New OPA for Pregnant Patients in ED

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

• New OPA for Pregnant Patients in ED

As of January 27, 2026, a new Our Practice Advisory (OPA; previously Best Practice Advisory) will fire for patients >20 weeks pregnant presenting in the ED, indicating a recommendation to order an Obstetrics consult. This change is in response to multiple patient safety events with negative outcomes across Alberta following pregnant people presenting to the ED with non-obstetrical issues, due to lack of recognition of the impact of the associated pregnancy. 

• The OPA will take into account whether the ED has an Obstetrical provider onsite or not, and will present the relevant available order (click the camera icon to see screenshots).

• The OPA will allow override with reasons that include "Not pregnant or < 20 weeks", "Pt refused", "Defer 15 minutes", and "Not indicated". A “Set Dispo: Send to L&D” reason will also be available for sites that have Obstetrics coverage.
• Obstetrical providers who have been consulted can determine if an in-person assessment, an outpatient assessment, or no assessment is required (via initial phone discussion). This should be documented within the consultation record per standard practice. 

The Women's Health Clinical Systems Improvement team will be monitoring consultation volumes. Please inform your Provincial Medical Informatics Lead (PMIL) regarding concerns of inappropriate consults or excessive volume.  

New NICU/PICU/Inpatient Pediatric RSV Immunoprophylaxis Panel

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

• New NICU/PICU/Inpatient Pediatric RSV Immunoprophylaxis Panel

As of January 8, 2026, a new inpatient panel called “NICU/PICU/Pediatric RSV Immunoprophylaxis” will be available to guide dosing and help prescribers choose the correct syringe for nirsevimab (Beyfortus). 

• Prescribers can find the new panel by searching for “nirsevimab”, “Beyfortus”, "RSV prophylaxis", or "RSV" (click camera icon for a screenshot).

• The individual nirsevimab (Beyfortus) orders will be removed from the search/browse. Prescribers will no longer order nirsevimab individually, but can order it using the new panel.

NEW DATE - New Inpatient Cirrhosis Care Support Tools

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

• New Inpatient Cirrhosis Care Suite of Support Tools

Managing cirrhosis is complex and, despite clear guidelines, many patients do not receive optimal care. After consulting directly with clinicians, conducting focus groups, and successfully soft-launching new functionality, the Digital Health team has created a new and improved approach to the management of this chronic disease within Connect Care, complete with new tools designed to simplify workflows, support evidence-based decisions, and improve patient outcomes. 

As of January 15, 2026, the following cirrhosis care tools will officially go live. We will provide more information on these tools in the new year including tip sheets and demos, but encourage prescribers in the meantime to explore to learn more. The summary report in particular (search for "cirrhosis" in the "Summary" activity) is essentially a one-stop shop for cirrhosis care, and users can learn how to navigate and use simply by clicking through.

• Admission Our Practice Advisory (OPA) – Prompts clinicians to review recommended care items during admission and guides next steps.
• Cirrhosis Summary Report – A one-screen dashboard for labs, meds, complications, and trends.
• Cirrhosis Profile – Structured data for continuity and longitudinal tracking.
• Note Templates – Streamlined documentation for cirrhosis and comorbidities.
• Discharge OPA – Alerts and recommendations to ensure safe transitions of care. Together, these tools aim to standardize care, reduce missed opportunities, and make cirrhosis management more efficient and consistent across Alberta.
• Cirrhosis Disease Management Sidebar Summary – Enabled for patients with cirrhosis-related medical histories or problems, is available for inpatient and outpatient.

Watch this space for updates, as well as the below Manual page, where tip sheets and demos will be linked.

• Manual: Cirrhosis Care Path

Clinician Filtering for Drug-Disease Interactions

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

• Clinician Filtering for Drug-Disease Interactions

A frequent wish we’ve heard from clinicians is to have the ability to filter more alerts in Connect Care, as some may not be helpful when firing repeatedly, and pop-up fatigue can even lead to them being ignored. To address this request, as of December 16, 2025, the importance level of drug-disease interactions will be decreased in the system from "Very High" to "High"; as a result, clinicians will be able to selectively filter drug-disease warnings by specific warnings – for an individual patient or for all patients – for 180 days.

• After completing an assessment of the interaction, clinicians can click on the “Don’t Show This Warning Again” button (click the first camera icon below for a screenshot) and continue to select the options appropriate for the patient and their practice (click second icon).

 

• Apply filter to “Only This Patient” – Warning will not fire to this clinician for subsequent orders for this same medication and same medical condition for this individual patient.

• Apply filter to “All Patients” – Warning will not fire to this clinician for subsequent orders for this same medication and same medical condition for any patient. A reason must be selected to set this filter.

• Drug-disease warnings that have been filtered can be viewed by selecting “Show filtered” in the Current Warnings screen.

• Clinician filtering is specific to the individual user who chooses to filter a drug-disease warning; drug-disease warnings will continue to fire to other clinicians unless they also choose a filter option.

Note that the clinician assumes responsibility for any warnings that they choose to filter. Also, continued management of the Problem List will further reduce unhelpful drug-disease warnings.

Patient Lists - IP Notifications and Lab Notifications

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

• IP Notifications and Lab Notifications Column Blocks for "My Lists"

An "IP Notifications" column "block" (more than one column combined in a single unit for addition to patient lists) continues to be available for addition to any personalized inpatient "My List". A new companion column block, "Lab Notifications", combines a column alerting users to new laboratory results (since results were last time stamped as being viewed by the user) with a column reflecting recent glucometer results. The two column blocks are designed to work side-by-side. Accordingly, the IP Notifications block's top-left position now shows indication of expiring orders instead of the prior indicator for new test results.

As of December 1, 2025, the two column blocks contain the following iconographic indicators:

• IP Notifications
• Top Left - presence of expiring orders
• Top Right - presence of new notes (since last time stamped)
• Bottom Left - presence of pended, saved or held orders
• Bottom Right - presence of notes requiring co-sign by current user
• Lab Notifications
• Top - presence of new laboratory results (since last time stamped)
• Bottom - glucometer results in current and prior day within expected range

Creating a new My List, or applying properties, from the "MD Ward Rounds" or "MD ED Consults" provincial My List templates will automatically include the two prescriber notification blocks in the resulting patient list.

For more information about how to apply provincial My List templates or manually add the prescriber notification column blocks:

• Manual: Patient Lists
• Demo: IP and Lab Notification Patient List Columns

Glucometer Monitoring - Tool Enhancements

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

• Glucometer Overview Tool Improvements

As of September 16, 2024, a new “Glucometer Overview” column was introduced for inpatient Patient Lists, supporting quick review of recent results directly from the Patient List.

The column has benefited from a number of improvements, including:

• More distinct colour dots reflecting different glucose monitoring scores.
• Improved hover display of recent glucometer results, including a link to patient-entered data if present.
• Inclusion of Glucometer Monitoring column in a new "Lab Notifications" column block, now part of "MD Ward Rounds" and "MD ED Consult" patient list templates.

For more information about how to apply provincial My List templates or manually add the Glucometer Monitoring column:

• Tip: Glucometer Overview Patient List Column
• Manual: Glucose Monitoring and Management
• Demo: IP and Lab Notification Patient List Columns

Hazardous Medication Alerts for Ambulatory Patients

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

• KNOWN Hazardous Medication Storyboard Alerts

As previously posted, an alert was recently introduced in Connect Care to identify non-ambulatory patients receiving hazardous medications, as phase 1 of integrating hazardous medication identification into Connect Care. As of August 26, 2025, phase 2 has expanded the KNOWN hazardous medication alert to ambulatory settings.

• The KNOWN Hazard Medication Storyboard Alert informs healthcare providers that the patient has received a KNOWN hazard medication, and they are within the precautionary period. This alert enables healthcare providers to be aware that PPE will be required based on the task they are performing. 
• Providers should consult the AHS/COV Hazardous Medication PPE Guide to determine the type of PPE required.
• The alert will appear on the patient's Storyboard given one of the following scenarios:
• A KNOWN hazard medication has been administered on the patient’s MAR.
• A KNOWN hazard medication is identified on the patient’s home medication list.  
• The alert will remain active until: 
• the indicated precautionary period has passed (if the medication was administered through the MAR); or
• the medication has been discontinued, cancelled, or expired. 

The Provincial Hazardous Medication Committee (PHMC) plans to send out a survey in the fall to allow healthcare providers to provide their feedback on the alert and whether the alert meets their needs, especially those who do not have access to the MAR. In the interim, any questions about the alert can be sent via a Service Now ticket.

For more information, see:

• FAQ: KNOWN Hazard Medication Storyboard Alert
• Insite: Hazardous Medication Handling
• Contact: hazardousmedication@ahs.ca 

UPDATED: Hazardous Medication Alerts for Non-Ambulatory Patients

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

• Hazardous Medication Storyboard Alerts

On May 5, 2025, an alert in Connect Care was introduced to identify patients receiving hazardous medications. This alert was available to inpatient departments and multi-function departments that serve both inpatient and outpatient contexts. Since the alert was launched, feedback has been received requesting streamlined workflows, reduced alert fatigue, and visibility of the KNOWN hazard medication alert in non-encounter views. 

As of August 6, 2025, the following changes will be made to the hazardous medication alert:

• Storyboard will now display only KNOWN Hazard Medication alerts, visible in both encounter and non-encounter views (click the camera icon to see screenshots). 

• POTENTIAL and REPRODUCTIVE hazard medication alerts will no longer be identified on the Storyboard.  
• When handling blood or body fluids from patients receiving POTENTIAL or REPRODUCTIVE hazard medications, refer to the AHS/COV Hazardous Medication PPE Guide to determine the required personal protective equipment (PPE).
• For patients admitted to inpatients and who had received a KNOWN Hazard Medication at home or in the community, the system will use the admit date as the assumed last dose date to calculate the precautionary period timeline.

KNOWN hazard medication alerts will remain active until: the indicated precautionary period has passed (if the medication was administered through the MAR); the medication has been discontinued, cancelled, or expired (by a patient report or an authorized community prescriber); or the admit date to calculate the precautionary period has passed. Non-prescribers will continue to be able to see the KNOWN, POTENTIAL, or REPRODUCTIVE hazardous medication alerts in other locations, including lab specimen labels. 

This change is phase 1 of integrating hazardous medication identification into Connect Care; phase 2 will expand identification to all other departments, with implementation planned for a future date.

For more information, see the FAQ:

• FAQ: KNOWN Hazard Medication Storyboard Alert

Updates to Storyboard Airway Alerts

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

• Airway Alerts on Storyboard

As of November 26, 2024, the previous “Difficult Airway” line item in the Storyboard will appear as “Airway Alert” to be more inclusive, and will defaults to orange in colour. When hovering over the Storyboard Airway Alert, you will be able to see all historical documentation for the alert (click the below camera icon to see a screenshot). 

A tip sheet details how to update the criticality of the alert and how to remove it, and a guide is available for anesthesia providers on how to document a difficult airway. 

• Tip: Storyboard Airway Alert
• Guide: Anesthesia Provider - Difficult Airway

Advanced Care Planning and Goals of Care Designation Updates

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

• Advanced Care Planning and Goals of Care Designation Updates

To better support clinical decision-making in the moment and reduce risks of harm when using out-of-date information, as of October 16, 2024, Advanced Care Planning (ACP) and Goals of Care Designation (GCD) related updates have been made to the following three areas:

• Storyboard ACP/GCD status messaging: Adjusted to read “No active order; search scanned docs” when no active order exists.
• Best Practice Advisories (BPAs): Amended to include three additional lines of instruction and link to the ACP navigator (via the “Review ACP/Greensleeve Documents” link at the bottom of the BPA), to instruct on appropriate review of documents.
• GCD Order: Includes additional wording directing users to take appropriate action for ACP/GCD reconciliation: “Green Sleeves and Connect Care must be reviewed and reconciled to ensure that both sources reflect the most recent order. Goals of Care Designations ordered in Connect Care must be printed and added to the front of patient’s Green Sleeve. If any prior printed designations are retained, they should be marked 'VOID', dated and initialed." 

For more details about GCD, see the Connect Care Manual. If you have any questions, contact ConversationsMatter@ahs.ca.

• Manual: Goals of Care Management
• Manual: Goals of Care Designation Definitions

New Pediatric Dosing Weight BPA

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

• New Pediatric Dosing Weight BPA

Accuracy in dosing weight is critical for patient safety and effective treatment. To support clinical decision-making by ensuring accurate dosing information, a new Best Practice Advisory (BPA) notification will fire for prescribers to help identify pediatric patients who are <1 year old with a dosing weight recorded on the current encounter and the most recent recorded dosing weight is >7 days old. 

Prescribers will see the following BPA options:

• Update Dosing Weight (via flowsheet row in BPA)
• Update Weight (via flowsheet row in BPA)
• Place Order: Update Dosing Weight (NUR792) preconfigured with a comment “Reweigh patient and discuss with Most-Responsible-Provider to determine the most appropriate dosing weight for the patient". 24-hour lockout will be applied to the notification.
• Acknowledgement Reason: “Remind me in 1 hour”

Note: To view the most recent weight and dosing weight recorded, click the wrench icon in the upper right corner of the window and select the “Show Last Filed Value” checkbox (click on the camera icon to see a screenshot). 

For more information on weight-based dosing, see the tip:

• Medication Ordering Tip: Weight-Based Dosing

Glucose Management Tool Improvements

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

• Glucose Management Tool Improvements

As of September 16, 2024, a new “Glucometer Overview” column is available to add to inpatient Patient Lists, to facilitate review of glucometer point of care testing (POCT) results directly from the Patient List.

This update makes it easier to identify patients who need diabetes medication review and titration, with colour-coded visual cues and logbook formatting of last/current day POCT glucose results as well as last HbA1C. Double-clicking on the column displays the patient’s Glucose Management Report without exiting out of the Patient List. The report will also be updated to have the logbook formatting.

The Glucometer Overview column has to be manually added to a prescriber’s Patient List; see the tip sheet for details. 

• Tip: Glucometer Overview Patient List Column
• Manual: Glycemic Monitoring and Control

Heparin Infusion Order Panel Improvements

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

• Heparin Infusion Order Panel Enhancements

Protocolled orders can help clinicians manage uncommon health problems when, for example, the most relevant orders are supported with digests of evidence-informed guidance. The use of intravenous heparin infusions is associated with unique risks. As of September 19, 2024, three associated Order Panels are enhanced; infusions for:

• Cardiology indications
• Venous thromboembolism (VTE) indications
• Stroke indications

Prescribers can find the order panels when searching for orders with "heparin" as a keyword.

• Tip: Ordering Heparin Infusions
• Manual: Protocolled Orders

New Cirrhosis Best Practice Advisories

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

• Rifaximin BPAs

As of March 12, 2024, two new cirrhosis-related Best Practice Advisories (BPAs) have been implemented in Connect Care. Readmission to hospital for patients with cirrhosis is common and, with the added comorbidity of hepatic encephalopathy, the patient’s likelihood of requiring readmission increases. To reduce the risk of readmissions for hospitalized patients taking lactulose for hepatic encephalopathy, the new BPAs suggest ordering/continuing rifaximin with the second and subsequent episodes of hepatic encephalopathy or with lactulose intolerance. 

• Rifaximin BPA - Upon Signing Lactulose Order: This interruptive BPA will fire for admitted patients with an active problem or encounter diagnosis of cirrhosis and/or hepatic encephalopathy, if the prescriber is signing an order for Lactulose and Rifaximin has not been ordered.

• Rifaximin BPA - Inpatient Discharge BPA Section: This non-interruptive BPA will fire for admitted patients being discharged with an active problem or encounter diagnosis of cirrhosis and/or hepatic encephalopathy, if the patient has an active order for Rifaximin. This BPA will continue to display until acknowledged. 

Perioperative Insulin Management Order Set Enhancements

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

• Insulin Order Set and Order Panel Enhancements

A prior post describes Connect Care order sets that promote Basal Bolus Insulin Therapy (BBIT) best practices, and a move away from legacy intravenous insulin orders. Three Order Sets were recommended:

• "Pre-procedure Management of Patients with Diabetes Mellitus, Adult"
• "Post-procedure Management of Patients with Diabetes Mellitus, Adult"
• "Basal Bolus Insulin Therapy (BBIT), Adult"

These include all related interventions (e.g., appropriate glucose testing), express Alberta's clinical practice guidelines respecting subcutaneous and intravenous insulin administrations, and align with national and international clinical practice guidelines and provincial Glycemic Management Policy suite.

It is recognized that there may be some situations in which intravenous, rather than subcutaneous, insulin therapy is clinically indicated. Accordingly, the pre-procedure Order Set has been enhanced to include an optional panel (which can also be used independently) to facilitate safe ordering of intravenous insulin therapy. 

• Tip: Perioperative Insulin Management Orders
• Manual: Glycemic Monitoring and Control

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Calculator - Enhanced Lipid Reporting

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

• Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment made easy with Enhanced Lipid Reporting 

Enhanced Lipid Reporting (ELR) is a new, easy-to-use, lab-based approach to measure cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and ensure those at risk get guideline-directed treatment. The Framingham Risk Score (FRS) and Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) Dyslipidemia guidelines have been built into Connect Care, allowing lab reports to provide a CVD Risk score along with treatment recommendations, based on information from a patient’s lab requisition and blood sample. 

The ELR goes to the healthcare provider, Netcare, and patients through their MyHealth Record account with links to patient education resources. This practice improvement opportunity promotes Alberta Screening and Prevention (ASaP) data reporting, continuity of care and patient empowerment. 

To order a CVD risk assessment in Connect Care, use the "Order Inquiry" activity. The search terms "cvd", "framingham", "fram" and "lipid" will all bring up the "Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment" test name. When the test is selected, the below pop-up with screening questions will appear.

For more details:

• Resource: Enhanced Lipid Reporting
• Video: Enhanced Lipid Reporting
• Contact: ELR@ahs.ca

Heart Failure Care Path Update - New Score Available

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

• Heart Failure Care Path - mHFC Score

As of August 21, 2023, a new modified Heart Failure Collaboratory (mHFC) Score will be added to the HF Care Path, to be applied to HF patients with a reduced Ejection Fraction (HFrEF patients; LVEF ≤40%). This score is automatically calculated (higher being better), as a summary measure of adherence to evidence-based treatments known to improve HF patient outcomes. 

How to use

If applicable to the patient, the mHFC Score will be accessible in one of the following ways (see below for link to screenshots):

1. Care Path Best Practice Alerts (BPAs) - just below the treatment summary
2. Care Path Summary
3. Column hover feature in the Patient List
4. SmartPhrase ".MHFCSCORE" 

Please click to see this helpful document with details of the score and Connect Care screenshots: mHFC Score Benefits and Images.

If you have questions, please send to: HF.Pathway@ahs.ca.

Legacy Insulin Order Sets Retiring

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

• Legacy Insulin Order Sets Retiring

The Connect Care initiative promotes evidence-informed practice, reducing unwarranted practice variation, and harmonizing workflows for multidisciplinary team members. Accordingly, Connect Care's system-wide Order Sets reflect careful design for best possible practice.

A few insulin administration Order Sets were temporarily made available to Launch 1 users, recognizing that some groups had not completed change management for provincially standardized insulin administration practices. All facilities now have the means to follow evidence-informed, cross disciplinary, insulin administration guidelines. Accordingly, the following two order panels will be retired (exact date TBD).

• "IV Insulin - NPO patients requiring low fluid volumes"
• "IV Insulin - NPO patients requiring regular fluid volumes"

Instead, one of the following Order Sets should be used:

• "Pre-procedure Management of Patients with Diabetes Mellitus, Adult"
• "Post-procedure Management of Patients with Diabetes Mellitus, Adult"
• "Basal Bolus Insulin Therapy (BBIT), Adult"

These include all related interventions (e.g., appropriate glucose testing) and express Alberta's clinical practice guidelines respecting subcutaneous and intravenous insulin administrations.

Prescribers remain free to assemble and share personalized order panels for justifiably unique circumstances. However, these must fit with training and supports for all members of the medical team.

COVID-19 IPC Alerts Live

Problem: Patients arriving from non-Wave-1 sites with positive COVID-19 NAT results were not triggering automated infection prevention and control (IPC) alerts.

Solution: The COVID-19 IPC Alert now auto-triggers in Connect Care, even for specimens collected outside of launched sites. This applies across all contexts, including ambulatory care.