2025-05-30

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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2025-05-29

BBHR: Improving Prescriber Continuity of Care Communications

Building a Better Health Record (BBHR)

As part of our documentation quality improvement initiative, we promote practical ways for clinicians to provide clear and actionable communication at transitions of care.

Workflows for Prescriber Continuity of Care Communications 

Prior postings describe tools that can help clinicians request or confirm primary care services for patients. A related workflow helps clinicians seek or confirm continuity of care for patients leaving hospital or transferring between clinics or providers. 

A Continuity of Care letter can facilitate properly documented transfers of care between prescribers, when a full referral workflow is not appropriate or needed. Optional chart content (e.g., patient care coordination note, consult note) can be selected to support the communication.

For more information:

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      2025-05-28

      New Lab Ordering Resources

      Two new resources for lab ordering are now available on the Learning Home Dashboard (under "Specialty Guides – Lab Ordering"), as well as the Connect Care Manual.

      • Managing Outpatient Labs and Orders: This new guide outlines the steps prescribers can follow to review all uncollected labs and make modifications to them as needed (including discontinuing orders and changing dates of collection and expiry). It also includes tips on duplicate order warnings and making orders clear so that what the prescriber wants is collected, when they want. 

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      Between the Charts: CMIO Newsletter for Prescribers - Issue 18 Now Available

      Our monthly newsletter for prescribers, called "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:

      • June Optimization (a.k.a. Thrive) classes, including new Dragon Medical One class
      • Calgary in-person drop-ins for Connect Quality demos (June 2-3)
      • Workspace ONE Catalog app retired, replaced with Hub
      • Panniculectomy case ordering requirements
      • Alberta Blue Cross Drug Special Authorization forms now digitized
      • Multi-factor authentication for Microsoft 365 apps on personal workstations
      • IFT navigator and Continuity of Care workflow enhancements coming soon
      • Auto expiry of additional In Basket message types coming soon
      • Study on Connect Care alerts and rules wins award
      • The CMIO's My.Health.Alberta.ca content team wins major North American award for excellence in plain language communication
      • How to find your Site Medical Informatics Lead (Site MIL)
      • 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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      Multi Factor Authentication for Microsoft 365 Apps Accessed from Personal Workstations

      As of Wednesday, May 28, 2025, Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) will be required when users access Microsoft 365 (M365) applications - i.e., the web versions of Microsoft Office software, including Outlook, SharePoint, and OneDrive - from personal workstations such as laptops. This change may prompt MFA when accessing CMIO and other AHS resource links, as most of our materials are hosted on SharePoint; however, links clicked from within Connect Care will not prompt MFA.

      What is changing and why?

      AHS IT is restoring Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) for Microsoft 365 (M365) applications accessed from personal workstations such as laptops. MFA was previously required for M365 apps, but was temporarily removed in December 2024 while AHS' SharePoint was migrated to the cloud. The migration process is now largely complete, and so M365 MFA is being reactivated to align with AHS' security policies. 

      This change does not impact shared workstations, or any other applications including Connect Care.

      What action do you need to take?

      The M365 MFA will be triggered only on personal workstations when accessing the web versions of Microsoft software; this includes opening a Microsoft web app (e.g., Outlook) as well as opening a document created by/saved on Microsoft software (e.g., a Word file, or a document saved on SharePoint) on your browser. Users will be prompted for personal login as usual, and then prompted for MFA confirmation (such as a code texted to a mobile phone). Once the MFA step is complete, the user will not need to re-authenticate for at least 6 hours. 

      • Tip: When accessing SharePoint, please select "Keep me signed in" when prompted, to allow for even longer timeout.
      Problems?

      If you have any issues with M365 MFA, please contact the IT Service Desk (1-877-311-4300).

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      2025-05-27

      Connect Quality - Third CPSA PPIP Project Now Available, Calgary In-Person Drop-Ins

      It's been a year since we first announced the Connect Quality initiative, and nearly 250 Connect Care prescribers have already signed up for this amazing free program. Have you checked it out yet?

      Connect Quality is a free program created by the Chief Medical Information Office (CMIO) to help you meet your College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) Physician Practice Improvement Program (PPIP) project requirements! Our goal is to make your work easier. We have organized the resources, training, reporting tools, and documentation required for you to meet CPSA PPIP requirements, so you can focus on looking after your patients.

      Three Connect Quality projects are currently available, one for each of the activities CPSA requires physicians to complete over a 5-year cycle: 

      • In Basket Turnaround Time for the practice-driven quality improvement activity;
      • Problem List Maintenance for the CPSA's Standards of Practice quality improvement activity; and, 
      • (new!) User Settings to Improve Efficiency and Well-Being, for the personal development activity. 
      For each project, Connect Quality provides:
      • A guide that outlines viewing objective data and metrics within Connect Care. This includes within Signal, as well as in-system Dashboards.
      • An example Action Plan.
      • Interventions that can be selected including Optimization classes, and self-study options.
      • A template that can be used to document all CPSA requirements.

      …And have we mentioned that Connect Quality is FREE?!

      For those in the Calgary area, members of the CMIO Prescriber Experience and Medical Informatics team will be visiting select sites June 2 and 3 to demo how Connect Quality and the Signal tool in Connect Care can be used to meet CPSA PIPP requirements. If you're at one of these sites or are nearby and are available, consider dropping by!

      • June 2, 08:30–11:00 - Rockyview General Hospital (Physician Lounge)
      • June 3, 08:30–11:00 - South Health Campus (Physician Lounge)    
      • June 3, 13:00–15:00 - Arthur Child Cancer Centre (10th floor, room YC101221)
      For more information, reach out to your Site Medical Informatics Lead (Site MIL), email CMIO.Optimization@ahs.ca, or see:

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      MyHealth.Alberta.ca Wins North American Plain Language Award

      With their specialized health literacy expertise and intentional plain language reviews, the CMIO’s MyHealth.Alberta.ca content team works every day to make sure that Albertans can find, understand, and use the health information they need. 

      This work, along with contributions from partners across Alberta Health Services, was recently recognized with a major North American award for excellence in plain language communication. The immunization health topic website on MyHealth.Alberta.ca received both a ClearMark Award as the winner of the websites category and the top honour across all categories: the Grand ClearMark Award. One judge commented, “It is great to see an organization truly care about asking real users what they need and then delivering it.”

      The immunization health topic website represents a collaboration of dedicated team members and stakeholders, each bringing unique skills, experiences, and perspectives. Partners on the MyHealth.Alberta.ca content team, Innovation and Digital Solutions, Communicable Disease Control, Communications, Information Technology, and Provincial Population and Public Health came together to create this valuable — and now North American award-winning — resource for Albertans.

      The ClearMark Awards are hosted by the Center for Plain Language. They recognize outstanding plain language communication in English, French, and Spanish across North America. 

      This award is wonderful recognition of the plain language and health literacy work happening within the CMIO and motivates us to keep moving forward — using design, health literacy, and plain language to make a real difference in the lives of Albertans. If you have a health literacy question or need, the MyHealth.Alberta.ca team has health literacy and plain language experts who can help. Connect with the team at feedback@myhealth.alberta.ca. 

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      2025-05-16

      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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      2025-05-08

      BBHR: Easing Submission of Alberta Blue Cross Drug Special Authorization Forms

      Building a Better Health Record (BBHR)

      As part of our documentation quality improvement initiative, we promote practical ways for clinicians to provide clear and actionable communication supporting coordination of care.

      Alberta Blue Cross Drug Special Authorization Forms Digitized

      Alberta Blue Cross (ABC) drug special authorization form(s) must be completed, submitted and approved in order for a patient to be eligible for health insurance coverage of a number of outpatient medications that may be supported by programs administered by ABC. For example, a number of medications are covered for Alberta seniors (aged 65+ years) if specific clinical criteria are met.

      Historically, clinicians have had to obtain printed forms, transcribe information from the medical record, and then mail or fax handwritten responses to ABC. These requests are often rejected for lack of information... or legible information.

      Alberta Health Services is collaborating with Alberta Blue Cross to digitize all ABC special authorization forms (150+). The first 40 forms, representing the most common drug authorization requests, are now supported by semi-automated workflows in Connect Care. Available demographic and clinical information is automatically pulled from the chart, and clinicians are provided with key support information for assessments that they must enter directly into the form.

      As we continue to build up the ABC form repository within Connect Care, we invite prescribers (physicians, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, prescribing pharmacists) to start using the new ABC authorization workflow. For more information:

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          2025-05-02

          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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          Phased Replacement of IMPAX Viewer - South Zone Next

          As previously posted, Provincial Enterprise Imaging (PEI) is replacing the IMPAX system as the new Picture Archive and Communication System (PACS). The next phase of implementation will be in South Zone, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. With PEI implementation, OrthoView will also replace MediCAD as the orthopedic templating software. 

          • PEI Implementation
            • After PEI implementation, many medical staff will view diagnostic images and reports via the XERO Viewer in Connect Care.
            • Training is required to access PEI; training is available through MyLearningLink. Physicians and staff who require PEI access should have received an email to their AHS inbox from Identity Access Management (IAM) in March with training details.
            • If your role requires emergent access to images and you have not received a training invitation, please contact ProvincialEnterpriseImaging@ahs.ca. 
          • OrthoView Implementation

            • OrthoView is an advanced orthopedic planning tool integrated within PEI.
            • To learn more about OrthoView, see the poster for links to resources, including a recorded 1-hour OrthoView training session. 
            • Training for OrthoView is available upon request. If you require OrthoView training, please contact ImagingAppsSupport@ahs.ca.

          Calgary Zone will implement PEI in September (a reminder will be posted here close to implementation date); for more information, see the posters. 

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