Health informatics briefs for clinicians; from the Alberta Health Services Chief Medical Information Office (cmio@ahs.ca).
2021-03-22
Important Updates to Home Care Referral Workflows
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:
- COVID and Connect Care
- COVID-19 and Connect Care - New Resources for Prescribers
- COVID-19 and Connect Care - Variant of Concern Test Results
- Blogs
- New 'Day at a Glance' View in MyAHS Connect for Inpatients
- Anticipating a Move?
- Countdown Checklist W3 L-25: Confirm Connect Care Access and Login Role
- When Will Prioritized Order Sets Be Ready?
- Countdown Checklist W3 L-22: Confirm PRD Access
- Tips
- Questions
- How can non-Connect Care patient messaging tools be used when needed?
- What are Therapy Plan expiration messages?
- Support
- Informatics
- Documentation Quality Improvement - Work Packages #1 and 2 in SUP for Clinical Testing
- Super User Development Session #8 - Patient Movement and Phases of Care
- Documentation Quality Improvement - Rethinking Problem Lists
- Manual
- COVID-19 - Connect Care Resources
- See What's New (many updates and additions)
2021-03-17
When Will Prioritized Order Sets Be Ready?
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
- 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
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.
2021-03-13
New 'Day at a Glance' View in MyAHS Connect for Inpatients
- Inpatient healthcare team
- Diet
- Medications
- Upcoming interventions (imaging, tests, procedures)
- Consultations
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:
- COVID and Connect Care
- Blogs
- MyAHS Connect Reporting Dashboard
- Countdown Checklist W3 L-41: Complete Basic Training
- Countdown Checklist W3 L-40: Complete and Close Legacy Charts
- Patient Movement IFT Demonstration - Mar 2, 2021
- Netcare Scheduled Outage - Mar 4, 2021, 21:00-03:00 Mar 5, 2021
- Results Management Toolkit
- Patient Movement Presentations
- Countdown Checklist W3 L-34: Check AHS Security Profile
- Countdown Checklist W3 L-33: Meet the Connect Care Concierge
- Connect Care Scheduled Downtime - Mar 11, 2021, 00:30-04:30
- Countdown Checklist W3 L-31: Get Ready for Mobility
- Impact of System Changes on Personalizations
- All User Bulletin - Daylight Savings Time (Mar 14, 2021, 02:00)
- Tips
- Informatics
- Documentation Quality Improvement - Work Package #2: Identity SmartTools
- Super User Development Session #6 - Dragon Medical One
- Super User Development Session #7 - Charting Etiquette and Minimum Use Norms
- Documentation Quality Improvement - Progress Report #1
- Health Evidence Exchange - Information for Builders and Analysts
- Manual
- COVID-19 - Connect Care Resources
- See What's New (many updates and additions)
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.
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:
- Presentation: Patient Movement - Fundamentals
- Presentation: Patient Movement - Inpatient Units (includes: ED to IP, IP to OR to IP, LOA, discharge and discharge planning)
- Presentation: Patient Movement - Interfacility Transfers & LOA for Procedure (includes: IFT to Connect Care, IFT to non-Connect Care, LOA for procedure)
- Presentation: Patient Movement - Labour & Delivery (includes: arrive/triage, L&D to OR and back, L&D to postpartum)
- Presentation: Patient Movement - Emergency Department (includes: ED to IP, ED to another site for procedure, ambulatory appointment in ED)
- Presentation: Patient Movement - Bed Planning & Portering (includes: ED to IP, IP to OR, OR to ICU, ICU to acute, direct admit from hospital outpatient department, direct admit from ambulatory clinic)
- Manual: Readiness Events
- Contact: connectcare.patientmovement@ahs.ca
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.
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