Health informatics briefs for clinicians; from the Alberta Health Services Chief Medical Information Office (cmio@ahs.ca).
2023-11-30
Obtaining CPD Credit for Connect Care Training
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:
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:
- Launch 7
- CMIO Prescriber Drop-in Centres - Updated Hours
- Launch 7 Support Hot Topics
- Week 3 (results notifications, interfacility transfers [IFTs], PowerMic Mobile app update, PowerMic 4, prescriber launch supports)
- FAQ
- Support
- Tips
- Tippy - Time-Mark for Results
- Tippy - Email Notification of New In Basket Messages
- Tippy - Copy Test Results for Notification and Delivery
- Manual
- See What's New (updates and additions)
- Between the Charts: CMIO Newsletter for Prescribers
2023-11-23
CMIO Prescriber Drop-in Centres - Updated Hours
With the third full week of Connect Care at the Launch 7 sites coming to a close, the Site Drop-in Centres will close after 18:00 today, November 23. The Virtual Drop-in Centre (virtualhelp.connect-care.ca) continues to be open one more week, until December 1, with slightly reduced hours as of this weekend.
- Virtual Drop-in Centre
- November 23–24: Daily support 08:00–20:00
- November 25–December 1: Daily support 10:00–18:00
- Site Drop-in Centres (NLRHC, CRH, MHRH)
- November 23: Open 10:00–18:00
- After November 23: CLOSED
For further information about prescriber launch supports, visit launchhelp.connect-care.ca.
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:
- General
- Launch 7
- CMIO Prescriber Drop-in Centres - Updated Hours
- Launch 7 Support Hot Topics
- Week 2 (interfacility transfer [IFT] workflow for receiving physician, PowerMic Mobile app, PowerMic 4, prescriber launch supports)
- Support
- Tips
- Manual
- See What's New (updates and additions)
- Between the Charts: CMIO Newsletter for Prescribers
2023-11-14
All User Bulletin - PowerMic 4 Issues
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.
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:
- General
- Launch 7
- Launch 7: We are GO!
- Improving Issue Reports and Help Desk Interactions
- Just-in-Time Learning!
- Tickets, Tickets, Tickets!
- Launch 7 Support Hot Topics
- Day 1 (restarting updated workstations, access issues, login for shared workstations, Computerized Prescriber Order Entry [CPOE])
- Day 2 (troponin results, digital Doctor's Clipboard, incomplete History & Physical [H&P] notices, flagging outstanding labs, CPOE)
- Day 3 (login credential sharing, Android issues - PowerMic Mobile and network access, ED Provider Note as admitting H&P)
- Day 4 (separating "My Patients" lists, add-on labs, interfacility transfers [IFTs], CPOE, logging off/tapping out)
- Day 5 (Secure Chat, Sticky Notes, PowerMic Mobile on iOS)
- Day 6 (printing specimen collection labels, incomplete medical records/legacy charting, prescriber launch supports)
- Launch 7 Supporters
- Support
- Referral Order Pop-up in Personalized Referral Orders
- Trouble-shooting PowerMic Mobile on Android Devices
- Trouble-shooting PowerMic Mobile on iOS Devices
- Support for Linked Admitting History & Physical Notes
- Android 14 OS Users - Unable to Connect to AHSRestrict Wireless Network
- Tips
- Tippy Series
- Tippy - Note to MRHP Replaces "Doctor's Clipboard"
- Tippy - Custom Schedules
- Tippy - Separating "My Patients" Lists for Different Facilities
- Tippy - Provider Name Tweak in Schedule Lists
- Problem Oriented Charting (POC) Series
- Finding POC Tools - Inpatient
- Finding POC Tools - Outpatient
- Using the POC Sidebar
- POC Building Blocks
- POC - Interactive Charting
- POC - Patient Presentation
- POC - Hospital Course
- POC - Specialty Service
- POC - Subjective/Objective Documentation
- POC - Assessment/Plan Documentation
- Generating a POC Progress Note
- POC - Generating Summative Documentation
- Bridges
- Manual
- See What's New (updates and additions)
- Between the Charts: CMIO Newsletter for Prescribers
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
2023-11-04
Countdown Checklist L7: Drop In
- Drop In
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.
- Site Drop-in Centre schedules are updated at launchhelp.connect-care.ca.
- Virtual Drop-in Centre help is available via virtualhelp.connect-care.ca.
- HelpDesk is always open via help.connect-care.ca.
Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 0: Share and Learn
- Share and Learn
Super Users are widely distributed. Look for yellow and orange lanyards (prescriber supports; pink caps in the OR). Don't struggle. Ask for help.
- Late breaking tips and gap-fillers will be added to the Connect Care Manual.
- The Connect Care Prescriber Updates will focus on pointers to new material, key developments, tips, tricks and FAQs. Use the buttons at the top, especially Tips, FAQ and Support.
- Ask a Super User or call the IT Service Desk with urgent needs: 1-877-311-4300.
- Request non-urgent (not addressed by peers and Super Users) needs, ideas and suggestions at help.connect-care.ca.
- Use the Site Drop-in Centres (see launchhelp.connect-care.ca).
- Use the 24/7 Virtual Drop-in Centre (virtualhelp.connect-care.ca).
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:
- General
- Launch 7
- Key Resource for Launch 7 Supporters
- Connect Care Launch 7 Countdown Checklist
- T-minus 7: Support Cutover Activities
- T-minus 6: Follow the Tippies
- T-minus 5: Find Drop-In Centres
- T-minus 4: Unburden as Possible
- T-minus 3: Buddy Up, Team Up
- T-minus 2: Catch Up Dictations
- T-minus 1: You've Got This!
- Super User Development Series
- Session #11 - User Support Tools (all-day webinar November 3)
- Tips
- Tippy Series
- Problem Power Series
- Problem Power - Finding the Problem List
- Problem Power - Recognizing Symbols
- Problem Power - Problem List Layout
- Problem Power - Personalized Selections
- Problem Power - Prioritization
- Problem Power - Sidebar Editing
- Problem Power - Right-Click Problem Management
- Problem Power - Problem-based Clinical Guidance
- Problem Power - Problem Properties and Descriptions
- Problem Power - Problems vs. Historical Conditions
- Problem Power - Deleting, Inactivating or Resolving Problems
- Problem Power - Problem Reconciliation
- Problem Power - Using Standardized Problem Overviews
- Problem Power - Problem SmartStuff
- Manual
- See What's New (updates and additions)
- Between the Charts: CMIO Newsletter for Prescribers
Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 1: You've Got This!
- You've Got This -- And We've Got Your Back
- 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.
2023-11-02
Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 2: Catch Up Dictations
- Dictate any pre-launch admission or transfer notes
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!
2023-11-01
Countdown Checklist L7, T-minus 3: Buddy Up, Team Up
- Buddy-Up and Team-Up
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.