Health informatics briefs for clinicians; from the Alberta Health Services Chief Medical Information Office (cmio@ahs.ca).
2020-09-30
AHS eMail Migration - Check your Junk Mail
2020-09-29
Clinical Inquiry Clinics - Case #2 Recordings
The Connect Care Inquiry Clinics continue Tuesday and Thursday at noon. Those who cannot make the scheduled times can access related recordings:
- Video Demo: Case #2 (30 min, AHS access)
- Slides: Clinical Inquiry Clinic #2
- Crib-Sheet: Case #2 Finding Exposed Patients
Participants are encouraged to check the Manual section on Reporting Workbench for background information, additional tips, e-learnings and guides.
2020-09-28
Connect Care Wave 2 Workflow Dress Rehearsals - Physician Participation
An important Wave 2 Connect Care readiness event is soon upon us. A series of "Workflow Dress Rehearsals" (WDR) occur between October 5-6 and 13-14 in outpatient and inpatient settings respectively.
Workflow Dress Rehearsals (WDR) provide clinicians with opportunity for hands-on practice using the Connect Care clinical information system (CIS) in simulated workflows. The current CIS build is exposed for testing in real clinical contexts, usually with the computers and devices that will be used at Wave 2 launch. Physicians, nurses, other clinicians, managers and the project team work together to identify any issues and find solutions pre-launch.For more information and to sign up for participation or observation (physician roles are listed in the schedules):
2020-09-27
On Other Channels...
Thank you for continuing to check (... ideally, subscribe to; see right sidebar instructions) the Connect Care Update blog for prescribers. Some recent additions to this blog and other channels:
- Blogs
- FAQ
- Tips
- Support
- Informatics
- Manual
- See What's New
2020-09-26
Clinical Inquiry Clinics - Case #2 - Patient Safety & Med Exposure
We've previously posted about this being a good time to explore Connect Care's measure, report, visualization, dashboard and other inquiry support tools. Excellent reporting training opportunities continue to be available via MyLearningLink.
Connect Care Inquiry Clinics explore user-submitted cases, considering the best match of problem to in-system reporting, analytic or visualization tools. Resources are provided, casework is shared, and participants are encouraged to adapt learnings to their needs. Case referrals are accepted where available Connect Care tools can be used to advantage with data already available (rob.hayward@ahs.ca).Inquiry Clinics occur approximately weekly via Zoom and are repeated to accommodate participant schedules:
- Tuesday noon (12:00-13:00)
- Thursday noon (12:00-13:00) repeat
2020-09-25
Connect Care in the Media
Alberta news media reports today that Connect Care launch waves are delayed due to COVID-19.
This is old information. There is no news that should concern Connect Care stakeholders.
The media references decisions made at the beginning of the pandemic; decisions long integrated into project planning, delivery and communication. There are no new delays or other impacts to the upcoming Wave 2 launch scheduled for October 24, 2020.
Connect Care remains one of Alberta Health Service’s top organizational priorities. Delaying the previously planned Wave 2 launch allowed Connect Care to redirect efforts to development and implementation of COVID-related clinical content and to fast-track public health supports and interfaces that otherwise would have occured in later waves. In short, Connect Care did not slow or pause... it accelerated to address an urgent provincial challenge.
In addition, teams were able to give more time to post-launch optimization and to redesign of training programs to be more pandemic-tolerant. All clinical content required for the next waves is ready to go, including the validation of content for specialties that are new to Connect Care like Women’s Health.
Everything is tracking well for the October 24 wave 2 launch, with site readiness work near completion and end user training well underway.
2020-09-24
Help Improve Medication Reconciliation Workflows
Medication documentation is about how medication decisions are recorded, communicated, validated and followed. Medication reconciliation adds a check of a patient's expected and actual home medication use. It is a mandated element of all admissions to inpatient units.
Medication reconciliation is not easy on paper and proves challenging in digital workflows. We would like to understand why and use that understanding to improve Connect Care.
Please help!
We are keen to hear from clinicians already using Connect Care at wave 1 sites. A very short survey asks what is working, and not working, with medication reconciliation; and what could be improved. Resources are available to act on survey findings, so responses matter.
Please provide input before October 23, 2020:
2020-09-17
Clinical Inquiry Clinics - Case #1 Recording
The Connect Care Inquiry Clinics started this week with exploration of a first Case in repeat sessions offered Tuesday and Thursday at noon. Those who could not make the scheduled times have asked for recordings:
- Video: Inquiry Clinic Introduction and Process (10 min, open access)
- Slides: Inquiry Clinic Introduction and Process
- Video Demo: Case #1 and Report Build (25 min, AHS access)
- Slides: Inquiry Clinic Case #1
- Crib-Sheet: Case #1 Finding Patients by Provider
Participants are encouraged to check the Manual section on Reporting Workbench for background information, additional tips, e-learnings and guides.
The next clinics occur the week of September 28, 2020.
2020-09-16
On Other Channels...
Thank you for continuing to check (... ideally, subscribe to; see right sidebar instructions) the Connect Care Update blog for prescribers. Some recent additions to this blog and other channels:
- Blogs
- FAQ
- How are Triplicate (Duplicate) Prescriptions handled in Connect Care?
- What does the "Accept Charges" Button do in Service Code Capture and can it be Ignored?
- Tips
- Finding Reports using the Analytics Catalogue
- Documenting Complex Consent Issues
- Organizing Reporting Workbench Reports
- Finding Reporting Workbench Reports
- Time Shortcuts
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Support
- Patient Name Enhancements
- Chart Search Improvements
- StoryBoard Improvements
- Help! Haiku Stopped working after a Scheduled Downtime
- Informatics
- Webinar: Connect Care and AHS Research
- SuperUser Development Session #4 - Voice & Mobility
- SuperUser Development Session #3 - Inpatient
- SuperUser Development Session Recordings
- Wave 2 Ordersets Ready
- Manual
- See What's New
2020-09-15
Patient Movement Virtual Drop-In Sessions
Patient movement is about how information flow supports healthcare flow.
A trauma patient can, for example, require task distribution among emergency, critical care, operating room, ward, interventional diagnostics and other care contexts. Each may have focus for a time, with orders and documentation appropriate to that time.The Patient Movement Team continues to study tricky-transitions, simplify user guides and facilitate change-management. The latest Drop-In supports build on prior Patient Movement Fundamentals Webinars and Patient Movement Bootcamps.
2020-09-11
Clinical Inquiry Clinics - Case 1 Prep
We've previously announced a series of "Connect Care Inquiry Clinics" occurring weekly via Zoom (repeated to accommodate participant schedules) with the first clinic facilitated by Rob Hayward on September 15 and 17, 2020:
- Tuesday September 15, 2020, noon (12:00-13:00)
- Thursday September 17, 2020, noon (12:00-13:00) repeat
2020-09-10
All Prescriber Bulletin: Issues with Scanned Documents
Scanned Document Viewing Issues - Temporary
Some users have experienced problems viewing scanned objects (e.g., external electrocardiograms) or scanning and adding new objects.
Central fixes are being applied, with expectation that scan-related error messages will rapidly disappear.
New scanning should be avoided until expanded capacity comes online, with any urgent materials sent to the Health Information Management department onsite with a request for scanning.
We will post again only if all problems are not resolved by end of working day.
2020-09-09
September Upgrade Complete - Lots of Enhancements
There are no changes requiring re-training or new workflows. However, there are many user interface improvements and fixes that can improve users' experiences. Too many to take in all at one time.
We'll post enhancement notices daily in the Support channel (button above or support.connect-care.ca), which users can subscribe to. The enhancements thread can be specifically tracked via enhancements.connect-care.ca.
Today's posting is about improvements to the Patient Storyboard. Also note a new Support posting about the need for Haiku and Canto users to ensure that they have the most recent version of the app.
2020-09-08
Feedback and Suggestions Welcome!
Mindful that we are soon to welcome another wave of prescribers to the Connect Care community, we are working to keep CMIO prescriber supports current, relevant and responsive. This includes upgrades to modernize the file repositories that make the Manual, Handbook, Glossary and blogs possible. A few broken links may emerge as the work wraps up.
All of our users are encouraged to report problems, suggest improvements, or help guide new content.
A "Feedback" button, keyed to the editorial board intake email, "cmio-manual@ahs.ca," is added to the bottom of all Manual pages, as well as to links in the right column of all blogs. Please feel free to help us help you!
2020-09-07
On Other Channels...
- Blogs
- FAQ
- Tips
- Support
- Informatics
- Manual
- See What's New
2020-09-04
Clinical Inquiry Clinics - Case 1 - Provider-Patient Associations
Some of us could benefit from working through practical examples. Earlier we polled Connect Care clinicians for common inquiry needs. Responses provided use "cases" where use of one or more reporting tools could address a clinical need.
Connect Care Inquiry Clinics explore these user-submitted cases, considering the best match of problem to tool. Resources are provided, casework is shared, and participants are encouraged to adapt learnings to their particular needs. Case referrals are accepted where available Connect Care tools can be used to advantage with data already accrued (rob.hayward@ahs.ca).
Inquiry Clinics occur weekly via Zoom, are announced here a week in advance, and are repeated to accommodate participant schedules:
- Tuesday noon (12:00-13:00)
- Thursday noon (12:00-13:00) repeat
New: Enhancement Alerts
- Connect Care Enhancement Alerts
2020-09-02
Nice Nod to Connect Care and Virtual Health Services
2020-09-01
On Other Channels...
- Blogs
- New series in the Support channel
- The Support blogging channel (see buttons above) now has a thread dedicated to enhancements, fixes and new clinical information system functions. These messages are flagged with a light green background.
- Check the Support channel (and Enhancements topic in left column) or simply bookmark: enhancements.connect-care.ca
- Acting North Zone ACMIO
- The frequency of Countdown Checklist (checklist.connect-care.ca) postings is increased
- Using Connect Care Blogs
- Dual Provider Records
- Wave 2 Training Registration
- FAQ
- Tips
- Support
- Manual
- Many new changes! We are focusing on Manual updates and improvements as Wave 2 Prep
- See What's New