2018-10-12
Results & Reports Routing Workgroup
Closed-loop results & reports routing is about how the outcomes of interventions ordered by prescribers are communicated back to the right person in the right way at the right time, with assurance that the information has been received and managed. A new Connect Care workgroup, co-chaired by Dr. Sid Viner and Dominic Orser, has started work to ensure that Connect Care expresses best possible practice. We will report back about progress and outcomes.
2018-10-08
Edmonton Zone: Nov 9 2018 Medical Staff Society lecture about Information Continuity
The next EZ Medical Staff Society Leadership lecture is on November 9, 2018 at 0700 to 0900 in the Bernard Snell Hall, with videoconferencing to all sites in the Edmonton Zone.
There will be a film presentation of The Greg Price Story, followed by a Leadership Round-table. The film focuses on Greg Price, a 31-year-old Alberta man, who died in 2012 of complications from testicular cancer and his 407-day journey in the health care system. Greg's death was investigated by the Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA). Released in December 2013, its report exposed gaps in health information flows.
Falling Through The Cracks, Greg's Story is a 30 minute film showing what Greg encountered during his fateful journey through the health system. The Price family produced the film, with Dr. Ward Flemons providing the medical guidance as lead investigator for the HQCA report. Mr. David Price, Greg’s father, and Teri Price, Greg’s sister, will present and discuss the 30-minute film from a family perspective. A leadership round-table will include Dr. David Zygun, Dr. Mark Joffe, Dr. Francois Belanger, Dr. Owen Heisler, Dr. Shirley Schipper, Dr. Scott McLeod, Dr. Melanie Currie, and Dr. Narmin Kassam.
For more information:
There will be a film presentation of The Greg Price Story, followed by a Leadership Round-table. The film focuses on Greg Price, a 31-year-old Alberta man, who died in 2012 of complications from testicular cancer and his 407-day journey in the health care system. Greg's death was investigated by the Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA). Released in December 2013, its report exposed gaps in health information flows.
Falling Through The Cracks, Greg's Story is a 30 minute film showing what Greg encountered during his fateful journey through the health system. The Price family produced the film, with Dr. Ward Flemons providing the medical guidance as lead investigator for the HQCA report. Mr. David Price, Greg’s father, and Teri Price, Greg’s sister, will present and discuss the 30-minute film from a family perspective. A leadership round-table will include Dr. David Zygun, Dr. Mark Joffe, Dr. Francois Belanger, Dr. Owen Heisler, Dr. Shirley Schipper, Dr. Scott McLeod, Dr. Melanie Currie, and Dr. Narmin Kassam.
For more information:
- Dr. Derek Townsend at drt1@ualberta.ca or Tracy Mason at Tracy.Mason2@ahs.ca
- Lecture poster
2018-10-01
Connect Care October 2018 Calendar
A summary of key Connect Care happenings in October 2018 has been posted to the Alberta Health Services internal Connect Care website, linked below.
With all direction setting and adoption & validation sessions completed and workflow requirements tallied, base configuration work continues in earnest. Clinical System Design has accelerated work on 6 specialty content work packages. Readiness preparations begin with the first surfacing of a playbook and zone resourcing plans.
With all direction setting and adoption & validation sessions completed and workflow requirements tallied, base configuration work continues in earnest. Clinical System Design has accelerated work on 6 specialty content work packages. Readiness preparations begin with the first surfacing of a playbook and zone resourcing plans.
2018-09-29
Connect Care Resources for Clinicians
Physicians and other prescribers who want to learn about Connect Care, or follow developments, may find the following one-pager helpful. It lists web pages, handbooks, blogs and email contacts matched to different levels of interest and engagement. The resource list is recently updated.
2018-09-28
Second Provincial Physician Informatics Leads Workshop
A big thanks to the many physician leaders who gave so generously of their time and energy to participate in the second provincial Connect Care physician leads meeting (September 27) in Calgary. The half-day session focused on:
A gathering of so many talented clinicians — all readied, committed and attached to Connect Care transformation — is a “tipping point” accomplishment. More important than any number of workflow, design or content decisions, is an organized clinician community that can continue to observe, learn and decide about clinical information system optimization well into the future. Our executive, design, informatics, builder and training physician leadership is established and ready. Networked provincially, this increasingly impactful community is a key to Connect Care success.
Many physician informatics leads helped prepare for, or even deliver, Connect Care Adoption & Validation 3 sessions. Participants remarked at the fundamental shift this represents… we can see ourselves in a system shaped to our purpose.
Physician leaders also continue tireless service to Connect Care committees, councils, specialty workgroups and projects. We are at provincial peak-effort right now and must somehow continue the clinical system design (CSD) sprint through the next 3 months. Getting solid foundational content will pay dividends for decades.
- Connect Care Training - with review and input to physician training principles, curriculum planning, certification and participation plans.
- Clinical System Design - with updates about immediate specialty customization priorities and strategies for speeding the work of Area Councils and Specialty Workgroups as they grapple with CSD work packages.
- Orderset Design - with ratification of a strategy for leveraging knowledge leads, knowledge topic leads and clinical informatics leads to accelerate implementation of a modular approach to producing the many order sets that Connect Care will express at implementation.
- Demonstration Support - with demonstration of processes and methods for accessing and mastering Connect Care online environments that can be used to support design and engagement activities.
A gathering of so many talented clinicians — all readied, committed and attached to Connect Care transformation — is a “tipping point” accomplishment. More important than any number of workflow, design or content decisions, is an organized clinician community that can continue to observe, learn and decide about clinical information system optimization well into the future. Our executive, design, informatics, builder and training physician leadership is established and ready. Networked provincially, this increasingly impactful community is a key to Connect Care success.
Many physician informatics leads helped prepare for, or even deliver, Connect Care Adoption & Validation 3 sessions. Participants remarked at the fundamental shift this represents… we can see ourselves in a system shaped to our purpose.
Physician leaders also continue tireless service to Connect Care committees, councils, specialty workgroups and projects. We are at provincial peak-effort right now and must somehow continue the clinical system design (CSD) sprint through the next 3 months. Getting solid foundational content will pay dividends for decades.
- Rob Hayward - cmio@ahs.ca (Provincial)
- Tim Graham - cmio.ez@ahs.ca (Edmonton Zone)
- Tom Rich - cmio.caz@ahs.ca (Calgary Zone)
- Steven Turner - cmio.cez@ahs.ca (Central Zone)
- Hendrik van der Watt - cmio.nz@ahs.ca (North Zone)
- Aaron Low - cmio.sz@ahs.ca (South Zone)
2018-09-27
A fitting close to Adoption & Validation
We thank all those contributing valuable time and energy to Connect Care’s third Adoption & Validation session in Calgary (September 25, 26, 27). This last province-wide gathering continued a series of truly incredible accomplishments! Thousands of participants sustained extraordinary productivity, guiding thousands of decisions through three direction-setting and three adoption & validation sessions.
Connect Care transformation is no longer aspirational; it is our every-day reality. Soon we begin testing a clinical information system fortified with provincially-ratified documentation, decision and inquiry supports… allowing us to express our best intentions as never before. The decisions we’ve made are far from trivial. Even those that seem small, such as patient demographic descriptors, are used for positive transformation.
Adoption & Validation 3 performed good work. It also cemented a remarkable Connect Care “positivism”. Although we were thrilled to see more AHS-led demonstrations, it was the hallway discussions that best reflected how far we’ve come. Conversation about Connect Care has moved from contemplation through acceptance to eager anticipation. Our peers are increasingly aware of coming challenges, but also increasingly motivated by the promise of post-implementation opportunity.
Between now and the end of the year, the race is on to complete essential Connect Care content design and build. We are succeeding already, with every hope for attainment of our best hopes.
Connect Care transformation is no longer aspirational; it is our every-day reality. Soon we begin testing a clinical information system fortified with provincially-ratified documentation, decision and inquiry supports… allowing us to express our best intentions as never before. The decisions we’ve made are far from trivial. Even those that seem small, such as patient demographic descriptors, are used for positive transformation.
Adoption & Validation 3 performed good work. It also cemented a remarkable Connect Care “positivism”. Although we were thrilled to see more AHS-led demonstrations, it was the hallway discussions that best reflected how far we’ve come. Conversation about Connect Care has moved from contemplation through acceptance to eager anticipation. Our peers are increasingly aware of coming challenges, but also increasingly motivated by the promise of post-implementation opportunity.
Between now and the end of the year, the race is on to complete essential Connect Care content design and build. We are succeeding already, with every hope for attainment of our best hopes.
2018-09-17
AHS Comes of Age
We've oft commented that Connect Care is both a formative and consolidating innovation for Alberta Health Services (AHS). The initiative is possible because the organization has matured as a values-driven healthcare organization. Moreover, the initiative enables continuing transformation as a learning healthcare organization.
A recent publication nicely tallies the many AHS developments that make Connect Care possible and use Connect Care to make the AHS vision possible:
A recent publication nicely tallies the many AHS developments that make Connect Care possible and use Connect Care to make the AHS vision possible:
2018-09-15
Alberta Health Information Act amendment - mandatory breach reporting
Amendments to Alberta's Health Information Act, in force as of the beginning of September 2018, include important new mandatory breach reporting requirements.
The changes are nicely summarized, highlighting implications for AHS's partners, in a University of Alberta synopsis linked below.
The changes are nicely summarized, highlighting implications for AHS's partners, in a University of Alberta synopsis linked below.
2018-09-07
Connect Care September 7 Newsletter Posted
2018-09-01
Connect Care September 2018 Calendar
A summary of key Connect Care happenings in September 2018 has been posted to the Alberta Health Services internal Connect Care website, linked below.
Preparation for the third and final adoption & validation session signifies Connect Care maturation with the majority of sessions presented by trained AHS staff. Many clinicians also perform demonstrations, highlighting that there is, indeed, an Alberta instance of the Epic software system and that it is taking shape guided by workflow decisions. Clinical System Design has adopted a new approach to streamlining the work of specialty content development. Training designers sift through available curriculum components, beginning the design of AHS learning pathways for clinical information system training.
Preparation for the third and final adoption & validation session signifies Connect Care maturation with the majority of sessions presented by trained AHS staff. Many clinicians also perform demonstrations, highlighting that there is, indeed, an Alberta instance of the Epic software system and that it is taking shape guided by workflow decisions. Clinical System Design has adopted a new approach to streamlining the work of specialty content development. Training designers sift through available curriculum components, beginning the design of AHS learning pathways for clinical information system training.
2018-08-30
Understanding Connect Care Conversations
As design of the Connect Care clinical information system (CIS) progresses, more and more of us are drawn into conversations about Connect Care tools and how to use these purposefully. Many new terms, acronyms and abbreviations arise.
An "eHealth Glossary" can help.
Canada Health Infoway, a number of Universities, the Centre for Health Evidence and Alberta Health Services have collaborated to maintain a glossary of health informatics terms. This continues to grow, with emphasis on the applications and tools we now encounter in Connect Care.
An "eHealth Glossary" can help.
Canada Health Infoway, a number of Universities, the Centre for Health Evidence and Alberta Health Services have collaborated to maintain a glossary of health informatics terms. This continues to grow, with emphasis on the applications and tools we now encounter in Connect Care.
2018-08-26
User Group Meeting 2018 #1 - A great community
The annual Epic User Group Meeting (UGM) is a truly impressive gathering! Over 8,000 converge on the Epic campus at Verona, Wisconsin, for 5 days of meetings, councils, presentations, testing and updates. With Alberta Health Services formally announced as a new enterprise community member, a number of our leaders took time to learn during a most exciting and informative week. Some first impressions are summarized in the next series of blogs, with apologies for not properly attributing.
An immediate UGM impression is that one has joined a large, capable and collaborative user community. It spans multiple continents and includes all types of health care organizations. Most clients are driven by goals akin to our Connect Care intent. More importantly, Epic community members are eager to help peers succeed. The AHS UGM presence emphasized connecting with peers, networking, and firming up a support group that includes some of the best health care organizations in the world.
Epic facilitated many meetings around the scheduled program. Short consultations with like-minded Epic clients focused on recent installs or build challenges. Frank conversations opened channels for ongoing conversation and mutual assistance. It was clear that we have a lot to gain from sharing.
We also gained confidence. AHS has undertaken a large and exceptionally complex challenge. Our difficulties are not extraordinary. Our strengths are exemplary. Many complemented us on our preparatory work to discover and reduce unhelpful variation, to unify a large health region and to guide a clinical information system initiative with transformative purpose.
An immediate UGM impression is that one has joined a large, capable and collaborative user community. It spans multiple continents and includes all types of health care organizations. Most clients are driven by goals akin to our Connect Care intent. More importantly, Epic community members are eager to help peers succeed. The AHS UGM presence emphasized connecting with peers, networking, and firming up a support group that includes some of the best health care organizations in the world.
Epic facilitated many meetings around the scheduled program. Short consultations with like-minded Epic clients focused on recent installs or build challenges. Frank conversations opened channels for ongoing conversation and mutual assistance. It was clear that we have a lot to gain from sharing.
We also gained confidence. AHS has undertaken a large and exceptionally complex challenge. Our difficulties are not extraordinary. Our strengths are exemplary. Many complemented us on our preparatory work to discover and reduce unhelpful variation, to unify a large health region and to guide a clinical information system initiative with transformative purpose.
2018-08-24
Connect Care August 24 Newsletter Posted
Mandatory Breach Reporting
From Dr. Francois Belanger:
On August 31, 2018, Mandatory Breach reporting will come into effect in Alberta. The new provincial requirements mean Alberta Health Services and all other health custodians must report any privacy breaches to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC), the Minister of Health and any affected patient(s).
AHS, through the Information & Privacy Office, has always reported significant breaches to the OIPC. The new requirements serve to remind all of us to continue to report any privacy breaches we may encounter.
To report a breach, you must either fill out the Notification of Privacy Breach Form or e-mail the Information & Privacy Office at privacy@ahs.ca. The Information & Privacy Office will investigate the incident and will report the breach to the OIPC and Minister of Health. Any individuals affected by the breach will also be notified.
AHS recently implemented a new Privacy Policy that encourages a culture of shared accountability. The policy includes expected behaviours and additional supports to assist all of us in protecting health information and the systems that store it. I encourage everyone to review the new policy and discuss it with your co-workers.
Just as Albertans trust us with their care, they also trust us with their private health information. Protecting privacy enhances the overall trust in our organization and results in better healthcare and employee engagement.
Information sharing is needed to provide excellence in healthcare but accessing the health or personal information of our friends, co-workers, and other people not in our care is never appropriate.
Please visit the provided links for more information on reporting breaches or the Information & Privacy office.
Thank you for your continued diligence in keeping health information safe.
On August 31, 2018, Mandatory Breach reporting will come into effect in Alberta. The new provincial requirements mean Alberta Health Services and all other health custodians must report any privacy breaches to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC), the Minister of Health and any affected patient(s).
AHS, through the Information & Privacy Office, has always reported significant breaches to the OIPC. The new requirements serve to remind all of us to continue to report any privacy breaches we may encounter.
To report a breach, you must either fill out the Notification of Privacy Breach Form or e-mail the Information & Privacy Office at privacy@ahs.ca. The Information & Privacy Office will investigate the incident and will report the breach to the OIPC and Minister of Health. Any individuals affected by the breach will also be notified.
AHS recently implemented a new Privacy Policy that encourages a culture of shared accountability. The policy includes expected behaviours and additional supports to assist all of us in protecting health information and the systems that store it. I encourage everyone to review the new policy and discuss it with your co-workers.
Just as Albertans trust us with their care, they also trust us with their private health information. Protecting privacy enhances the overall trust in our organization and results in better healthcare and employee engagement.
Information sharing is needed to provide excellence in healthcare but accessing the health or personal information of our friends, co-workers, and other people not in our care is never appropriate.
Please visit the provided links for more information on reporting breaches or the Information & Privacy office.
Thank you for your continued diligence in keeping health information safe.
2018-08-16
Adoption & Validation 2 Moves us Further
I again want to personally thank the clinician community for making time out of busy schedules to attend the Connect Care Adoption and Validation sessions this week in Edmonton... and all the colleagues, patients, and families for helping these clinicians be available to share invaluable contributions.
The formal sessions continue to move us forward, helping to guide our build teams as the AHS Connect Care CIS takes shape. It is gratifying to witness how the discussions reflect growing knowledge, strong understanding of our intent, and a firm sense of implementation proximity.
Many groups, including Area Councils, Specialty Workgroups and Committees took opportunity of co-location to tackle complex issues. I personally witnessed and appreciated a number of productive clinical system design workshops. More and more clinical content (documentation, decision and inquiry support) is lined up for build.
We brought together physician leads at various times during the week and on the last day enjoyed a first gathering of all CMIO, ACMIO, design lead, medical informatics lead, directors and support staff in one place at one time! Great energy. Great contributions. We grappled with the complexities of clinical system design and strategies for getting essential clinical content in place by early 2019. We were also pleased to introduce a number of proficiency-development pathways, including both the new clinician builder program and power user program. With profuse thanks to Bart and the IT team, we were thrilled to be able to show a "PLY" environment that medical leads can use to start experiencing, demonstrating and promoting the emerging Connect Care CIS.
The third and final Adoption and Validation session will take place in Calgary at the BMO Centre, September 25 to 27, 2018. We will soon share more information.
AHS is most grateful for clinician interest in and support for this transformative project. Please share any feedback or suggestions with your zone ACMIO:
• Dr. Tim Graham - cmio.ez@ahs.ca (Edmonton Zone)
• Dr Tom Rich – cmio.caz@ahs.ca (Calgary Zone)
• Dr. Steven Turner cmio.cez@ahs.ca (Central Zone)
• Dr. Hendrik van der Watt - cmio.nz@ahs.ca (North Zone)
• Dr. Aaron Low - cmio.sz@ahs.ca (South Zone)
Appreciatively,
Dr. Rob Hayward, Chief Medical Information Officer
The formal sessions continue to move us forward, helping to guide our build teams as the AHS Connect Care CIS takes shape. It is gratifying to witness how the discussions reflect growing knowledge, strong understanding of our intent, and a firm sense of implementation proximity.
Many groups, including Area Councils, Specialty Workgroups and Committees took opportunity of co-location to tackle complex issues. I personally witnessed and appreciated a number of productive clinical system design workshops. More and more clinical content (documentation, decision and inquiry support) is lined up for build.
We brought together physician leads at various times during the week and on the last day enjoyed a first gathering of all CMIO, ACMIO, design lead, medical informatics lead, directors and support staff in one place at one time! Great energy. Great contributions. We grappled with the complexities of clinical system design and strategies for getting essential clinical content in place by early 2019. We were also pleased to introduce a number of proficiency-development pathways, including both the new clinician builder program and power user program. With profuse thanks to Bart and the IT team, we were thrilled to be able to show a "PLY" environment that medical leads can use to start experiencing, demonstrating and promoting the emerging Connect Care CIS.
The third and final Adoption and Validation session will take place in Calgary at the BMO Centre, September 25 to 27, 2018. We will soon share more information.
AHS is most grateful for clinician interest in and support for this transformative project. Please share any feedback or suggestions with your zone ACMIO:
• Dr. Tim Graham - cmio.ez@ahs.ca (Edmonton Zone)
• Dr Tom Rich – cmio.caz@ahs.ca (Calgary Zone)
• Dr. Steven Turner cmio.cez@ahs.ca (Central Zone)
• Dr. Hendrik van der Watt - cmio.nz@ahs.ca (North Zone)
• Dr. Aaron Low - cmio.sz@ahs.ca (South Zone)
Appreciatively,
Dr. Rob Hayward, Chief Medical Information Officer
2018-08-15
Connect Care August 2018 Calendar
A summary of key Connect Care happenings in August 2018 has been posted to the Alberta Health Services internal Connect Care website, linked below.
A second adoption & validation session in Edmonton continues feedback, demonstration and consultation about how clinical and operational workflows are expressed in the emerging AHS Connect Care clinical information system (CIS). Clinical System Design continues to organize for decision-making through ratification of specialty workgroups and support units associated with Area Councils. Our understanding of options for placement of CIS access points in different workplaces advances with continuing research on non-medical device options and establishment of two simulation centres.
A second adoption & validation session in Edmonton continues feedback, demonstration and consultation about how clinical and operational workflows are expressed in the emerging AHS Connect Care clinical information system (CIS). Clinical System Design continues to organize for decision-making through ratification of specialty workgroups and support units associated with Area Councils. Our understanding of options for placement of CIS access points in different workplaces advances with continuing research on non-medical device options and establishment of two simulation centres.
2018-08-10
Connect Care August 10 Newsletter Posted
2018-08-09
Enterprise Content Services Partner Selected
Managing all the attachments that relate to patient records across the continuum of care is a huge job for Alberta Health Services (AHS). Epic Systems software, a key component of the Connect Care clinical information system (CIS) will do most of the leg work. Additionally, the CIS needs software to help manage the many non-Epic document sources that matter to a fully integrated health record.
An Enterprise Content Services (ECS) solution helps manage chart objects; and information about the objects (like keywords or creation dates). Once Connect Care goes live, the ECS solution will facilitate tasks like document scanning, categorizing and linking to the right part of a health record. The ECS solution will also consolidate information from multiple document management systems and so optimize workflow, access, management, storage and availability of all the artefacts that can arise during the patient’s health journey across the continuum of care.
AHS has now completed an ECS RFP process, selecting Quanum™ Enterprise Content Solutions (formerly known as ChartMaxx), from Quest Diagnostics™. Quest has extensive experience with Epic Systems, and is a 10-time ‘Best in KLAS’ leader in Document Management and Imaging.
This new ECS application will join the CIS fold and support the Connect Care commitment to “one person, one record, one system”. It will implement alongside other key CIS deliverables.
An Enterprise Content Services (ECS) solution helps manage chart objects; and information about the objects (like keywords or creation dates). Once Connect Care goes live, the ECS solution will facilitate tasks like document scanning, categorizing and linking to the right part of a health record. The ECS solution will also consolidate information from multiple document management systems and so optimize workflow, access, management, storage and availability of all the artefacts that can arise during the patient’s health journey across the continuum of care.
AHS has now completed an ECS RFP process, selecting Quanum™ Enterprise Content Solutions (formerly known as ChartMaxx), from Quest Diagnostics™. Quest has extensive experience with Epic Systems, and is a 10-time ‘Best in KLAS’ leader in Document Management and Imaging.
This new ECS application will join the CIS fold and support the Connect Care commitment to “one person, one record, one system”. It will implement alongside other key CIS deliverables.
- Lori.Rutherford@ahs.ca, HIM Business Lead for ECS
- Karen.Brule@ahs.ca, Project Business Sponsor.
2018-08-07
Connect Care Professional Billing Supports
Many physicians fear that the Alberta Health Services (AHS) Connect Care clinical information system (CIS) will increase screen-time at the expense of patient-time. The concerns are understandable; and Connect Care design is driven by a commitment to decrease total information burdens for clinicians. A fully integrated system spares redundant data entry and, properly implemented, leverages collaboration to cut charting time.
Professional billing is a case in point. Many prescribers track, record and ‘bill’ for services rendered, even when employed or contracted to alternate reimbursement plans. Claims must detail patient diagnoses, co-morbidities, case complexity, related claims and other considerations. To the extent that this chore can be seamlessly integrated with CIS use, hassles decrease and total information burdens are eased. Connect Care can prove a big help to physicians who leverage CIS-integrated professional billing. The options offered are explained in a new Byte (in the Connect Care Clinician Handbook).
Professional billing is a case in point. Many prescribers track, record and ‘bill’ for services rendered, even when employed or contracted to alternate reimbursement plans. Claims must detail patient diagnoses, co-morbidities, case complexity, related claims and other considerations. To the extent that this chore can be seamlessly integrated with CIS use, hassles decrease and total information burdens are eased. Connect Care can prove a big help to physicians who leverage CIS-integrated professional billing. The options offered are explained in a new Byte (in the Connect Care Clinician Handbook).
2018-08-06
Connect Care Infrastructure Information
Robust infrastructure provides a sound foundation for the clinical information system (CIS) that will serve Connect Care's transformation goals. Reliable hardware, networks, devices and other technologies need to fit both clinical purpose and CIS capability.
The technology of Connect Care is important to understand. It is also important for clinicians to help guide technology choices toward what will serve Connect Care users best.
A new section of the Connect Care Insite presence gathers and maintains information about data centres, networks, medical devices and other mission-critical technologies and initiatives.
The technology of Connect Care is important to understand. It is also important for clinicians to help guide technology choices toward what will serve Connect Care users best.
A new section of the Connect Care Insite presence gathers and maintains information about data centres, networks, medical devices and other mission-critical technologies and initiatives.
2018-08-05
Smart Stuff for Dummies
The Connect Care clinical information system (CIS) is empowered by Epic Systems software. As we grow more familiar with this robust health information ecosystem, we also appreciate that it's power is continually extended through use of toolkits that allow us to grow and optimize CIS clinical content.
As clinicians guide specialty clinical system design, they get more and more exposure to Epic's toolkits; and the documentation, decision and inquiry supports that can be built. We hear about lots of 'smart' things (SmartTools, SmartText, SmartPhrases, SmartLists, SmartLinks, SmartSets, SmartForms, etc.) ... and may be excused for feeling a bit 'dumb' for not appreciating exactly what these do or how they differ.
The Connect Care eHealth Glossary is recently enhanced with definitions of Epic smart stuff.
As clinicians guide specialty clinical system design, they get more and more exposure to Epic's toolkits; and the documentation, decision and inquiry supports that can be built. We hear about lots of 'smart' things (SmartTools, SmartText, SmartPhrases, SmartLists, SmartLinks, SmartSets, SmartForms, etc.) ... and may be excused for feeling a bit 'dumb' for not appreciating exactly what these do or how they differ.
The Connect Care eHealth Glossary is recently enhanced with definitions of Epic smart stuff.
2018-08-04
Alberta Referral Directory - Authentication-free Access
The Alberta Referral Directory (ARD) is a secure, online listing that provides access to service and consultant demographics, referral guidelines and instructions about how to facilitate efficient and effective referrals, including referral forms.
To remove barriers to access for community clinicians seeking referral information, a read-only view of ARD is now openly available via the Internet without need for a logon user name or password. Full information access, with editing rights, still requires a valid userid and password. The internet address remains easy to remember: www.albertareferraldirectory.ca
With ARD use expanding, all physicians are encouraged to update their referral information, or have responsible clinic staff take care of this for the clinic and all providers.
To remove barriers to access for community clinicians seeking referral information, a read-only view of ARD is now openly available via the Internet without need for a logon user name or password. Full information access, with editing rights, still requires a valid userid and password. The internet address remains easy to remember: www.albertareferraldirectory.ca
With ARD use expanding, all physicians are encouraged to update their referral information, or have responsible clinic staff take care of this for the clinic and all providers.
2018-08-03
Reporting Health Informatics is Hard to Do!
Our clinician community can find it hard to understand, let alone explain, the nuanced differences between health information system initiatives in the province of Alberta; especially emerging opportunities for patients to participate more directly in managing their health information. We've previously blogged about Alberta's emerging personal health record (an Alberta Health offering building off of the provincial Netcare electronic health record), the anticipated Connect Care Patient Portal (providing diverse information services tethered to the AHS provincial clinical information system), and diverse patient portal services attached to non-AHS ambulatory care electronic medical records.
Understandably, the news media may also struggle to differentiate. Patient portals are a hot topic right now, possibly triggered by a recent CMAJ editorial calling for wider patient access to digital health records. CBC television recently ran a piece in which AHS was mentioned.
Our clinicians may have picked up a trivial inaccuracy. When discussing the dangers of patients trying to make sense of clinician-to-clinician communications, the example was an oncology report where the patient misunderstood "... NO esophageal carcinoma..." to mean negative, as in "no esophageal cancer." Clinicians would recognize the word in context and read "NO" as "nodes zero" as part of our standard nomenclature for classifying tumour status. The reporter claimed that the term really meant "number". Totally inconsequential error, but clinically entertaining.
A more substantive inaccuracy arose at the end of the segment, when the Netcare personal health record (PHR) was confused with the Connect Care Patient Portal (PP). The reporter was actually talking about the PHR, which indeed had its roll-out stalled for lack of an acceptable mobile interface. The reporter attributed this initiative to Alberta Health Services and used a Connect Care web page screenshot for illustration. In fact, the Connect Care Patient Portal is a different entity, tightly coupled to the CIS, and is not delayed (yet!).
Understandably, the news media may also struggle to differentiate. Patient portals are a hot topic right now, possibly triggered by a recent CMAJ editorial calling for wider patient access to digital health records. CBC television recently ran a piece in which AHS was mentioned.
Our clinicians may have picked up a trivial inaccuracy. When discussing the dangers of patients trying to make sense of clinician-to-clinician communications, the example was an oncology report where the patient misunderstood "... NO esophageal carcinoma..." to mean negative, as in "no esophageal cancer." Clinicians would recognize the word in context and read "NO" as "nodes zero" as part of our standard nomenclature for classifying tumour status. The reporter claimed that the term really meant "number". Totally inconsequential error, but clinically entertaining.
A more substantive inaccuracy arose at the end of the segment, when the Netcare personal health record (PHR) was confused with the Connect Care Patient Portal (PP). The reporter was actually talking about the PHR, which indeed had its roll-out stalled for lack of an acceptable mobile interface. The reporter attributed this initiative to Alberta Health Services and used a Connect Care web page screenshot for illustration. In fact, the Connect Care Patient Portal is a different entity, tightly coupled to the CIS, and is not delayed (yet!).
2018-08-02
Thank you Connect Care community!
Team,
We wanted to send along some words of appreciation and encouragement that we hear on a regular basis from Verna, ELT and our sponsors about the great work we are doing on Connect Care. It is hard in the middle of everything going on to keep perspective on how far we have come.
What we are doing is hard. We are asking people to change what they have done for decades. We are asking teams to make decisions in a hundredth of the time they are used to. We are asking Connect Care teams to work at a pace and intensity we are not used to. We are learning and growing as we do this work. We are uniting a province in a way we have never done before. It is not surprising that people are tired or getting snippy.
Having said that, we have successfully pulled off 4 major conferences in as many months, we have answered over 2,000 questions, we have launched 24 Area Councils and many other work groups, we have established fundamental or care content that will be used across the province, we have trained hundreds of people in a new tool and had them successfully start to configure it or start developing training materials. We are helping the organization understand what this means for them, we are working as a team to grapple with any number of important questions. You did that. Every one of you should be incredibly proud of the work you are doing.
We know that measuring progress can be tough on teams. Know that the leadership in the organization see the progress reporting not as a failure on anyone’s part, but places where we need to provide more support. There are so many things in play right now, we need to know who needs our support the most to remove roadblocks and help you.
The organization as a whole is in awe of what you are doing. We will have good days and bad days, but we are strong as a team, and we will have those together.
We hope you all have some downtime planned this long weekend with family and friends. Thank you for all you are doing.
Penny, Barb and Rob
We wanted to send along some words of appreciation and encouragement that we hear on a regular basis from Verna, ELT and our sponsors about the great work we are doing on Connect Care. It is hard in the middle of everything going on to keep perspective on how far we have come.
What we are doing is hard. We are asking people to change what they have done for decades. We are asking teams to make decisions in a hundredth of the time they are used to. We are asking Connect Care teams to work at a pace and intensity we are not used to. We are learning and growing as we do this work. We are uniting a province in a way we have never done before. It is not surprising that people are tired or getting snippy.
Having said that, we have successfully pulled off 4 major conferences in as many months, we have answered over 2,000 questions, we have launched 24 Area Councils and many other work groups, we have established fundamental or care content that will be used across the province, we have trained hundreds of people in a new tool and had them successfully start to configure it or start developing training materials. We are helping the organization understand what this means for them, we are working as a team to grapple with any number of important questions. You did that. Every one of you should be incredibly proud of the work you are doing.
We know that measuring progress can be tough on teams. Know that the leadership in the organization see the progress reporting not as a failure on anyone’s part, but places where we need to provide more support. There are so many things in play right now, we need to know who needs our support the most to remove roadblocks and help you.
The organization as a whole is in awe of what you are doing. We will have good days and bad days, but we are strong as a team, and we will have those together.
We hope you all have some downtime planned this long weekend with family and friends. Thank you for all you are doing.
Penny, Barb and Rob
2018-08-01
Adoption & Validation 2 Sessions August 14-16, 2018
Over 1500 subject matter experts (SMEs) and participants from across Alberta will be meeting in Edmonton at the Shaw Convention Centre from August 14-16 for the second of three Adoption & Validation sessions.
Earlier this year during the Direction Setting Sessions, participants made thousands of decisions that we have used to build parts of the Connect Care clinical information system (CIS). The purpose of Validation & Adoption is to review, validate and adopt how Direction Setting and other decisions are expressed in the emerging CIS. The second session gives opportunity for participants to contribute to additional choices about how the system can support enhanced workflows.
Earlier this year during the Direction Setting Sessions, participants made thousands of decisions that we have used to build parts of the Connect Care clinical information system (CIS). The purpose of Validation & Adoption is to review, validate and adopt how Direction Setting and other decisions are expressed in the emerging CIS. The second session gives opportunity for participants to contribute to additional choices about how the system can support enhanced workflows.
2018-07-27
Don't get Caught!
Alberta Health Services (AHS) has been in the (unhappy) informatics news, having experienced a recent 'phishing' attack that targeted administrative staff. Thanks to e-security vigilance, the attempt was detected early and no harm came to the organization.
This is a strong reminder to learn and use basic information self defence, or to push a different metaphor... defensive driving on the health information highway.
This is a strong reminder to learn and use basic information self defence, or to push a different metaphor... defensive driving on the health information highway.
2018-07-13
Connect Care July 13 Newsletter Posted
2018-07-03
Visible Agency
As we progress with Connect Care configuration and build, then check back with stakeholders through Adoption & Validation, the time has come to transition from vendor-facilitated presentations to AHS-facilitated demonstrations. Happily, our technical specialists and clinical informaticians (including physician leads, physician builders and medical informatics leads) have trained to the point that they can confidently share the emerging clinical information system (CIS) features and workflows with AHS users. Such interactions build confidence and help translate user reactions to sensible re-configuration requirements.
Such AHS Connect Care CIS “agency” will be apparent at Adoption & Validation #2 in August, by which time clinical leads will have access to a new Connect Care simulation and demonstration environment since late July.
A key to Connect Care agency is for physician leaders to master CIS design and function. We are pleased to report that, to date, 54 physician leaders have completed a 1-day Epic overview course, 40 have completed a 3-day course, 18 have completed basic physician builder training, 2 have completed advanced physician builder training and 1 has progressed to advanced competency in Epic analytics. Others are in-training and too many to count have completed self-directed online learning modules.
Such AHS Connect Care CIS “agency” will be apparent at Adoption & Validation #2 in August, by which time clinical leads will have access to a new Connect Care simulation and demonstration environment since late July.
A key to Connect Care agency is for physician leaders to master CIS design and function. We are pleased to report that, to date, 54 physician leaders have completed a 1-day Epic overview course, 40 have completed a 3-day course, 18 have completed basic physician builder training, 2 have completed advanced physician builder training and 1 has progressed to advanced competency in Epic analytics. Others are in-training and too many to count have completed self-directed online learning modules.
2018-07-02
Connect Care: How are we doing so far?
Almost 9 months since the official (contractual) start of Connect Care, the time is right to acknowledge what we've collectively accomplished. Although we wish some configuration tasks were further along, the Connect Care initiative continues to achieve a myriad of (ambitious) milestones early in its (shortened) 5-year plan.
Thankfully, many requirements for a provincial clinical information system (CIS) were anticipated. We leverage the good work of Strategic Clinical Networks, Quality Safety & Outcomes, Clinical Knowledge & Content Management, Strategic Transformation Questions, eSafety, infrastructure enhancement and other efforts to transform health care provincially.
We also acclimatize a critical success factor... being inclusive. All zones, sites, disciplines and stakeholders are involved, including input from patient advisors. All deserve credit for rapid progress in many areas:
Thankfully, many requirements for a provincial clinical information system (CIS) were anticipated. We leverage the good work of Strategic Clinical Networks, Quality Safety & Outcomes, Clinical Knowledge & Content Management, Strategic Transformation Questions, eSafety, infrastructure enhancement and other efforts to transform health care provincially.
We also acclimatize a critical success factor... being inclusive. All zones, sites, disciplines and stakeholders are involved, including input from patient advisors. All deserve credit for rapid progress in many areas:
- Credible Oversight: A robust and enduring provincial oversight structure brings governance, advocacy and community empowerment to Connect Care, ensuring representative guidance through design and build, and responsive optimization indefinitely. The associated committees, councils, advisory groups and workgroups have proved positive and productive. The decision-making experience already nurtures curious, collaborative and empowered stakeholders.
- Early Engagement: Over 3,000 physicians, clinicians, staff and patients have participated in groundwork, scoping, direction-setting, clinical system design and adoption & validation activities; often in demanding multi-day sessions. They directly ensure commitment to purpose over product.
- Shared Decision-Making: Already many thousands of answered questions address how Connect Care is configured to support the way we work. Many more thousands guide the selection, adaptation and development of clinical content (documentation, decision and inquiry supports) to help patients, practitioners and policy-makers.
- Dynamic Build: To date, reactions to the emerging Connect Care build have been very positive. Iterative exposure of work completed, review by stakeholders and then re-adjustment continues, with responsive build activities finishing by early 2019 when simulation and testing begins.
- Principles-Based: Guiding principles for governance, system build, design management, scope management, decision support, documentation, embedded analytics, eSafety and many other domains help decision-makers work to a common purpose.
- Solid Foundation: Disaster resilient data centres are built and linked, with the CIS software installed and taking shape. Clear frameworks guide selection and deployment of wireless, workstations and mobile devices.
- Scope Managed: The capabilities of our integration partner (Epic Systems) are known, potentially important clinical or safety gaps explored, and decisions about complementary systems made; emphasizing integration, simplicity and sustainability.
- Implementation Plans: Work continues to sequence roll-out waves. Use of resources and change agents is carefully choreographed. Plans for training and supporting over 7,000 prescribers and 110,000 staff are underway, with zones and sites ramping up their own effector streams.
Rapid change, with such profound implications, occurs on a scale never before experienced in our organization. It solidifies our identity as a principled public service and prepares us for even greater change as we get ready for CIS implementation starting late 2019.
2018-07-01
Connect Care Town Hall Meetings
An increasing proportion of the Alberta Health Services (AHS) community has had direct exposure to Connect Care. Committees, councils, advisory groups, workgroups, direction-setting, system design and now adoption & validation have actively involved a wide range of stakeholders, giving tangible experience of what Connect Care is and how it progresses. Initiative awareness surveys confirm that “the word is out”.
With awareness comes changing information needs. In order to broaden our community understanding, while more dynamically responding to questions of the day, quarterly Connect Care Town Halls offer a new option for updates, questions and answers.
The first takes place July 11, 2018. To accommodate anticipated numbers, a telehealth session for North and Edmonton Zones (1230-1330) will be followed by a second for Central, Calgary and South Zones (1400-1500). Telehealth locations and connection details will be posted to Connect Care Insite.
With awareness comes changing information needs. In order to broaden our community understanding, while more dynamically responding to questions of the day, quarterly Connect Care Town Halls offer a new option for updates, questions and answers.
The first takes place July 11, 2018. To accommodate anticipated numbers, a telehealth session for North and Edmonton Zones (1230-1330) will be followed by a second for Central, Calgary and South Zones (1400-1500). Telehealth locations and connection details will be posted to Connect Care Insite.
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