2026-01-30

On Other Channels...

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. 

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2026-01-29

Between the Charts: CMIO Newsletter for Prescribers - Issue 24 Now Available

Our monthly newsletter for prescribers, 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:

  • Overdue endoscopy/bronchoscopy reports
  • Scheduled Connect Care downtime (Feb 12) and transparent lockdown (Feb 9-12)
  • Digital Medical Certificate of Death, Autopsy Consent, and Autopsy request order
  • Measles history in Connect Care
  • New inpatient cirrhosis care support tools
  • New blood restrictions documentation workflow
  • Taming In Basket - more In Basket message types to auto-expire, plus messages being permanently purged Feb 1
  • Upcoming changes to display of glucometer results (Feb 3)
  • New workflow for requesting bridging medications coming soon
  • RNs/RPNs as authorizing providers in Connect Care coming soon
  • Requesting external sendout (referred) lab tests, plus upcoming new cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) external send out test order
  • Finding inpatient consult orders
  • Keeping contact information up-to-date
  • February Optimization (a.k.a. Thrive) classes
  • And more!

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. 

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2026-01-26

New Blood Restrictions Documentation Workflow [Updated]

As of January 29, 2026, a new blood restrictions workflow in Connect Care will be in place to ensure clear, consistent documentation of patients’ blood preferences.

Key changes include:

  • A dedicated place to document blood restrictions (including specific blood components and/or products) called the "Blood Restrictions Assessment" worksheet, to be found in the Consent & eForms Navigator.
  • Documented blood restrictions will flow into the applicable Consent eForms, Consent to Surgery or Invasive Procedure and Consent to Treatment Plan or Procedure.
  • Alerts about blood restrictions will be improved to support more automated and streamlined workflows when ordering blood.
    • FYI Flags
      • The existing FYI Flag (Blood Refusals) is renamed to "Blood Restrictions".
      • The FYI Flag now triggers automatically upon documenting blood restrictions.
      • When blood restrictions are updated, the user is prompted to review whether or not to remove the FYI Flag.
    • Our Practice Advisories (OPAs)
      • An OPA appears when a blood product/component (or related) is ordered, but the patient has documented blood restrictions.
      • An OPA appears when a blood product/component (or related) is ordered, but the patient has documented beliefs that require a review of restrictions.
      • When blood restrictions are updated, the user is prompted to review whether or not to remove the FYI Flag.
  • A net new workflow and form will be available when a patient has blood restrictions but there is no upcoming treatment, procedure, or blood transfusion planned. The new Advanced Expressed Wishes and Instructions – Blood Components and Products consent form will be found in the Consent & eForms Navigator.

Please note that workflows for informed consent process are not changing. The new features standardize the ability to document blood restrictions and increase visibility in the system for patients with blood restrictions.

Updated resources are linked below. An upcoming Virtual Office Hour will be held on this topic for those interested, with additional post-launch dates:

For questions not addressed by the above resources, please contact ConnectCare.Consent@healthsharedservices.ca.

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2026-01-23

On Other Channels...

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. 

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2026-01-21

Measles History in Connect Care

Effective January 22, 2026 at 08:30, Connect Care users will see new clinical information related to the ongoing measles outbreak in Alberta reflected in the "Medical History" section of the patient chart. This information will display as “History of measles”.

The comment field will provide additional detail indicating whether the case was confirmed through epidemiological (epi) linking (Public Health investigation) or laboratory confirmation. The comment will also clearly identify that the Medical History entry was updated via an automated import, rather than through manual clinician entry (click the camera icon to see a screenshot).

Data has been provided by the Public Health Surveillance & Informatics team and was extracted from the Communicable Disease/Outbreak Management system. Lab data has been extracted from Connect Care. 

Imported data includes all confirmed measles cases from March 1, 2025 up to and including December 9, 2025. The Population and Public Health Communicable Disease Control Notifiable Disease team will enter any new measles outbreak data from the December 9 import date. 

This enhancement is intended to improve clarity, consistency, and situational awareness for care teams during the ongoing measles response.

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2026-01-14

Overdue Endoscopy/Bronchoscopy Reports

Starting January 20, 2026, Lumens reports for endoscopy/bronchoscopy will be formally tracked with active due date reminders and will be monitored by Health Information Management (HIM), Medical Affairs and medical leadership to ensure timely report completion. This means:

  • A procedure report is due in Connect Care 24 hours after it was performed (a reminder appears in your In Basket).
  • A procedure report becomes overdue/delinquent 29 days after it was performed (the reminder turns red in your In Basket; daily pop-up reminders appear in Connect Care starting 7 days before the delinquency date).

As with other report types such as discharge summaries or operative reports, physicians with 10 or more delinquent Lumens reports (older than 29 days), or 4 or more outstanding for 90 days will have a report sent to Medical Affairs and/or medical leadership to ensure completion, and could lead to further penalties up to and including curtailment.

For further details, please see the memo from Dr. Peter Jamieson, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of AHS.

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2026-01-09

On Other Channels...

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. 

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