Hospital Service Alignment
Medicine Care Alberta completed a review of Hospital (Admitting) Service use within Connect Care, focusing on the Hospital Medicine and Family Medicine service (specialty) areas. Significant variation in how these services have been applied across Alberta led to inconsistent reporting, user errors, and challenges with obtaining accurate bed occupancy data.
An Acute Care Alberta Hospital Service Alignment Committee approved provincial standardization such that all hospitalist-managed and family physician-managed adult medicine patients be attached to a Hospital Medicine hospital (admitting) service. Effective December 8, 2026, the mandated change affects both rural and urban Connect Care prescribers.
Impacts and Actions
Family Medicine Consult order unavailable: The Family Medicine Consult order will not be available after December 8, 2026. Consults already active will remain and could be missed.
Personalization of admit orders may need to be updated: An admit order will be unable to be processed if the Family Medicine service is personalized for selection as the admitting hospital service.
Patient Lists may need to be updated: For sites currently using Family Medicine service to organize patient lists, Provider Teams should be used to organize patient lists instead.