Netcare Scheduled Downtime - Thursday July 17, 2025 at 21:00 to Friday July 18, 2025 at 04:00

The Alberta Netcare Portal will be unavailable from Thursday, July 17, 2025 at 21:00 to 04:00 on Friday, July 18, 2025 in order to accommodate system maintenance and a software upgrade. Connect Care will still be available, but Connect Care users will not be able to launch the Alberta Netcare Portal during this time. 

Users who are logged in during this time will be disconnected and will need to re-authenticate following the outage period. Those anticipating need for urgent result access during that period should refer to and complete the ANP Downtime Contingency Kit in advance of the maintenance. 

For any questions or concerns, AHS employees please contact 1-877-311-4300, while Community Alberta Netcare users (outside AHS) can contact the Provincial Helpdesk at 1-877-931-1638.

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. 

• Support (recent/upcoming system updates, optimization training opportunities)
• Updates to Anesthesia Difficult Airway Documentation and Reminders
• FAQ (answers to common questions on particular Connect Care workflows)
• Why has the Holter monitoring procedure I ordered for a rural patient not been scheduled yet?
• Manual
• See What's New (updates and additions)
• Between the Charts: CMIO Newsletter for Prescribers (current issue and archives)
• Current issue: June 2025 

All User Bulletin - Communication Outage Between Connect Care and Other Systems, Thursday July 10, 2025, 00:30-02:45

All-user-bulletins highlight stumbling blocks that all prescribers need to be aware of when using the Connect Care clinical information system.

Outage of Communication Between Connect Care Systems

In the early hours of Thursday, July 10, 2025, between 00:30 and 02:45, the environment that controls information flow between clinical systems, the Regional Integration Engine, will be taking a scheduled outage. During this outage, Connect Care will continue to be available; however, there will be a delay in ordering and resulting messages flowing between systems integrated with Connect Care such as WellSky (Transfusion Medicine), AegisPOC (Point-of-Care Testing), and OBIX.   

• WellSky - No orders or product request messages will be sent from Connect Care to WellSky during the outage, and no messages (e.g., results, unit information) will be sent from WellSky back to Connect Care during the outage. Please limit non-essential transfusion activity in Epic and follow blood product downtime procedures.
• Point-of-Care Testing - Results will not flow to the Epic chart until after the outage.
• Radiology Urgent Orders/Results (Stat Orders/Results) - Please continue to place your orders and then call directly to Radiology for stat orders/results.
• Non-Urgent Orders/Results - Continue regular operations.  

Information entered in or for Connect Care during the outage will be queued and automatically update at the end of the outage.

• Procedure: Downtime for Blood Product Ordering
• Manual: Blood Product Administration
• Status: Connect Care

Downtime for Dell Wyse Thin Client Devices, Thursday July 10, 2025, 00:30-04:30

Dell Optiplex 3000 Thin Client devices will be intermittently unavailable Thursday, July 10, 2025, from 00:30 to 04:30. During this downtime, Connect Care users will not be able to launch Connect Care for approximately 10 minutes while the device is updating. 

• Users will receive a one-minute warning prior to the update taking place, after which the device will lock. 
• Devices will be updated in waves over the 4-hour downtime – not all devices will be affected at the same time. 
• Users who are logged in during this time will be disconnected and will need to re-authenticate following the downtime. 

Please ensure that Dell Optiplex 3000 Thin Client devices are left on for the update to occur.

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. 

• Bytes (general news items, this channel)
• New Discharge Transfer Gateway to Replace Transfer and Discharge Navigators
• Upgrade to Citrix MyApps Store - Tuesday July 8, 2025, 18:00-19:00 (Action May Be Needed)
• Support (recent/upcoming system updates, optimization training opportunities)
• General Internal Medicine - New Pre-Admission Clinic Navigator
• Upgrade to Dragon Medical One (Action May Be Needed)
• Tool Tune Up: July 2025 Order Tool Updates
• Changes to Immunosuppressant Medication Ordering
• Change to Ambulatory Referral to Continuing Care Access and Home Care Order 
• Tips (tips/tricks to improve your Connect Care experience)
• Tippy - Personalize Start-up Workspace
• Tippy - Personalize Chart Activity Tabs
• Manual
• See What's New (updates and additions)
• Between the Charts: CMIO Newsletter for Prescribers (current issue and archives)
• Current issue (NEW!): June 2025 

Upgrade to Citrix MyApps Store - Tuesday July 8, 2025, 18:00-19:00 (Action May Be Needed)

Remote access to clinical applications, including Connect Care, happens through a software application called Citrix Workspace, accessed via the Citrix MyApps Store. The MyApps Store will have a scheduled upgrade on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, from 18:00 to 19:00. This upgrade introduces a refreshed user interface and some important changes to functionality that may impact prescribers. Access to Connect Care will continue during the upgrade without interruption. 

• Favourited Icons Reset: Most favourited icons will be removed from the desktop. The applications will still be available from the upgraded MyApps Store; users can re-favourite as needed following the upgrade (see the 1-pager for instructions). 
• PRD and PLY will remain favourited.
• Citrix Session Persistence: The “Session Persistence Disabled” option will no longer be available, meaning a user's Citrix session will now automatically follow them from one device to another. I.e., when logging in to a different device, your Citrix session (and Connect Care) will open as well.
• With this change, users will no longer be able to be logged in on more than one computer at the same time, to avoid unintentionally "stealing" someone else’s Connect Care session. 
• This change does not impact Citrix sessions on auto logon computers.
• Citrix Issue Resolution: If an issue with Citrix is encountered on one device (e.g., Computer A), switching to another device (e.g., Computer B) will not resolve the issue. Instead, users should:
• Try logging off and back on, or rebooting.
• Contact the AHS Service Desk for support if the issue persists.

Following the upgrade, if unable to launch the MyApps Store or desktop icons aren’t working, log out of the computer and log back in. If you require further information or assistance, please contact the AHS Service Desk at 1-877-311-4300.