Lab Results Review Update – Hematology, Coagulation, Immunology, Pathology

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Lab Results Review Update – Hematology, Coagulation, Immunology, Pathology

As part of the Results Review Tree Optimization Project, as of October 20, 2026, the Hematology, Coagulation, Immunology, and Pathology folders will be updated and reorganized, making it easier to find results of tests that fall into these folders. The most significant changes have been made to the Hematology folder, which will be organized with Hemoglobin at the top of the CBC section and WBC at the bottom (click the camera icon for a screenshot).

If you see tests that appear to be in the wrong section from folders marked as Complete, please submit a Connect Care ticket.

For more information on the next stages of the Results Review Tree Optimization Project, click on the infographic below.

Updates to Narcotic Transition Services Adult Order Set

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Updates to Narcotic Transition Services (NTS) Adult Order Set

As of October 13, 2026, enhancements will be made to the Narcotic Transition Services (NTS) Adult Order Set, as listed below [click the camera icon for a screenshot]. Please note that these changes will break existing personalization, so prescribers will need to re-personalize their order set after the change.  

• Instruction language adjustments, to better align with current service naming
• Addition of communication pathway instructions for when a dose is missed
• Hydromorphone admin instructions made clearer for pre- and post-dosing 
• Addition of an oral (PO) hydromorphone option at some phases of treatment, to align with current practices
• Injectable hydromorphone “Followed By”/PRN doses during Initiation and Next Morning adjusted to become inactive 1 hour after initial dose administration

For details on how to re-personalize, see the tip sheet. If additional support is needed for re-personalization, please email help.cmio@hssab.ca.

• Tip: Editing Personalized Order Sets

Change for Clinical View Only Secure Chat Attachments

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Change for Clinical View Only Secure Chat Attachments

As of October 8, 2026, users with a Clinical View Only with Basic Reporting role will no longer be able to attach patient charts to Secure Chat messages, to ensure this role remain view-only as intended. If this negatively impacts your workflow, please submit a ServiceNow ticket so the team can review and address your needs.

Neurosciences Visit Type Optimization

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Neurosciences Visit Type Optimizations

As of October 6, 2026, there will be a few changes regarding Visit Types for appointments scheduled in Neurosciences ambulatory departments:

• The “Visit Type” column in the Multi Provider Schedule (MPS) will no longer indicate whether the appointment is in-person, by telephone, or by video. This information will instead be indicated in a new separate “Mode” column, by means of icons.

• Several rarely used Visit Types will no longer be available options for schedulers.
• Schedulers will start using a Visit Type Decision Tree, and this information will be available in a new MPS column, “Visit Type Decision Tree Choice”.

Both new MPS columns will appear automatically for prescribers who did not previously personalize their schedule view columns. Those who did previously personalize their schedule view columns will have to wrench in these new columns to see them.

Tool Tune Up: October 2026 Order Tool Updates

The spreadsheet linked from this post will be updated throughout the month as needed. 
Note no updates will be made the weeks of October 5 and 12.

The spreadsheet linked below details recent or upcoming changes to order tools (e.g., order sets, SmartSets, therapy plans) that may impact prescriber personalization. Note that the link to the spreadsheet remains the same for the calendar year, with a new tab added for each month. 

The spreadsheet is typically updated at the end of each week if any new changes are confirmed/implemented. If the spreadsheet has been updated, a note with the date will be added after the spreadsheet link.

• Spreadsheet: Order Tool Updates - October 2026 
• If you get an error clicking the above link, please right-click to copy the link, and then paste into your browser.
• Tip: See the first "READ ME" tab for an explanation of the spreadsheet's tabs and columns. 

Postpartum Hemorrhage Order Set Changes

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Postpartum Hemorrhage Order Set Changes

To align with the Nursing Protocol Order Set and to improve usability for clinicians, as of October 1, 2026, there will be a number of updates to the Postpartum Hemorrhage (PPH) Order Set, including both non-medication and medication-related changes (click the camera icon for screenshots). Additional PPH-related updates will also be made at the same time to the Labour & Delivery Admission and Postpartum order sets. Please note that these changes will break existing personalization, so prescribers will need to re-personalize their affected order sets. 

For details on how to re-personalize, see the tip sheet. If additional support is needed for re-personalization, please email help.cmio@hssab.ca.

• Tip: Editing Personalized Order Sets

Optimization Training - Classes in October 2026

The CMIO Prescriber Experience team offers Optimization classes (a.k.a. Thrive classes), where Connect Care prescribers can learn how to take full advantage of the features of the clinical information system, to help maximize their productivity and spend more time with patients. Classes are typically 60 minutes in length each and focus on completing common workflows more efficiently.

Below are the Optimization classes currently scheduled for October 2026. 

• Dragon Medical One (DMO) Advanced
• October 15, 12:00–13:00
• October 30, 15:00–16:00
• In Basket Clean Up 1:1
• October 5, 11:00–11:30
• October 6, 09:00–09:30
• October 8, 09:00–09:30
• October 13, 11:30–12:00, 12:30–13:00
• October 16, 08:30–09:00
• October 19, 11:00–11:30
• October 23, 09:30–10:00
• October 26, 11:30–12:00
• October 27, 08:30–09:00
• Medical Officer of Health (MOH) 1:1
• October 5, 13:00–13:30
• October 9, 14:00–14:30
• October 20, 11:00–11:30
• October 22, 09:00–09:30
• October 26, 14:00–14:30
• October 28, 11:00–11:30
• Notes
• October 5, 12:00–13:00
• October 19, 12:00–13:00
• Orders Personalization
• October 19, 09:00–10:00
• October 27, 12:00–13:00
• SmartTools
• October 6, 12:00–13:00
• October 22, 12:00–13:00

Prescribers can register for these Optimization classes at the below link (clicking the “Optimization” button at the bottom of any page in the Connect Care Manual will also take you to the booking page); a tip sheet provides help navigating the booking page. Spots are limited to ensure trainers can address individual questions. Please ensure that you review your confirmation email from "Bookings CMIO Thrive" for the class link, and requirements for the session.

• Register: CMIO Optimization Classes
• Tip: How To Register for CMIO Thrive/Optimization Classes
• Manual: Optimization Training
• Questions: CMIO.Optimization@healthsharedservices.ca

Anesthesia Update - New Record Deletion Activity

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Anesthesia Update - New Record Deletion Activity

A new tool, "Anesthesia Record Deletion Activity", is available to Anesthesia users. Accessible directly from an open anesthesia encounter (click the camera icon for screenshots), this tool will allow users to quickly delete an anesthesia record without needing to launch the regular Chart Correction Tools.

For details, see the updated guide (page 2).  

• Guide: Anesthesia Chart Correction

Enhancements to Discharge Planning Tools

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Enhancements to Discharge Planning Tools

Following improvements made earlier this year to the discharge planning tools available in Connect Care, and in response to feedback from users, as of September 22, 2026, a number of additional enhancements will be released. The enhancements are intuitive and passive (i.e., no action required), and are primarily visual improvements or added functionality that reduces the number of steps or clicks required to take action. All discharge documentation workflows and tools remain the same. 

As part of these enhancements, users may notice "Predicted Discharge Disposition" information appearing within discharge planning tools for some patients (excludes Pediatrics and Addiction & Mental Health inpatients). The availability of a prediction for a change in needed supports or likelihood of discharge to home/self care is indicated with a crystal ball icon (purple globe symbol) that may appear in discharge disposition patient list columns, discharge planning forms, or discharge planning reports. Prescribers are welcome to use this predicted disposition information when making decisions about a patient's expected discharge disposition.

Prescriber resources have been updated to reflect these changes, and a demo video walking through the Predicted Discharge Disposition function is available. If you have any questions on the changes, please review the instructions/linked resources embedded directly in the Connect Care tools, or submit a helpdesk ticket. 

• Manual: Discharge Disposition
• Tip: Discharge Disposition
• Demo: Predicted Discharge Disposition

Changes to Gynecological Cytology and HPV Test of Cure Orders

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Changes to Gynecological Cytology and HPV Test of Cure (HPVTOC) Orders

As of September 17, 2026, a few changes will be made to the Gynecological Cytology and HPVTOC orders, as listed below. Please note that these changes will break existing personalization, so prescribers will need to re-personalize their affected orders. 

• Removed the immunocompromised criteria question 
• Updated the "Process Instructions" text, removed definition of "immunocompromised" 
• Added text to the "Is patient immunocompromised?" question to show the criteria (still hard stop) 

For details on how to re-personalize, see the Quick Start Guide (page 5). If additional support is needed for re-personalization, please email help.cmio@hssab.ca.

• Quick Start Guide: Orders and Order Panels Personalization 

Conditional After Visit Summary for Aprepitant and Sugammadex

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Conditional After Visit Summary for Aprepitant and Sugammadex

As of September 11, 2026, if a patient was administered Aprepitant (Emend) or Sugammadex (Bridion) while undergoing anesthesia and they meet the below criteria, an advisory warning will appear in their After Visit Summary (AVS) to advise that hormonal birth control effectiveness will be temporarily decreased due to potential drug interactions, and that additional/alternative contraception is recommended. Previously, Our Practice Advisories (OPAs) were only triggered for clinicians if the legal sex in their patient record was set to "Female", and patient education may have been missed particularly as contraceptive use is not always disclosed/documented.

This advisory will appear in a patient's AVS if the patient: 

• Is between 9 and 55 years old
• Is documented as "Female" or "Female sex at birth" 
• Is not currently pregnant 
• Has no documented history of hysterectomy AND
• Sugammadex has been administered in the past 7 days OR 
• Aprepitant has been administered in the past 30 days 

Click the below camera icon to see screenshots of how the advisories will appear in the AVS.

New Goserelin Complex Therapy Plan Now Available

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• New Goserelin Complex Therapy Plan Now Available

As of September 1, 2026, a Goserelin 10.8mg Q84Days Complex Therapy Plan is now available for ordering [click the camera icon for a screenshot].

Format Enhancements for Connect Care Prescriptions

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Format Enhancements for Connect Care Prescriptions

Effective September 1, 2026 at noon, the following changes will appear on Connect Care prescriptions, both printed and eFaxed: 

• AHS wordmark replaced with "Alberta Health Shared Services" wordmark 
• Addition of "Start Date" field 
• Addition of "Indications" and "Indications Comments" fields (will display only if entered in order)
• Addition of "Weight" field for patients less than 18 years of age (will display only if entered in order)
• Removal of prescriber primary phone and fax numbers in the footer 
• Tracked Prescription Program (TPP) exemption notice statement (in eFax prescription report only, when prescribed at a TPP-exempt site, even if no TPP medications are ordered)

Lab Update - gFOBT To Be Delisted in Alberta

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Delisting of Guaiac Based Fecal Occult Blood Testing (gFOBT) in Alberta

Effective September 8, 2026, gFOBT will be fully removed as an available test in Alberta, both as a point of care test (POCT) and a central lab test. gFOBT should no longer be stocked or ordered in Alberta, including in acute and primary care settings. The test will be discontinued as an orderable in Connect Care.

• Samples received on and after September 8, 2026 will be cancelled. 
• Consider alternate patient management options, such as FIT, clinical assessment (history and physical exam), and/or validated risk scores (e.g., Glasgow–Blatchford Score (GBS) / Rockall Score, Oakland Score) to guide management. 

For more information, see the lab bulletin.

• Lab Bulletin: Delisting of Guaiac Based Fecal Occult Blood Testing (gFOBT) in Alberta (August 2026)

Lab Update - Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma Nucleic Acid Testing

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• In-Province Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma Nucleic Acid Testing Now Available

A nucleic acid test (NAT) for Mycoplasma genitalium, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, and Ureaplasma parvum has been implemented at the Alberta Provincial Public Health Laboratory, enabling testing to be performed in the province rather than requiring referral outside of the province. 

• Routine Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma culture will be discontinued. 
• Requests for Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma NAT will no longer be referred out of province. 
• A dedicated specimen for Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma NAT will be required. 
• The test can be ordered in Connect Care via the "Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma NAT" order, with all mandatory fields completed. 

For more information, see the lab bulletin.

• Lab Bulletin: Mycoplasma/Ureaplasma Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) (July 2026)

Update for Interventional Cardiologists

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Interventional Cardiologists No Longer Automatically Added to Patient Care Teams

As of August 20, 2026, the performing Interventional Cardiologist will no longer be automatically added to a patient's Care Team when the patient undergoes an Electrophysiology (EP) or Cardiac Catheterization procedure. These prescribers are often not part of the patient's ongoing care team, and automatic assignment has resulted in communication challenges, including patients sending MyChart messages directly to these prescribers. 

This change was approved by all Cardiac Catheterization and EP Lab Directors in Edmonton and Calgary, as well as the Cardiology Clinical Systems Integration (CSI) group. 

Anesthesia/Surgery Update - Change to Anticoagulant OPA

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Update to Anticoagulant Our Practice Advisory (OPA)

As of August 20, 2026, the existing OPA for anticoagulants will be updated to fix an issue found where the OPA fired inappropriately for regional nerve blocks that did not involve the spine. Anesthesia prescribers will now see a warning for anticoagulants in the following scenarios:

• Warning will fire if a procedure note has been entered or epidural catheter has been documented (click the camera icon for a screenshot).

• Warning will fire (and display) in the Anesthesia px note if anticoagulant was given prior to the start of an anesthesia procedure.

The warning will discontinue after the appropriate amount of time has passed (12 hours). 

IFT Update - Order Reconciliation Requirements

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• IFT Update - Order Reconciliation Requirements

As of August 18, 2026, certain orders will no longer need to be reconciled during the Inter-Facility Transfer (IFT) process, including Goals of Care, bridging medication, and conditional discharge orders. These will clearly be marked under "Orders Not Needing Reconciliation" section of the D/R Orders tab (click the camera icon to see a screenshot).

Update to POCT INR Workflow

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Update to POCT INR Workflow

As of June 3, 2026, the workflow for Point of Care Testing (POCT) that uses patient self-tested international normalized ratio (INR) readings has been updated. The main changes include:

• Enhancement of existing “MyChart Home Anticoagulation Monitoring” order to trigger a new flowsheet row for the inpatient context, allowing clinicians and the patient to enter results. New flowsheet row is called “Patient Self-Tested INR”, to clearly differentiate from lab-performed results.
• The hard stop previously encountered with the creation of an Episode of Care is now a soft stop and will not require resolving a previous EoC regardless of previous admission/POCT INR order.

For details, see the updated tip sheet:

• Tip: Patient Self-Tested POCT

Outgoing Referral Update - New Field for Unknown Provider/Location

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Outgoing Referral Update - New Field for Unknown Provider/Location

As of July 30, 2026, a new field (text box) has been added in the Outgoing Referral order. If there is an unknown "To provider" or "To Location/POS", this new text box should be used for noting any additional details rather than the "Scheduling instructions" field (click the camera icon for a screenshot).

For details, see page 2 of the updated tip sheet:

• Tip: Referrals – To Department, Location, or Provider

Lumens Update - Verify Orders Change

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Lumens Update - Verify Orders Change

As of July 23, 2026, the banner for verifying orders in the "Report" section of Lumens prescribers' Postprocedure navigator has been updated, to provide clarity. It will now say ">>> CLICK HERE <<< to modify (add/remove) procedures performed".

For details, see the tip sheet and updated Quick Start Guide (page 2):

• Tip: Add/Remove Procedure to an Existing Appointment
• Quick Start Guide: Lumens Postprocedure 

Endoscopy Update - Trauma Informed Care

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Endoscopy Update - Trauma Informed Care

As of July 23, 2026, Endoscopy units now have a "Trauma Informed Care" section in the Preprocedure navigator. This allows staff to ask about and document sensitive information related to the patient’s well-being during endoscopy procedures. Once documentation is complete, an Our Practice Advisory (OPA) will trigger for the current visit, including in the performing prescriber’s Pre- and Postprocedure navigators.

Continuing Care Update - Renaming of LTC Admission Order Sets

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Continuing Care Update - Renaming of LTC Admission Order Sets

To align with updated provincial terminology and provide additional clarity around Continuing Care order sets, as of July 28, 2026, the following long-term care (LTC) admission order sets will be renamed:

• Long Term Care Admission will be "Continuing Care Home Type A and Type B Admission – with inpatient orders and ePrescribe (fax)"
• Supportive Living and Long Term Care with Contract Pharmacy Admission will be "Continuing Care Home Type A and Type B Admission – with community pharmacy" 

Users will still be able to search for the order sets using familiar terms like "LTC" and "SL". 

Anesthesia Update - Outpatient Morphine Milligram Equivalents Per Day

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Anesthesia Update - "Outpatient Morphine Milligram Equivalents Per Day" Now in Desktop Connect Care

Previously, the "Outpatient Morphine Milligram Equivalents Per Day" section only appeared for Anesthesia users when accessing a patient's chart through the Haiku mobile app (under "Summary"). As of July 24, 2026, the section can also be found in the desktop version of Connect Care, in the Preprocedure navigator for Anesthesia, under the "Anesthesia Review" section (click the camera icon below for a screenshot). 

Anesthesia Update - ECT Enhancements

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Anesthesia Update - ECT Enhancements

As of July 21, 2026, a few enhancements will be made impacting the ECT Anesthesia documentation workflow:

• A new "Prev ECT" column will be added to the ECT Status Board.
• Lightning bolt icon will indicate patient had previous completed ECT visits (in last 2 years), hovering over icon will display details including information pulled from the ECT Anes Memo comment.

• Updates will be made to the anesthesia documentation workflow:
• Intraprocedure Memo now the recommended method for documenting additional clinical details, so they can be pulled and visible in the new ECT Status Board column and the ECT Treatment Report. 

• This replaces the previous practice of recording information in the Blue Sticky Notes (which are not for clinical documentation and cannot be pulled into the ECT Status Board or Treatment Report).

See the updated tip sheet for details:

• Tip: ECT Anesthesia Workflow

APS Prescribers - Dual Signoff Summary Not Functioning As Expected

An issue has been identified that may impact prescribers who use the prepared medication workflow on the MAR to administer High Alert Medications (HAMs), such as those with Acute Pain Service (APS). 

When multiple HAMs requiring Independent Double Checks (IDCs) are administered at the same time, the system does not behave as expected at the Dual Signoff step if the medications were previously Prepared:

• The Dual Signoff Summary shows only one of those medications. 
• If the Dual Signoff is completed for the medication that does appear, the system applies that action to the other medications as well. This also applies to changes made to the dose, action, rate, or dosing parameters.
• The second healthcare provider then can not perform all steps of the IDCs for all medications from the Dual Signoff Summary.

A fix is being developed and is expected to be implemented August 13, 2026. In the meantime, impacted prescribers can avoid this issue by administering HAMs requiring IDCs one at a time, and can submit a ticket to the Service Desk if any additional issues arise.

Home Care Update - CAM Phase of Care for Medication Administration Program

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Home Care Update - CAM Phase of Care for Medication Administration Program

To support medication safety for the Health Care Aide (HCA) Medication Assistance Program (MAP), a Phase of Care has been implemented to be added to all Clinic Administered Medication (CAM) orders. Adding the Phase of Care to CAM orders will ensure that HCA MAP medications are appropriately filtered for HCAs in the MAR, for a streamlined view of medications they are responsible for. When prescribers encounter this Phase of Care in a CAM order, it should be left in the order if Home Care has the client on a MAP with HCAs. 

All clients are expected to have the Phase of Care implemented by July 17, 2026 (for sites using Connect Care Rover for HCA MAP) or September 30, 2026 (for sites not yet using Connect Care Rover).

Taming In Basket Reminder - Removal of Results Messages Older Than 180 Days

As previously posted, for Phase 3 of the Taming In Basket initiative, as of January 2026 In Basket messages of the "Results" type are set to auto-expire after 180 days. On July 13, 2026, the first batch of Results messages older than 180 days will auto-expire and be removed from users' In Basket view. 

Messages removed from users’ In Basket view are still retrievable for 60 days following removal (in this case, until September 13, 2026) before being purged from the system; see the FAQ blog post on how to retrieve. Afterward, all messages will still be retained in databases in case they need to be retrieved in the future for legal/privacy/etc. investigation, but messages cannot be retrieved this way for individual users.

Note that any messages that users postponed utilizing "Follow up" functionality are excluded from the auto-expiry rule until after the date the message comes back to the My Messages space.

For more information on In Basket, please see the CMIO's In Basket Management Guide:

• Guide: In Basket Management - CMIO

Updates to Bone Marrow Exam

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• Updates to Bone Marrow Exam

As of July 9, 2026, the following updates will be made to the Bone Marrow Exam (click the camera icon for a screenshot):

• Bone marrow specimen source questions have been consolidated into one order-specific question.
• A laterality question is now available (with selections "Unilateral" or "Bilateral"), which will automatically populate the sources in the correct order. 
• New left and right Bone Marrow Biopsy sources have been created to make the source selections consistent for both aspirate and biopsy.

New Neurosurgery Order Sets

Enhancement updates provide short alerts to new, fixed or improved Connect Care functions...

• New Neurosurgery Order Sets

To address a recognized gap in clinical workflows, as of June 23, 2026, the following new Neurosurgery order sets are available for use by both the Neurosurgery and Spine teams:

• Spine Surgery Preprocedure Adult Order Set
• General Neurosurgery Cranial Admission Adult Order Set