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:
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:
The Connect Care laboratory medicine group seeks feedback about whether and why prescribers might use an available "comments" field when entering orders for laboratory tests in the Connect Care clinical information system. The following survey (closing November 11, 2021) can be used by any prescriber who enters orders for tests:
Survey feedback information will used to help optimize the design and use of order comments.
An important message from Dr. Francois Belanger, Chief Medical Officer, and Sean Chilton, Vice President Health Professions and Practice and Information Technology:
The flu season is soon upon us, with opportunistic immunization important for at-risk patients during hospitalizations.
Previously, the COVID-19 vaccination instructions and documentation suggested that COVID-19 immunization not be considered within 14 days of any other immunization event. The evidence, and guidance, is now clear that co-vaccinations are both safe and appropriate. The Connect Care order set and associated clinician documentation reflects this change.
We've previously posted about how to review COVID-19 immunization information in Netcare and Connect Care and how, if indicated, to add information about an otherwise undocumented vaccination as a historical immunization when patients present with formal documentation of non-Alberta immunizations.
Recent audits have uncovered some inappropriate (even fraudulent) instances of what appear to be formal external documents. Alberta's provincial COVID-19 vaccination validation service is resourced to assess and validate external vaccine documents. It is easily accessed and used by patients online.
Connect Care providers should direct patients to submit their external documents for approval and possible addition to the provincial registry, and should avoid manual entry of historical COVID-19 vaccine administrations into Connect Care. The provincial registry information is automatically copied into Connect Care when validated.
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:
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:
Improvements to the Hyperspace inpatient chart Sidebar include aids for quickly finding, displaying and editing information in either the main (central), Sidebar (right) or pop-up chart spaces. The first set of tools appear by default when the inpatient Sidebar opens to its "Index & checklists" view. These nicely illustrate how the Sidebar can help users quickly access and update chart data that otherwise would require more familiarity with less-used parts of the chart.
The focus of the checklists view is on transition planning, whether that relates to discharge, transfer or a move to a different level of care (click on icon to view screenshot; numbers below refer to numbers in screenshot).
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:
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:
New patient assessments offer important opportunities to initiate core clinical data in the patient chart. This decreases the work of documentation thereafter, when clinicians can revise or validate information already entered.
Sidebar tools can help clinicians when they review information from other clinical information systems (e.g., Netcare) or from prior unstructured Connect Care documentation (dictated notes that, for example, did not include updated problem lists). The user needs to review and document at the same time, ideally without jumping back and forth between different windows.
The Sidebar can help in two ways, either when used to review information that informs documentation performed with main panel tools, or when used to enter information gleaned from the main panel.
Sidebar views of other clinical information system content are especially helpful when doing problem, adverse reaction or medication reconciliation, as explained in a recent Manual addition.
Users may notice changes to the "Sidebar" (rightmost panel appearing when a patient chart is opened to an inpatient encounter in Hyperspace) starting noon September 30, 2021. The best way to learn about new functions is to select the embedded help link to gain access to a quick overview.
All the same Sidebar information is available. However, many Sidebar views have been enhanced with better clinical summaries. The Sidebar index now uses information about the current provider, patient and clinical setting to conditionally display the most relevant information. In addition, new features make it easier to use the Sidebar to access charting tools that complement what one may be using in Hyperspace's main (centre) panel.
The biggest change relates to how the Sidebar summary index works. The index will always appear at the top of Sidebar views (default "Index" tab) and can be used to jump between different views. Index items have three parts:
Time-saving charting efficiencies become possible with effective use of Sidebar tools. We will post tips and tricks in the Building a Better Health Record series of this blog.
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:
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:
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:
An important message from Dr. Francois Belanger, Chief Medical Officer, and Sean Chilton, Vice President Health Professions and Practice and Information Technology:
As of September 1, 2021, an additional (third or booster) dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is available for eligible groups:
To support the expanded criteria for vaccinations, the COVID-19 vaccine inpatient order set is enhanced in Connect Care:
For more information:
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:
As previously posted, the Alberta Health Services Identity & Access Management (AHS IAM) team has activated a security practice for Connect Care whereby Connect Care user accounts that have not been accessed for 180 consecutive days will be inactivated. Users with inactive accounts will not be able to log in to Connect Care. The first day access to inactive accounts may be lost is Wednesday, August 25, 2021.
This inactivation protocol helps ensure that Connect Care users remain available for system alerts, information about new or changed features, and important clinical notifications. The protocol applies to all AHS employees, members of the medical and midwifery teams, students, volunteers, and other persons acting on behalf of AHS (including contracted service providers).
More information:
As the Connect Care clinical information system (CIS) continues to spread throughout Alberta, situations emerge where a program or facility has areas launched in Connect Care and others awaiting launch. Temporary "hybrid" contexts occur when part of a patient's experience is captured in Connect Care and other part(s) in legacy systems.
Clinicians trained in Connect Care workflows may find themselves attracted to the convenience of in-system dictation, speech recognition or text automations when providing service in contexts where the CIS has yet to launch. Nonetheless all clinical documentation must be rendered and entered to the correct legal record of care.
The Connect Care Manual describes how to print material that needs to be added to a paper chart:
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:
Connect Care
Minimum Use Norms highlight a few essential activities that all clinicians must share in order to promote patient safety, improve charting efficiency and minimize any one clinician's information burdens.As previously posted, more lab test results were made available last February in My Personal Records (MPR), found in MyHealth Records (MHR), the single access point for Albertans’ personal health information. These lab results are viewable through the MPR application. Making more results available online provides Albertans with more access to their health information and acts as an additional safety net for patient care within the system.
Through a series of rollouts, additional results are being added to MPR through to September. To date, the following results are now viewable as soon as they are released by the lab:
Providers may notice some changes in their patterns of work, and may wish to consider giving patients more information about the implications of different results at the time of ordering a test. Physicians and other providers will continue to have access to results through their usual delivery channels.
For more information about the August 23 rollout, AHS will be hosting a 1-hour information webinar on Zoom:
When admitted patients leave an inpatient setting with expectation of return, they enter a "leave of absence" (LOA) status. Special provisions may be needed, including for things like medications to be taken while on leave.
A LOA navigator (usually found within the Discharge activity in Hyperspace) helps clinicians take care of everything needed for a LOA. This now has a new section, “LOA Orders for Procedures”, to be used to continue all required inpatient medications when sending a patient to another site for a procedure.
If medications are not required during transfer, then the only requirement is placing an LOA order for the procedure in the Orders section.
The Clinician Manual, with attached tip sheets, has been updated:
A big welcome to Dr. Jeremy Theal who assumes leadership of the Alberta Health Services (AHS) Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) portfolio next month!
From Dr. Francois Belanger, AHS Chief Medical Officer & Vice President Quality: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:
As of July 22, 2021, the Alberta Health Services Identity & Access Management (AHS IAM) team activates an anticipated security practice for Connect Care. In short, Connect Care user accounts that are not accessed for 180 consecutive days will be inactivated. Users with inactive accounts will not be able to log in to Connect Care.
The previously described inactive user protocol comes into force Tuesday, August 24, 2021. The process helps ensure that Connect Care users remain available for system alerts, information about new or changed features, and important clinical notifications.
Managers may want to attend Zoom Virtual Office Hours (to be recorded) to explore their role and the inactivation protocol in more detail:
This inactivation protocol applies to all AHS employees, members of the medical and midwifery teams, students, volunteers, and other persons acting on behalf of AHS (including contracted service providers).
More information: