Reporting Problems and Offering Suggestions

Clinical information system (CIS) users may encounter what appear to be bugs or other problems that should be reported to avoid possible safety risks or to prevent other users from workflow interruptions. Experienced users will also find ways that the CIS could be improved for greater ease of use, efficiency or safety.

Connect Care Support Page

The Connect Care Support web page (or "Concierge") at help.connect-care.ca simplifies intake for issue or idea reports which are then characterized, triaged and allocated for fixes, optimization or development.

  • Please report all non-urgent problems via the Connect Care Concierge (help.connect-care.ca).

  • For pressing issues, call the IT Service Desk & Solution Centre at 1-877-311-4300 (#1 for Connect Care).

  • For suspected wireless (WiFi) network performance issues, call HelpDesk.

Embedded Help Desk Request Tool

A streamlined tool for submitting issue and idea requests is embedded within Connect Care. This allows reports to be submitted closer in time and place to the users' need.

  • Use the "Connect Care - Submit Help Ticket" button on the top of the screen (to the right of the "Epic" menu button); or, click on the "Epic" menu, find the "Help" section, and select the "Connect Care - Submit Help Ticket" item.

  • Within the universal learning home dashboard (accessed with the F1 key), look to the top of the "Prescriber Connect Care Resources" column and select the "Connect Care Help Ticket" item.

  • Completing a ticket resembles the workflow for the Connect Care Support page, but has the convenience of some form elements pre-populated.

Suggestions

The Connect Care Concierge (help.connect-care.ca) can also be used for submitting enhancement ideas or other improvement suggestions. This is done using the same ticketing system that enables non-urgent help requests. Although the online form reads like a problem-reporting tool, it is intended for both problems and suggestions. Think of the "issue title" as the "suggestion title" and enter your idea or recommendation in the "issue description" box. A Concierge "ticket" is generated, and this is the best way to draw attention to suggestions.

Better Requests and Reports

Those trying to characterize, triage and allocate problems and suggestions do better when users provide a workable level of detail. Connect Care Concierge (help.connect-care.ca) submissions become "tickets". High-performing tickets include the following details:

  • Patient Information

      • Include patient information if unique patient circumstances (e.g., order, documentation, flowsheet) are part of the reported problem or request.

      • Limit any patient information to the Medical Record Number (MRN) found in Storyboard.

    • Location

      • Department and setting information is required for all tickets. However, the reported issue may cross more than one Epic department and more than one clinical setting or provider role. Indicate this in the comments if the forced selection of department, setting and role does not seem relevant.

    • Device

      • If an AHS device (e.g., computer) may be the issue, the Solution Centre should be called (1-877-311-4300). If, despite this, a ticket is entered to help.connect-care.ca, then be sure to include the device ID (on the AHS sticker on the device).

      • If a personal device may relate to the problem, report whether it is mobile or desktop/laptop, and note the operating system (e.g., Windows, Macintosh, iOS, Android), browser and network (intranet vs. extranet) in use at the time.

    • Workflow

      • When a Connect Care issue or need relates to use of the system, try to specifically identify the Activity (e.g., Patient Lists), Navigator (e.g., Admission), Chart Component (e.g., Summary, Chart Review) and subsection where the problem occurs.

      • When an action is in question, be specific about the associated order, note template or other object in use at the time of the problem.

    • Medications

      • For medication-related problems, include the drug name and try to also include the order number and any containing order set.

Tracking Problems

Once a ticketed report is submitted, the user can expect email acknowledgement with a summary of what was reported. Thereafter, progress may be reported by email and can be followed online with the following link (only works when connected to an AHS network):