Accessing Insite/SharePoint Links from Connect Care

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

• Accessing Insite/SharePoint Links from Connect Care

As previously mentioned, due to the migration of Insite and SharePoint file storage to Microsoft's cloud platform last fall, users were prompted for their credentials when trying to open an Insite/SharePoint link from within Connect Care. A solution has been found to reduce this workflow interruption and, as of February 25, 2026, most Insite and SharePoint links opened from within Connect Care will no longer require users to enter login credentials. 

• Most Insite/SharePoint links will now open directly in Microsoft Edge, with the full web address visible in the browser address bar.
• A small number of links that are integrated within the Epic dashboard browser for specialized workflows may still require authentication.
• As before, links to websites other than Insite and SharePoint will continue to launch without a need for login credentials. Note, however, that in some cases the browser address bar may not be visible.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Microsoft365webapps@healthsharedservices.ca.

In Basket Update - Notice of Admission for Obstetrical Patients

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

• In Basket Update - Notice of Admission for Obstetrical Patients

There has been an issue with members of the Care Team not getting a Notice of Admission for obstetrical patients in their In Basket, due to the system not capturing patients admitted through Triage Admit. As of January 13, 2026, this issue will be fixed, and all members of the Care Team for obstetrical patients will see these messages in their In Basket. 

Acute Care Addiction Recovery Program Consult

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

• Acute Care Addiction Recovery Program (ACARP) Consult

Previously, a consult to ACARP (previously known as Addiction Recovery and Community Health, ARCH) order was not made available for all sites with access. This has now been fixed, to align with what is available at each site. The ACARP consult order will now appear if the patient is at a location that uses ACARP (click the camera icon for a screenshot). If the location does not use ACARP, the "Consult to Addictions Services" option will instead appear.

Upgrade to Dragon Medical One (Action May Be Needed)

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

• Upgrade to Dragon Medical One (Action May Be Needed)

On July 7, 2025, Dragon Medical One (DMO) will be upgraded, as the current version will no longer be supported. Unfortunately, after the upgrade, some users may experience pixelation or blurriness when using DMO in Connect Care. This is due to Citrix display settings that can affect image quality when navigating screens. If this occurs, users can opt into the “DMO Citrix Lossless” access group, which will disable display compression and improve visual clarity. For details on how to request this access, see the tip sheet linked below (takes approximately 3 to 5 minutes). If you have any difficulties requesting access, please contact the AHS Help Desk at 1-877-311-4300.

If you do not experience any issues with your DMO display in Connect Care, no further action is required on your part.

• Tip: How to Request Access to DMO Citrix Lossless Group

Fixed Netcare Printing Issue

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

• Update to fix Netcare printing issue when launched from Connect Care 

Since the 2024 Hyperdrive upgrade, users have had to log in separately to Netcare to print PDF files. Beginning April 14, 2025, users can resume printing from Netcare from the in-context browser (i.e., Netcare opened from within Hyperspace).

When Netcare is launched from within Connect Care, the external Netcare window will launch in a default browser window. This will cause a minor visual change (click the camera icon below for a screenshot); there are no functional or behavioural changes for users.

Removal of Reorder Lab Tests and Lab Procedures Functionality from Results Review

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

• Removal of Reorder Lab Tests and Lab Procedures Functionality from Results Review 

As a part of recent Spring 2025 Upgrade, abnormal lab results that needed retesting or a lab procedure that needed to be repeated could be reordered with a right-click from the "Results Review" activity. However, when lab tests or lab procedures are reordered from Result Review, the original order parameters and answers to questions follow through for the reorder; this may not be appropriate for all the lab tests and lab procedures that need to be reordered or repeated. Therefore, starting March 26, 2025, this functionality will be removed. 

Lab tests and lab procedures can still be reordered with a right-click from Chart Review – Lab Reports, with the option to change the order parameters and order related questions (click camera icon to see screenshot). 

Additional Update to Consent eForms - Telephone Consents [Updated]

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

• Connect Care Upgrade Update: Additional Changes to Telephone Consent Forms

As previously posted, the recent Connect Care Spring Upgrade brought some changes to select eForms such Consent for Procedure forms, including the removal of the signer name entry fields from the left pane and moving name entry to the e-signature boxes. However, it was discovered that the new method of entering the signer’s name via the e-signature box prevents users from being able to enter the signer’s name when no signature is applied, i.e., in telephone consent workflows where signatures are not collected. 

As of March 20, 2025, when the "Telephone" button is selected under the "Telephone/Fax Consent" section for the consent form types listed below, a name field will again appear (click the camera icon for a screenshot). For more information, see page 40 of the Consent & eForms Navigator

Quick Start Guide. Non-telephone consents will continue to use the new workflow detailed in the previous post.

• Consent forms affected:
• Consent to Surgery or Invasive Procedure 
• Consent to Treatment Plan or Procedure 
• Consent Withdrawal or Refusal  
• Consent Immunization  
• Consent for pre-mortem interventions  
• Consent to Organ and Tissue Donation 
• Informed Consent Subject to the Mental Health Act

[Edit: Post updated April 1]

Update to eForms Including Consent for Procedure, All Mental Health Forms

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

• Connect Care Upgrade Update: eForms including Consent for Procedure and all Mental Health Forms

During to the recent Connect Care upgrade, issues occurred with select eForms, specifically related to name entry fields on the left pane malfunctioning, and malfunctioning name entry fields within the Forms. Name entry fields have been removed from the left pane, and malfunctioning signature and name fields have been fixed. [Edit Mar. 21: Further changes have been made for telephone consents; the below does not apply to telephone consents, see the separate blog post for more info.]

 

All signer name entry must now occur within the e-signature box. Click the "+ Add Signer Name" button when entering a signature, both for the signature of the patient/person providing consent and the prescriber (click on camera icon below to see screenshot). Completing this will populate all necessary name and date fields.

If you completed any Consent for Procedure or MHA eForm on the morning on March 14, 2025, please check to ensure the form was completed correctly, including all required fields. Completed Forms that include an error can be printed, addended in pen, and rescanned into Connect Care using the appropriate Document Type.

If you have any questions, please call the IT Solution Centre (1-877-311-4300) or submit a ticket through Insite.

More Patient List Tweaks - Level of Care and Hospital Service Columns

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

• More Patient List Enhancement Fixes and Tweaks

Significant enhancements to the functionality of patient lists were introduced pre-launch 5. A catalogue of AHS-approved and tested patient list columns was announced and optimized columns were applied to system lists for facility units, provider teams and specialty consults. In addition, a new RAPID Rounds patient list and report applied the enhancements to multidisciplinary discharge planning.
 

Users have requested an ability to quickly edit patients' "Level of Care" and "Hospital Service" settings from within patient lists; particularly lists used to facilitate inpatient service management or transition planning.

• Level of Care column now supports double-click for quick edits.
• Hospital Service column now supports double-click for quick corrections/edits.

These enhancements do not require clinicians to revise or re-import lists that already have these columns.

For more information:

• Manual: Hospital Service
• Manual: Alternate Level of Care
• Manual: Patient Lists
• Tip: Managing Patient Lists
• Crib-Sheet: Patient List Templates
• Demo: Patient List Templates
• Reference: Preferred Patient List Columns

Fix to Identity SmartLinks for Unknown Patients

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

• Unknown Patient - Fix to Patient Name SmartLinks

Sometimes patients are admitted before their identity can be reliably confirmed, as might happen with altered states of consciousness. They are assigned an anonymous name ("UNK..."), chart and record numbers so that care can proceed. Later, when a true identity is confirmed, processes for merging anonymous and permanent charts can begin. Until that process completes, a clinician's choice of documentation SmartLinks can determine whether the unknown or the known first and last name appear.

We have found situations where some documentation tools were reflecting the correct (true) first name but the wrong (unknown) last name. Fixes are applied to all provincial documentation templates (e.g., discharge summary) to make them maximally resilient to rare instances when patient identities are uncertain.

Connect Care users who have created their own SmartPhrases, or regularly use non-AHS SmarkLinks for patient names, are requested to preferentially use the following SmartLinks:

• for First name: ".PREFNAMEFIRST"
• for Last name: ".PREFNAMELAST"
• for Full name: ".PREFNAMEFULL"

For more information:

• Manual: Unknown Patient Identity

Patient List Fixes and Tweaks

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

• Patient List Enhancement Fixes and Tweaks

Significant enhancements to the functionality of patient lists were introduced pre-launch 5. A catalogue of AHS-approved and tested patient list columns was announced and optimized columns were applied to system lists for facility units, provider teams and specialty consults. In addition, a new RAPID Rounds patient list and report applied the enhancements to multidisciplinary discharge planning.
 

Subsequently, Connect Care users provided post-implementation feedback, with strong appreciation for the improvements. In addition, excellent suggestions revealed small changes that would further improve ease-of-use. A number of requested improvements are in production. These include: 

• Hover bubbles removed from Room/Bed, DOB, Goals of Care and Level of Care columns.
• Double-click simplified for Goals of Care, Room/Bed, Patient Identity columns.
• Visual highlight (background colour) for patients with Alternate Level of Care statuses.
• Better formatting of provider information column to make it easier to skim for attending, referring and primary care details.
• Double-click for co-sign orders column to open main orders activity tab.
• Double-click length of stay column to open Rapid Rounds discharge planning interactive report.
• Default column widths adjusted. 
• Discharge readiness column icons enlarged.
• Formatting improvements to discharge goals section of Rapid Rounds report.

Although most fixes are immediately active, users who created a custom patient list by copying a standard list template (see Manual instructions) will want to re-copy from the appropriate list template.

For more information:

• Manual: Patient Lists
• Tip: Managing Patient Lists
• Crib-Sheet: Patient List Templates
• Demo: Patient List Templates
• Reference: Preferred Patient List Columns

Clinical Terminology Update: Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE)

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

• SOGIE Problem List & Diagnosis Terminology

As of February 10, 2022, outdated clinical terminology related to sexual orientation, gender, identity and expression (SOGIE) in Connect Care is modified or replaced in pick-lists. Prescribers will find that these changes better align with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5).  

Where do the enhancements apply?

Standardized medical terminology is used when entering health conditions in problem lists, identifying the "chief complaint" associated with an encounter and selecting admission, visit or discharge diagnoses. 

What terms have changed?

The following terms have changed. When searching for appropriate terms for problems or diagnoses, older terms will be recognized as synonyms for new terms which will be presented for selection (e.g., prescribers will be able to search for “Transsexualism” or “Gender identity disorder” and be led to “Gender dysphoria”).

• Sex, gender and orientation identifiers:
• “Anorgasmia of male” and “Anorgasmia of female” has been replaced by “Anorgasmia”
• “Male erectile disorder” has been replaced by “Erectile disorder”
• “Female orgasmic disorder” has been replaced by “Orgasmic disorder”
• “Gender dysphoria” has replaced the following terms: 
• “Gender identity disorder”
• “Transsexualism”
• The term “reassignment” has been replaced by “confirmation:”
• “Trans-sexualism, status post gender reassignment surgery” has been removed; users are encouraged to use “Gender dysphoria, status post gender reassignment surgery”

What happens to prior terminology selections?

The changes are not retroactive and so old problem lists and diagnoses will remain as originally entered. However, when problem lists are reviewed and updated (problem list reconciliation), prescribers are provided with an opportunity to substitute equivalent current terms.

More information

• Tip: Problem Power – Adding Favourites to a Personal Preference List
• Handbook: Identity SmartTool Style Guide
• Questions: Clinical Terminologies

Connect Care Fixes Review - December 19, 2019

By this point (almost 2 months post-launch), there are countless fixes and optimizations already in place. A few highlights are listed (and added to from time to time) here...

• MAR Access: It was discovered that some Connect Care user groups, mainly trainees, have the ability to order medications but lack access to the Medication Administration Record (MAR) to review when which medications have been received by a patient. Medication review, including reorders and discontinuations, requires precise knowledge of the time and frequency of medication use. By applying a general principle --- that anyone who prescribes should have MAR access -- we believe that the trainee and other missed groups have been taken care of.
• Spiritual Health and Indigenous Health Consults: Support is added to enable inpatient requests for spiritual care consults and indigenous health consults. The ordering process is analogous to requests for other health professional engagement. Documentation can also be filtered by contributions from these health care team members.
• Notes from Clinical Staff: In addition to personal sticky notes and specialty notes, Notes to Clinical Staff can be useful for non-urgent prompts between teams (e.g., consider downgrading the vitals monitoring intensity). These are now prominently display on the Vitals flowsheet as well as the chart summary display.

Decimal Precision for Oral Medication Measurements

Problem: Some Connect Care users expressed concern that the volume of liquid oral medications is rounded to 2 decimal places if less than one millilitre but to 1 decimal place for volumes greater than 1 millimetre.

Considerations: The concern has been reviewed by multiple provincial area councils pre-launch. Medication margins of error, measurement confidence intervals, decision-support dependencies, reconfiguration-burden and validation and practices elsewhere were considered. Worries about narrow therapeutic windows were explored.

Solution: Pharmacy, Critical Care and Child Health stakeholders carefully considered the issues and Wave 1 clinical system design review pathways were activated. A decision is made to:

1. Continue with two digit rounding for volumes of liquid oral medications <1ml; and one digit rounding for volumes >1ml
2. Monitor a list of 22 liquid oral medications flagged for possible administration problems
3. Make available a work-around that simulates two-digit rounding with linked orders, while limiting its use because of clinical decision support impacts.
4. Review and reconsider after 6-8 weeks experience with the current build.

Connect Care Fixes Review - Week 2

There are way too many responses to user requests (some of which are fixes) to keep up! Some recent highlights...

• Laboratory Test Orders Add-On Default:The clinical information system (CIS) had been configured to default to using prior blood draws, if within 1 day and sample still available in the lab; a sensible effort to decrease phlebotomies. Even though some settings and test types were excluded, we've noted unhelpful confusion among providers. Accordingly, clinical system design oversight decided to turn this default off for all tests. The CIS continues to allow prescribers to optionally click the button to add a test to a prior draw, and decision supports suggest this when a potentially reasonable action.
• Cutover Pre-Op Orders:
  Transcription of some pre-op orders from paper to CIS pre-surgical plans did not happen. A workgroup has been formed and appropriate preparations and pre-ordering is being implemented by CMIO and other resources.
• Result Review Test Ordering:
  The results review activity is taking shape in a way that is more recognizable for former eCLINICIAN and Netcare users. A number of technical and clinical resources are collaborating to ensure that the folder structure fits Alberta norms and that all tests are appropriated allocated and order. Sufficient progress has been made to activate the clinical grouping today. Many physicians participate in the validation process.
• Computers on Wheels in Surgery:
  Hearing that there may not be sufficient device-density in the operating room area, computers on wheels have been redeployed to address the need.
• Phone Book Access:
  Some trainees and a few prescribers lacked access to the Connect Care phone book, where it is important to confirm one's contact particulars for professional communications. The correct template settings are now applied and all should be able to use this tool.

Cutover Provider Mis-Assignments

Problem: As part of the launch cutover process of the Connect Care clinical information system (CIS), a default responsible provider was attached to new inpatient charts. Sometimes, this assigned provider did not reflect the attending (most responsible provider, MRP) at the time of post-launch morning rounds. Some teams, or patient locations, changed during the 48-hour cutover period. Such mis-assignments were not recognized for a few days.

Solution: A support synopsis explains possible effects (none serious), mitigation and permanent fix:

• Support: Cutover Provider Mis-assignments

Connect Care Day 004 Fixes

Continuing our daily tally of illustrative (selected) fixes...

• Ticket Resolution - breaking in a complex system, implemented on a large scale in very different clinical contexts, brings forth an impressive number of 'tickets'. These range from trivial matters to substantive optimization requests to high-priority items that could directly affect patient care. Understandably, there are many duplicates. Based on raw, unfiltered, numbers, 50% of ~8,000 tickets got closed with 100% of critical tickets closed and 83% of important tickets closed in the same day. 
• Cutover provider mis-assignment - a temporary default most responsible provider assignment has affected a small number of charts. With a fix made, and the problem not recurring, any inaccuracies are being corrected.
• Pharmacy Information Network - efforts to integrate PIN into medication reconciliation activities have proved frustrating in practice and so the interface is disabled until more discrete drug information can be transferred.
• Session stealing - adjustments to Windows logon configurations appear to have resolved most of the Citrix session loss problems experienced in some settings.
• ER printing - printer and label maker mappings in the emergency room appear to be sorted.
• and lots of other adjustments...

Connect Care Day 003 Fixes

Continuing our daily tally of illustrative (selected) fixes...

• Ticket Resolution - many hundreds of "tickets" are processed daily; as ticket volumes peak (expected at this time), please understand that the most pressing (affecting safety) tickets are prioritized for first attention.
• Insulin Management - Connect Care launched with glucose management tools befitting provincial guidelines and best practice, but found this incurring a difficult change burden; continuous IV insulin ordersets were built to help bridge us to full BBIT compliance.
• Finding Order Items - many have expressed concern about difficulty finding orderable items (medications, tests, procedures) using common search terms. A number of improvements are made: 1) search engine improvement to use "fuzzy logic" to deal with things like spelling errors, 2) turn off feature that auto-selects single-hit search results, 3) addition of many synonyms to improve the completeness of search results. 
• Medication details - a very large number of tweaks have improved the manner in which medications can be set for exactly the delivery methods needed in specialized contexts. Ongoing focus on issues unique to critical care.
• Ultrasound DI Names - a problem with inconsistent naming of some diagnostic imaging tests has been fixed. Also, making orders very clear about location of test (POC vs DI).
• and lots of other adjustments...

Connect Care Day 002 Fixes

Continuing our daily tally of illustrative (selected) fixes...

• ECG Hard Stop - the hard stop that was slowing ordering workflows involing ECGs has been resolved and implemented in production.
• ECG Tracings - images are now available prior to being interpreted and reported.
• Echo Workflows - many problems with device and systems interfaces have been addressed, with attention turning to remaining measurement transfer problems and related workflows. Reports are coming through.
• Pharmacy - problems with label printers and other technical challenges mean that pharmacy flows are taking longer than hoped to pick up, but a lot of progress in the last 24h.
• Devices - issues identified with competing Citrix sessions are being mitigated with fixes applied throughout the day.

Connect Care Day 001 Fixes

A project as large and as complex as Connect Care is lucky to enjoy but few hours honeymoon. We got about 10!

As the number of patients and users ramped up through the first day, expected early challenges started to accumulate. I am ecstatic to observe how quickly and effectively our physician informaticians mobilized, spread to trouble areas and collaborated with operations and IT to get things sorted.

Our turn-around time for clinically important problems is remarkably fast.

Selection of Day 1 Issues Resolved (or with a solid mitigation in place):

• Access: lots of production access issues, including a number of physicians with complex roles who needed adjustments to their security templates. Delighted that Epic allocated some exceptionally able resources to help with rapid access resolution in the physician drop-in centre (WMC 4B1.39)
• Mobility: surprisingly few calls for Haiku or Canto support (10) with all but 1 resolved so far.
• Orders: a large number of minor annoyances were found in the procedure and medication order catalogues, usually fixed within 1-2 hours of discovery. Some challenges were escalated to clinical system design SWAT teams, with effective decision-making. Some missed hard stops were stopped.