This combined posting is updated throughout the second week of launch support, accumulating needs raised in prescriber huddles, with links to support information. Consider looking back each day.
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- Observation Bed Request
- Some facilities such as the Foothills Medical Centre have "observation bed" designations. When a patient requires a dedicated observation bed on an inpatient unit in such a facility, an "Observation Bed Requirement" order should be placed, for communication to bed planning and nursing. See the blog post for more information.
- Calgary Zone - Ambulatory Results Management Update
- Starting November 16, some results from outside of the Calgary Zone will be suppressed from In Basket to reduce duplicate reports.
- Prescribers must regularly monitor Connect Care In Basket AND hard copy reports, and follow-up on results as needed.
- To improve the reliability of result delivery to In Basket and reduce hard copy reports, issue Connect Care requisitions to patients.
- For more information, see the memo.
- Computerized Prescriber Order Entry (CPOE) and Allowed Exceptions
- Information on CPOE can be found in a Countdown Checklist post, a general blog post, and the Clinical Ordering Norms section of the Connect Care Manual.
- There will be situations when prescribers cannot be expected to place time-sensitive orders directly and require the assistance of a qualified healthcare professional to transcribe important clinical instructions. Allowed exceptions to prescriber order-entry fall into three categories, each explained and exemplified in FAQ and Order Norms documents: protocolized orders, urgent verbal orders, and urgent telephone orders.
- In ordering – as in all other clinical activities – patient care and safety come first. If there is an urgent or emergent circumstance affecting a patient’s care, verbal or telephone orders may be appropriate and can be allowed. See this memo for further details. For additional information on team collaboration for verbal and telephone orders, see the work package for prescribers and nurses, and, for nurses and allied health professionals, the decision-making guide and paging etiquette guide.
- Consults and Internal vs. External Referrals
- "Consult" requests relate to assessments to be done within the current encounter and are entered from inpatient and emergency orders activities. "Referral" requests relate to assessments that will be done outside or after the current inpatient or emergency encounter and are entered using the "External Orders" tab of orders activities.
- Outpatient services that use Connect Care as the record of care are "internal" referral resources (e.g., a referral from FMC ED to FMC Minor Surgery would follow the internal referral pathway). Outpatient services that are not on Connect Care are "outgoing", or external, referral resources. This status is selected when entering the referral order.
- All referrals originating in Connect Care must be placed as a referral order, regardless of whether or not the referred service provider/clinic is using Connect Care. This ensures that a record of the referral exists in the legal record of care.
- See the Referral Workflows section of the Connect Care Manual for more information, as well as the following resources: