Seeking Connect Care Super Users

We've previously posted about Connect Care Physician Super Users. These physicians, clinicians or trainees become clinical experts in use of the clinical information system (CIS) and trusted resources to peers learning new workflows. As the Wave 1 launch rapidly approaches, we are recruiting in earnest!

Super Users are sought and supported from all clinical departments, ideally to a launch-density of one in every ten clinicians. They have three areas of focus:

• Provide in classroom support as their colleagues move through Connect Care training; 
• Provide ‘at the elbow’ support during the two weeks around launch; 
• Support post-launch activities. 

Super Users have clinical "street-smarts", with a pragmatic understanding of how clinical service works in busy facilities and clinics. They enjoy clinical and technical challenges, are approachable, communicate well, and excel at just-in-time problem solving. Interested practitioners are supported by other Connect Care trainers, gain change-agent coaching, and take advantage of special training pathways for their practice area.

Recruitment and hiring is coordinated by AHS Medical Affairs and the CMIO portfolio working with Zone Clinical Department Heads. Super Users will be assigned by site and specialty area to ensure the best possible coverage at launch.

Time commitments typically include: Connect Care training (12 hours –  7 hours of classroom and 5 hours virtual), Super User training (12 hours – 7 hours of classroom and 5 hours virtual); classroom support (15 hours); launch support (75 hours) and post-launch support (20 hours).

We are keen to identify clinicians who could benefit Connect Care while growing their own CIS agency as Super Users. Physicians working in both fee for service and contractual relationships, including the AMHSP, are encouraged to apply.

• Backgrounder: Physician Training Primer
• Byte: Physician Super Users
• Postings: Physician Super Users
• Email: mip@ahs.ca

Seeking Connect Care Physician Area Trainers

We have previously posted about Connect Care Provincial Physician Trainers (PPTs) and Connect Care Area Physician Trainers (APTs). APTs focus on the needs of clinical specialties and facilities, working under the guidance of PPTs. They are critical to Connect Care success and we are recruiting in earnest!

Connect Care promotes physicians training physicians. APTs are physicians drawn from representative clinical areas who help teach clinical information system (CIS) use to their peers. They are drawn to pragmatic teaching. They help colleagues attain CIS competency and proficiency, and are themselves supported by the CMIO Provincial Training team. Their reach is provincial. The curriculum they design is adapted to clinical area and facility needs.

APTs work with zone medical leadership and co-report to Associate Chief Medical Information Officers (ACMIOs). They are expected to contribute approximately 160 hours to this role over a 6-month period, including receiving training (64 hours), delivering training (60 hours) and providing launch support (36 hours).

The AHS CMIO portfolio works with AHS Zones to recruit the right number and diversity of APTs for successful launch. We are keen to identify clinicians who could benefit Connect Care while growing with the APT opportunity. Physicians working in both fee for service and contractual relationships, including the AMHSP, are encouraged to apply.

• Backgrounder: Physician Training Primer
• FAQ: Training for Physicians
• Position: Area Physician Trainer
• Postings Physician Area Trainers
• Email: mip@ahs.ca

Connect Care March 29 2019 Newsletter Posted

The March 29, 2019, Connect Care Newsletter is available via the link below; covering 1) Preparing for Wave 2, 2) Working with patients and families, and 3) MyHealth Record Launch.

• Connect Care Newsletter - March 29, 2019

Virtual Care Uncloaking in Canada

We recently alerted blog readers to the public release of MyHealth Records, a personal health record service available to all Albertans. This could ease patient access to some health information (e.g., vaccination records, selected laboratory tests) while also improving individuals' ability to gather and organize health history information.

In another recent release, we learn of Telus Health's introduction of Babylon Health to the Canadian public (the UK has a few years experience with Babylon).

The initial Telus offering includes a "chatbot" that patients can interact with to learn more about their symptoms. In addition, patients in British Columbia can book one-on-one video consultations with physicians who have signed up (and bill for) virtual visits.

It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. Health advocacy and regulatory bodies have concerns. Physicians may want to sign up and get a sense of the offering and possible professional impacts.

Connect Care is committed to support virtual health care services. However, these are envisioned as a seamless extension of health encounters supported by fully integrated health information services. Communications, documentation, planning, coordination and team interactions are all part of the same informational ecosystem. Alberta's HealthLink is tightly coupled with Connect Care and co-evolves to support a growing range virtual healthcare services.

For more information:

• CBC News Article: Filling the medical care gap or causing cracks?
• Website: Telus Babylon

MyHealth Records Public Release Today

Today Alberta Health completes the public launch of MyHealth Records (MHR, a.k.a. Personal Health Record or PHR; MyHealth.Alberta.ca). MHR offers an online personal portfolio where Albertans can enter and manage their own health information. The content can be shared with health care teams through printed summaries or personal device displays.

The first phase of MHR focuses on information gathered from and managed by individuals. There are tools for recording health measurements, health histories and wellness goals. Some extracts from the Netcare electronic health record are shared, including some community-dispensed medications, recent vaccinations and selected laboratory test results.

Growing use of MHR may affect how Albertans relate to health information and to their healthcare team. All clinicians are encouraged to learn about the MHR offering. Indeed, the best way to do this is to sign up for personal access.

Clinicians can visit the MyHealth Records webpage (myhealth.alberta.ca/mhr-provider) to learn more, and send questions or comments to myhealthrecords@gov.ab.ca.

• Alberta Health - Press Release
• MyHealth Records - Web Site
• MyHealth Records - Provider Information
• MyHealth Records - Physician FAQ
• MyHealth Records - Key Messages
• MyHealth Records - Access and Sign-up
• MyHealth Records - Questions and Feedback (myhealthrecords@gov.ab.ca)

Considering the Impact of Connect Care on Daily Operational Activities

As we move towards our first launch of the Connect Care clinical information system, it is time to shift our focus towards change management and readiness planning. The Change Impact Work Package is an early step in this planning. Through this work package, Specialty Working groups will review decisions they made to determine if the decisions will have an effect on our day-to-day operational activities.

To facilitate this process, each working group will be provided with a list of all of their Specialty CSD decisions, and Area Council Coordinators will prepare meetings and ensure that impacts are entered into the decision tracker. As groups go through this process, they will not be re-visiting decisions that have been made. Instead, they will use this opportunity to understand the operational impacts so we can better help our colleagues prepare for this transformation.

In addition to Specialty Working Groups, other areas will follow this same process. This includes Area Councils (where they are working as Specialty Working Groups), Complex Areas, Content and Standards Committees and more. Once complete the Change Impacts Task Force will review this work so that it can be included in readiness events, pre-classroom training and future chapters of the Readiness Playbook.

Medical Informatics Leads and other physicians on Area Councils and Specialty Working Groups serve as an essential bridge between the Connect Care initiative and clinical communities, and provide critical leadership in understanding the operational impacts of the design decisions.  We appreciate your support in helping us think through how the system design, general documentation, decision and inquiry supports may affect your colleagues at launch. Thank you again for your continued support of this initiative.

For more information, we have prepared one page overviews of the Change Impact Work Package and the Change Impact Task Force:

• Byte: Change Impact Work Package
• Byte: Change Impact Task Force

If you have any additional questions about this work, please email Linda Kuijten at Linda.Kuijten@albertahealthservices.ca.

Connect Care March 2019 Calendar

A summary of key Connect Care happenings in March 2019 has been posted to the Alberta Health Services (AHS) internal Connect Care website, linked below.

This is an intense month for our information technology colleagues, as plans and preparations are firmed up for deployment of medical and non-medical devices. Development of logon processes and bring your own device frameworks mature.

• Connect Care March 2019 Calendar

Connect Care March 1 2019 Newsletter Posted

The March 1, 2019, Connect Care Newsletter is available via the link below; covering the day-in-the-life poster  series and Epic’s recent Top of Klas award winnings.

• Connect Care Newsletter - March 1, 2019