2021-03-23

Workspace ONE Outage - Thursday March 25, 2021, 00:30-08:30

There will be an outage of the Workspace ONE application that AHS uses to manage clinical mobile applications Thursday March 25, 2021 between 00:30 and 08:30, to perform a patch. 

During the patching process, the Connect Care mobility apps Haiku and Canto will be unavailable or might respond slower than normal. PowerMic Mobile, the dictation application for Dragon Medical One, should be unaffected. Most services should be restored to a functional level by 04:30. Device owners are not required to keep their devices turned on during the outage.

For more information, please contact the AHS Service Desk at 1-877-311-4300.

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2021-03-22

Important Updates to Home Care Referral Workflows

Referrals for home care services are managed in Connect Care as part of “Continuing Care Access” (CCA), with workflows introduced late last year.  

Growing experience with Home Care orders has helped identify opportunities for improvement, especially the creation of a new Home Care orders panel with more embedded guidance.

Prescriber tips and resources have been updated to reflect changes that will be in production as of April 1, 2021:
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2021-03-19

On Other Channels...

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

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    2021-03-17

    When Will Prioritized Order Sets Be Ready?

    Order sets help organize diverse actions pertinent to a clinical need. Admission order sets, for example, coordinate instructions for goals of care, vitals, fluids, nutrition, activity, investigations and treatments. 

    Order sets can help providers align their choices with best available guidance while dramatically reducing the time taken to coordinate many related actions. Personalized order sets, configured with common choices already selected, speed workflows even more.

    Connect Care Area Councils set priorities for order set development, with the majority of requests designed, built, validated and implemented at or immediately after the Wave 1 launch. Some gaps remain, with the following summary of current progress:
    • 453 order sets have been successfully deployed in support of Connect Care Waves 1 and 2.
    • Since Wave 1, 769 of 807 order set related enhancement requests have been fulfilled.
    • Approximately 130 of the Wave 1 prioritized order sets did not deploy in time for launch. The majority have since been built, 36 are in production but the remainder await validation, with delays incurred by all the work associated with pandemic urgencies. Additional resources have been allocated to overcome bottlenecks, with expectation that built order sets will be fully validated and released to production this summer.
    • Over 30 optimization order set projects (urgent need related to post-launch discoveries) have made it through design, build, validation and implementation.
    • All order set deliverables for Wave 3 have been met.
    • A number of new order sets are in the works for Wave 4, with build underway, validation scheduled for the late spring and launch to production expected in early summer.

    2021-03-16

    COVID-19 and Connect Care - Variant of Concern Test Results

    Starting March 18, 2021, COVID-19 positive samples will have variant of concern information reported to the ordering clinician following current result-routing (In Basket) protocols. The information will be available within Connect Care results displays, appearing as "COVID-19 Variant Nucleic Acid Test". Variant of concern testing is done on all positive COVID-19 samples.

    Variant of concern results will be reported separately from routine COVID-19 test results (e.g., NAT nucleic acid tests, ID NOW test, antigen-based tests), to be interpreted as follows:
    • Negative - No variant of concern, but patient is still COVID-19 positive
    • Positive - A variant of concern is detected and the strain is specified
    • Unresolved - The viral load is too low to confirm variant testing
    Both "Positive" and "Unresolved" results should be treated as positive when considering infection prevention and control precautions, cohorting and isolation.
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    2021-03-14

    Anticipating a Move?

    Prescribers may change or leave a clinical practice. Typical reasons include a move to a different jurisdiction with a different record of care, promotion or retirement. Indeed, many trainees transition to new roles and locations in the coming months.

    For those changing roles and also moving away from where Connect Care is the record of care, off-boarding protocols must be followed. 

    Clinical privileges are handled through Zone Medical Affairs Intake. In addition, specific Connect Care off-boarding tasks require attention. These include ensuring that In Basket is assigned to a responsible provider or group, Provider Team relationships are updated, the Phone Book (provider registry) is corrected, Therapy Plans are re-assigned, and Secure Chat settings are updated.

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    2021-03-13

    New 'Day at a Glance' View in MyAHS Connect for Inpatients

    Hospitalizations offer an important opportunity to introduce the MyAHS Connect patient portal to patients and families, and to promote its use as an aid to care, discharge planning and follow-up. Ward staff (inpatient) can build MyAHS Connect activation into patient education activities, and prescribers can routinely check whether their inpatients are aware of portal options.

    Starting March 16, 2021, active MyAHS Connect users are automatically presented with a "Day at a Glance" display when admitted to a healthcare facility using Connect Care as its record of care. This includes information about the patient's:
    • Inpatient healthcare team
    • Diet
    • Medications
    • Upcoming interventions (imaging, tests, procedures)
    • Consultations
    Effective use of MyAHS Connect during hospitalizations can engage patients and their families as active members of the healthcare team. Research and experience shows that timely patient information access actually decreases clinician information burdens, as patients and families ask more focused questions and have easier independent access to answers. Also, families can do better when timing visits to fit with inpatient activities.

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    2021-03-12

    On Other Channels...

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

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    2021-03-10

    Impact of System Changes on Personalizations

    "Personalization" tools help Connect Care users to streamline workflows, increase efficiency and decrease information burdens. It is possible to save groups of orders (with all desired settings) as a personal panel, for example, and reduce a multi-step process to just a few clicks the next time it is needed. Personalization tools can also be used to record common documentation, billing and other tasks for quick recall. Full order sets can be saved with one's usual choices.

    So, what happens if one of the pieces of a saved personalization is changed system-wide? A specific medication may be discontinued, new data might be required for a laboratory test requisition, and building blocks used in text automations (e.g., SmartPhrases) may be updated.

    Most system updates do not affect personalizations that users may have saved. Others, such as changed medications or tests, could have a significant impact. We are working on a simple guide to help users anticipate impactful changes. We are also working on an online listing of all system changes that might affect personalizations.

    In general, changes are made obvious to users. Where possible, users are alerted to the changed object with a hard stop when trying to use a personalization containing the object. The personalized preference list can then be updated to again use the prescriber's default answer, and the hard stop will be removed.

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    2021-03-05

    Patient Movement Presentations

    We've previously posted about the Patient Movement Readiness Series, which has now ended. Almost 300 operational staff attended the Patient Movement Fundamentals and Live System Demonstrations over the past two weeks. In case you missed these events, you can access recordings of the sessions at the following links:

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    2021-03-04

    Results Management Toolkit

    Connect Care promotes quick access to new and past test results so that all providers participating in the care of a patient are informed and can take appropriate action. Effective results management is essential to patient safety. 

    Results management includes not only the return of test results for review but the documentation and communication of actions taken on those results and the safeguards in place to ensure that test results are not missed in day-to-day workflows.

    A Results Management Toolkit has been prepared (and will be continually enhanced) to help prescribers hone effective and efficient results management habits. The toolkit provides links to training materials, tip sheets, frequently asked questions and other helpful tools in one convenient location.

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    2021-03-01

    Patient Movement IFT Demonstration - Tuesday March 2, 2021

    We've previously posted about the Patient Movement Readiness Series, with live system demos of patient movement workflows happening this week. The next Patient Movement Demonstration, occurring March 2, 2021 from 12:00 to 13:00, is dedicated to interfacility transfers (IFT). Topics include:

    • Transfers to a Connect Care site
    • Transfers to a non-Connect Care site
    • Leave of absence (LOA) for procedure
    Use the link below to register for this one-hour event. The remaining sessions are described in a Patient Movement Readiness Handbook, and a self-guided learning video series with area-specific videos is available via a guide, both linked below.

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