinicians can help by:
  • Identifying and flagging complex continuing patients who may need more cutover attention during the pre-launch week (see previous posts on pre-launch cutover tasks here and here). 
  • Printing patient lists the evening before launch to ease populating provider care team lists on launch day.
  • Protecting time before launch to confirm access to the Connect Care production environment for re-familiarization with training activities and high-value personalizations.
See our Byte about workload planning for more information.
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2023-10-30

Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 5: Find Drop-In Centres

Continuing a list of essential actions for Connect Care Launch 7 prescribers readying for launch November 5, 2023...
  • Take advantage of the Prescriber Drop-in Centres
Scheduled in-person drop-in help sessions are available at NLRHC for North Zone and CRH and MHRH for South Zone, just before and for weeks post-launch. These are good for troubleshooting issues related to mobility, personal device, dictation, personalization and workflows, as well as login, role and access problems.

Schedules for the drop-in centres (including dates, times, and rooms) can be found in the Connect Care Manual. Note that locations and times can change. Late-breaking information about the drop-in centres will be posted in the Connect Care Manual (launchhelp.connect-care.ca).
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2023-10-29

Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 6: Follow the Tippies

Continuing a list of essential actions for Connect Care Launch 7 prescribers readying for launch November 5, 2023...
  • Follow Connect Care Tippies
With most Launch 7 prescribers having full Connect Care production access, this is prime time for setting up starter personalizations that can streamline Connect Care workflows at launch. This is also a great time to collect simple best practices that colleagues have found most useful. These "Tippy" peer-to-peer tips can be considered within a moment, with many able to speed things up for most users.

Tippies are published on our "Tips" channel (button above or tips.connect-care.ca) and are re-released approximately twice a week in the peri-launch period. Please consider subscribing to the Tips channel.

The entire Tippies collection can be viewed via tippies.connect-care.ca or tippy.connect-care.ca (worth bookmarking).
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2023-10-28

Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 7: Support Cutover Activities

Continuing a list of essential actions for Connect Care Launch 7 prescribers readying for launch November 5, 2023...
  • Support Cutover Activities
Key for attending physicians, nurse practitioners and trainees anticipating Launch 7 inpatient and/or outpatient launch is work to make sure that essential information is ready for loading or linking into the Connect Care clinical information system before launch... and that legacy systems are tidied up so that they can be retired. Related preparations include: 
  • General inpatient: Make sure that all dictations are complete and signed; use dictation (eScription) for all admissions, transfers and consults between now and launch, if possible, so that transition notes at launch can refer to recent documentation in Netcare. 
  • Surgical inpatient: Make sure that work is underway to enter upcoming surgical cases into Connect Care.
  • Outpatient: Make sure that all clinic documentation is complete, signed and routed, while also taking care to close any charts still open in legacy systems.
  • Complex patients: Consider pre-launch problem list documentation to support easy transition note generation at launch. Please reach out to your Cutover Team at cc.cutover@ahs.ca for the timing of this activity.
  • Long-term care (LTC):
    • October 30–November 4 - Review orders entered into Connect Care for LTC residents to ensure accuracy of medication and non-medication orders. 
    • LTC clinical teams may still be entering care plan information and other clinical documentation, but the majority of orders will be entered by October 28.
Key resources:
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2023-10-27

On Other Channels...

Thank you for continuing to check the Connect Care update blog for prescribers (ideally, subscribe to multiple channels; see instructions). Recent additions to this blog and its various channels:

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Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 8: Complete Login Lab

Continuing a list of essential actions for Connect Care Launch 7 prescribers readying for launch November 5, 2023...
  • Complete CMIO Login Lab
It is essential that all Launch 7 prescribers confirm access to the AHS Network (insite.ahs.ca), to the Unified Access Portal (myapps.ahs.ca) and to Production (PRD) Connect Care.

In addition, all prescribers are required to complete a "CMIO Login Lab" found within Connect Care Hyperspace. This checks that the right tools are assigned to the user in the right way. 

Step-by-step instructions are provided in a tip:
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2023-10-26

Problem Power - Tips and Training about Problem Lists

Connect Care Problem List management can seem daunting at first. With a little familiarity, however, problem skills can improve the Connect Care user experience, while reducing information burdens and increasing patient safety.

Consistent problem list management is a Connect Care minimum use norm. It is also a prerequisite for problem-oriented charting, which further promotes efficient and effective clinical documentation.  

In tandem with Launch 7, the "Problem Power" tips series (problemlists.connect-care.ca) will re-post daily. Short tips illustrate little things that can make problem list management easier and more impactful.

A full list of all Problem Power tips, in order, is maintained in the Clinician Manual:

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Between the Charts: CMIO Newsletter for Prescribers

We're happy to announce that we have started a monthly newsletter for prescribers, called "Between the Charts". This newsletter will summarize 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 first issue is now out, available at the below link. Each new issue will be announced here, and an archive will be made available 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.

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Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 9: Check In Basket

Continuing a list of essential actions for Connect Care Launch 7 prescribers readying for launch November 5, 2023...
  • Check In Basket
Launch 7 prescribers who have completed basic training and the associated proficiency assessment gain access to the Connect Care production environment (PRD), where they can complete personalizations and otherwise get ready for launch. As soon as a prescriber gains access to PRD, they also have an active "In Basket", with immediate implications to the routing of patient test results and communication.

Some prescribers participate in or are affected by early cutover and conversion activities; they can line up orders that need to be ready in the system at launch. There may be communications that relate to setting up surgical cases or outpatient encounters that will occur post-launch. In addition, once a prescriber's account is activated in PRD, new test results will start to automatically route to the prescriber's In Basket, and other Connect Care users can send messages to the prescriber via In Basket.

More information on managing results and reports is available in the Connect Care Manual. A Results Management Toolkit has been prepared (and is continually enhanced) to help prescribers hone effective and efficient results management habits. Prescribers with "mixed-context" practices need to be aware of situations where results might route to both their Connect Care and external EMR systems.

For these and other reasons, it is best to start regular In Basket checks now. A useful In Basket personalization sends alerts to an email of one's choice when there is new In Basket content.
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2023-10-25

Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 10: Anticipate Computerized Prescriber Order Entry (CPOE)

Continuing a list of essential actions for Connect Care Launch 7 prescribers readying for launch November 5, 2023...
  • Anticipate CPOE
Computerized Prescriber Order Entry (CPOE) refers to the process of a medical prescriber entering orders electronically via a digital health record instead of using paper-based processes. 

CPOE offers an important means by which health processes and outcomes can improve. Entered orders trigger clinical decision supports that can help avoid unsafe medications, promote best practices and improve system performance. Studies show that the move from paper to CPOE decreases common medication errors by 50% or more.

Accordingly, it is a Minimum Use expectation that all tests, interventions and medications that can be ordered in Connect Care must be ordered in Connect Care. Very few exceptions are acceptable.

Connect Care provides tools that make CPOE as easy as possible. Indeed, with the convenience of ordering personalized favourites on any computer or mobile device, anywhere, anytime, ordering is easier to do, and do well, than when constrained by paper. Still, Launch 7 will bring significant change for many providers at facilities moving from paper to computerized order entry. This is a good time to anticipate and prepare for CPOE:
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2023-10-24

All User Bulletin - PowerMic Mobile App Issue

All-user-bulletins highlight stumbling blocks that all prescribers need to be aware of when using the Connect Care clinical information system.

PowerMic Mobile App Issue

We are currently experiencing issues with the Android version of the PowerMic Mobile (PMM) app. Android users are reporting that they are unable to successfully connect their PMM to Dragon Medical One (DMO).

A workaround has been developed - see the Support post for more details. If you continue to experience this issue, please contact the Service Desk (1-877-311-4300) for support. 

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Ambulatory Tips, Tricks, and Traps - Launch 7 Prescriber Support Session

The ambulatory component of basic Connect Care training for prescribers who also provide acute care is necessarily streamlined. However, some prescribers with a significant ambulatory workload may feel like they have not had sufficient exposure to the ambulatory tools and workflows in Connect Care via basic training to be comfortable navigating the Connect Care clinical information system during a busy clinic come launch. To help these users, the CMIO will be hosting an additional ambulatory support session. 

This 1-hour Zoom session is an opportunity to see ambulatory workflows in action, to hear advice from providers who have been using Connect Care in busy outpatient practices, and to ask questions – all in anticipation of your first day in clinic on Connect Care. To join, click the Zoom link below; if you are unable to attend, a recording will be posted here.

Note that there are also still a few upcoming support sessions for Launch 7 prescribers regarding therapy plans (October 27 and 31). These sessions demonstrate the process of ordering therapy plans, and will prepare you for entering orders post-launch and when asked to review converted legacy orders prior to launch. For more information on the therapy plan support sessions, see this post.

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