LAST UPDATED NOVEMBER 24, 2022. Content will evolve as Connect Care is launched across the province, and as optimizations are made to the system. Please also note that the delivery information on these pages applies to mixed-context practitioners only, and in the majority of circumstances, but some exceptions may not be reflected here.

Delivery of Results, Clinical Documents & Referral Notifications to Mixed-Context Practitioners

Overview

With the phased implementation of Connect Care across Alberta, the delivery of clinical information to practitioners (including physicians, medical trainees, nurse practitioners, clinical assistants and other healthcare professionals – collectively referred to here as practitioners) is changing. Some laboratory and pathology results, diagnostic imaging and other procedure reports (for ECGs, endoscopy, and others) are now delivered to practitioners using Connect Care processes. Connect Care also changes how certain clinical documents (e.g., discharge summaries, emergency practitioner notes), referral information and appointment notifications are received. Results, reports and other clinical documents continue to be available in Alberta Netcare as previously.

For practitioners who work both within Alberta Health Services (AHS) and at community-based or private practices (“mixed-context” practitioners), Connect Care changes how they can expect to receive documents. Documents that may have previously been faxed or mailed to their community-based clinic for paper filing, or eDelivered to their electronic medical record (EMR) are now found in the Epic In Basket. This subsection of the Manual summarizes how many of these documents are made available to mixed-context practitioners as of the date of writing (see Notes at the bottom of this page). AHS continues to optimize the configuration of Connect Care and Epic, and to identify alternative workflows that promote patient safety.

Mixed-Context Practitioners

“Mixed-context” practitioners work in an AHS setting, using Connect Care, while also providing services in one or more sites that use an independent EMR, AHS legacy computer information system, or paper records. How results or reports resulted or documented in Epic are returned for consideration by mixed-context practitioners depends on the context of ordering, the practitioner’s delivery preferences in Epic, and the type of result, report or clinical document.

Practitioners with Connect Care access will always be set to a communication preference of In Basket in Epic. Privacy and technical constraints do not allow for a practitioner-level decision regarding routing preferences for practitioners using Connect Care. Mixed-context practitioners will therefore always have an active In Basket, and certain information will be sent to In Basket by default.

Information on delivery of information to mixed-context practitioners is organized into three subpages:

Additional Resources

Notes

    • This information was last updated November 24, 2022.

    • The information provided in this subsection of the Manual is specific to practitioners who work at AHS sites using Connect Care/Epic as the AHS Legal Record of Care, and who also work in a clinic or clinics with a private record of care.

    • Until Connect Care is fully implemented within AHS, the information and tables in this subsection of the Manual refer to results or reports that are routed through the Connect Care clinical information system, Epic. The information in this document does not suggest that other systems will manage information the same way. Some legacy systems still in use, like eScription, may continue to route information directly to private clinics in some areas, until all parts of the province are using Connect Care.

    • Technical limitations exist within Epic such that some messages generated within Connect Care for tests or interventions ordered outside of Connect Care (e.g., at a community clinic) will only be delivered to the practitioner’s Epic In Basket, if an In Basket exists for that practitioner. There is no technical option to deliver the results to another EMR or via fax/mail.