Connect Care FAQ

What is a "Coordination of Care Recipient"?

Question: I received a result for a lab test ordered by another physician, though I had recently placed an order for the same test. Why did I receive this result?

Context: Since July 2024, Alberta Precision Labs (APL) has been able to electronically merge duplicative lab orders when a patient presents for collection, to avoid collecting separate specimens for each requisition. The results of the merged test are sent to all providers who ordered the test. However, since only one provider can be listed on the result as the Authorizing Provider, others who ordered the same test need to be listed on the result as something else, and also clearly distinguished from recipients designated as a "copy to" provider. The term "Coordination of Care Recipient" is therefore used for these additional ordering providers.

Answer: A Coordination of Care Recipient is an additional provider linked to a lab test order when multiple providers have requested the same test for a patient.

When more than one provider orders the same test, the system merges these requests into one test at the time of collection.
Because the system can only assign one Authorizing Provider, one provider remains listed as the Authorizing Provider, while all other providers become Coordination of Care Recipients.
Both the Authorizing Provider and the Coordination of Care Recipients share equal responsibility for reviewing and acting on the test results, since they all ordered the test.

For more details, see:

FAQ: Coordination of Care Recipients & Merging Duplicative Lab Requisitions

Why can't I cancel a lab order?

Question: My patient no longer needs a lab test I ordered. Why can't I cancel the order?

Context: For lab test orders that are no longer needed, once a specimen has been sent to the lab, the lab must be contacted directly to cancel the order. Previously the system allowed a prescriber to cancel the order even though this was not the appropriate workflow; an update has been made as of December 2, 2025 to prevent this.

Answer: If a prescriber attempts to cancel an order where the specimen has already been received in the lab, the prescriber will see a pop-up that they do not have sufficient security to cancel the test (click the camera icon for a screenshot). Prescribers will need to contact the lab to have the lab cancel the testing.

Why were my discharged patient's lab orders cancelled?

Question: How do I place lab orders for my patient to get after they are discharged from an inpatient unit?

Context: When a patient is discharged, if any lab tests were ordered during that admission but were not performed, those orders get autocancelled within 2 hours of discharge. If existing inpatient lab orders are not converted to after-visit orders or new post-discharge lab orders are not entered, patients arriving at a patient service centre (PSC) for collection may be turned away because they will not have open/pending lab orders available in the system.

Answer: When a patient is discharged from an inpatient unit, any incomplete lab orders are automatically cancelled within 2 hours. To ensure any required lab orders can be collected after discharge, the inpatient lab orders must be reordered or new lab orders entered, through the "External Orders" activity. See the tip sheet for more details on this workflow.

How can I place an inpatient order for a DI procedure at another site?

Question: How can a prescriber place an order for a Diagnostic Imaging (DI) procedure not in the host facility's inpatient order catalogue?

Context: Inpatients at some facilities may require urgent or semi-urgent DI interventions that are not available at the patient’s current facility. The patient needs to be sent to another facility using a “Leave of Absence for Procedure” workflow.

However, when the intended procedure is not available at the host facility, it will not appear on the facility inpatient order list. How is the prescriber to enter an order for an external DI procedure at another facility?

Answer: When a DI intervention must be performed at a separate facility, the imaging order must be placed using the “External Orders” tab within the inpatient “Orders” activity. External Orders gives access to the outpatient order catalogue. This is important to appreciate because the ordering process may include wording more familiar in an outpatient context.

How do I recover an auto-removed In Basket message?

Question: I recently had messages that I had been saving automatically removed from my In Basket. Can I recover them?

Context: In Basket is a tool designed for short-term task management and communication rather than long-term information storage.

The "Taming In Basket" project was launched in 2024 to identify In Basket messages that can be safely auto-expired, in order to reduce the volume of existing In Basket messages and empower users to use In Basket efficiently. Certain In Basket message types are now set to auto-expire after 90 or 180 days and, as the first batches of these auto-expiries have gone into effect, older messages of those same types have also been automatically removed from users' In Baskets on designated dates.

Once removed from the users' In Basket view, the messages remain in the system for 60 days and can still be retrieved by users. After 60 days, however, the system purges them permanently. While all messages will still be retained in databases in case they need to be retrieved in the future for legal/privacy/etc. investigation, messages cannot be retrieved this way for individual users.

Answer: If within 60 days of an item being auto-removed from their In Basket, users can retrieve the message by searching for messages with a status of "Done" (or browse in the "completed" folders), and then select a desired message and pick "Mark As New" from the message menu (click on the camera icon for screenshots).

Doing this will simply restart the default expiration countdown. Accordingly, consider using other methods to save messages such as Follow-up/Postponing, Patient reminder lists, Pasteboard, or Sticky Notes.

For more tips on In Basket management, see the CMIO guide. If you require assistance, please call the IT Solution Centre at 1-877-311-4300 or submit a ticket.

Guide: In Basket Management - CMIO

Why can't I edit Microsoft files on an AHS computer?

Question: I opened a Microsoft Word file on an AHS computer and I can't seem to edit or save it. How can I edit it?

Context: Microsoft has recently changed their licensing model, impacting staff who work exclusively on shared AHS computers. As previously posted, individual AHS prescriber licenses are being switched over to reflect these changes starting in September 2025 (concluding in November), and this will affect some of the functionality of the desktop versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint software on shared AHS computers. However, web versions of the software are now available for AHS use via the Microsoft 365 (M365) web apps, and these have most of the basic functions of the desktop version and are relatively easy to use. Many Microsoft files will open directly in these web apps and can then directly be edited/saved/downloaded from there. For those files that first open on the desktop version of the software, with a couple clicks these can be opened in the computer's Internet browser for quick online editing or downloading for further offline work on a personal device.

Answer: While editing and saving a Microsoft file using the desktop Microsoft Office software on a shared AHS computer may no longer be possible, it is possible to do so in an Internet browser.

If wanting to edit a Microsoft file that first opens in the desktop app, it will have to be opened in your browser first and then downloaded and moved to the cloud before it can be opened in the web app (see pg. 3-4 of the guide for screenshots):

Click on the “File” tab.
In the lefthand menu, click on “Info”, and then click on the “Copy path” button near the top of the screen, underneath the filename.
Open a new tab in your web browser, paste the link in the address bar, and press enter on your keyboard. The file will open in the Microsoft “online” view-only mode (note this is not the same as the M365 web app used for editing). On the righthand side, select the three dots.
In the dropdown menu, click on “Download”. The file should then be found in the computer’s Downloads folder. It can then be either be: (a) moved to your AHS cloud storage location (e.g., your AHS OneDrive), and from there it will open in the web app; or (b) attached to a secure email and sent to yourself, to open on your personal/professional device and work on further.

If a Microsoft file opens in a M365 web app and you prefer editing on your personal device, to download:

Click on the “File” tab.
In the dropdown menu, click on “Create a Copy”.
Select “Download a copy”. After confirming you want to download the file, the file should then be found in the computer’s Downloads folder. It can then be attached to a secure email and sent to yourself, to open on your personal/professional device.

For more information on the switch to M365 web apps, see:

How can physicians prepare for a leave of absence from clinical work?

Question: What steps should physicians contemplating a leave of absence take to ensure continuity of Connect Care?

Answer:

Notify Medical Affairs: Physicians must inform AHS Medical Affairs about their leave. This ensures their Connect Care access is appropriately managed.
Access Suspension:

Connect Care access will typically be suspended during the leave to maintain system security and licensing compliance.

Reactivation Process:

Before returning to work, physicians must request reactivation of their Connect Care access.

Depending on the length of the leave, refresher training may be required before access is restored.

Delegate Responsibilities:

Physicians should ensure that any in-basket messages or clinical responsibilities are delegated to a covering provider during their absence.

Update Contact Information:

It's important to keep contact details current in case follow-up is needed during the leave.

More information:

Why has the Holter monitoring procedure I ordered for a rural patient not been scheduled yet?

Question: I ordered a Holter monitoring procedure for a rural patient, and the procedure still hasn't been scheduled - why?

Context: Urban sites often have a separate cardiology department with administrative/booking resources available to call patients directly to schedule their Holter monitoring appointments. However, most rural sites do not have these resources, and their Holter procedures are typically performed by Lab or Diagnostic Imaging staff, and so patients must call or present in person at their local site to book their appointment on their own. This remains unchanged with the implementation of Connect Care.

Answer: In most rural health centres, Holter monitoring appointments are self-scheduled by the patient. These procedures are typically performed by Lab or Diagnostic Imaging staff, and patients must call or present in person at their local site to book their appointment. If you are placing an order for a Holter monitoring procedure to be performed at a rural site, to support your patient:

Clearly explain the next steps to them when placing the order.
Consider including instructions in the "Order Comment" box OR use the "Patient Other Instructions" section to include next steps.
If your clinic has been booking on the patient’s behalf, please continue to do so.

Around the end of summer 2025, updates will be made to the After Visit Summary (AVS) to include clearer instructions for rural site Holter orders.

How do I use an outpatient note authored by a clinical clerk for a letter?

Question: Why is my consult letter blank after pulling in my clinical clerk's outpatient note?

Context: If, when using the "Communication" activity in Connect Care, a supervising physician attempts to send a letter populated with an outpatient (ambulatory clinic) note authored by a clinical clerk, the note will not be incorporated into the letter. Outpatient notes authored by clinical clerks will not upload to Netcare, even after they are signed off by a staff physician.

Answer: To use an outpatient note authored by a clinical clerk, the supervising physician must either make themselves the author of the note, or create a copy of the note. The latter option uses the "Copy and Create" function to take the text from the note authored by a clinical clerk and make a new note with the supervising physician as the author; see the steps below. Once these steps are followed, the Communication function can then be used to route the outpatient note as a consult letter to Netcare and selected recipients.

Click "Edit" on the note authored by the clinical clerk.
At the bottom left of the note, click the icon that looks like two overlapping pieces of paper (click the camera icon below to see a screenshot. This button will copy the note text and create a new note with the supervising physician as the author. Then, complete the note:

Add to the note as necessary.
Select "Send to PCP & referring" or, if desired, use the Communications tool in the "Wrap Up" activity to have a consult letter sent to Netcare.
Click the "Accept" button.
Once the visit is signed, the letter will be routed.

Why were my discharged patient's DI orders cancelled?

Question: How do I place diagnostic imaging (DI) orders for my patient to get after they are discharged from the emergency department (ED)/inpatient unit?

Context: When a patient is discharged, if any DI tests were ordered during that admission but were not performed, those orders get autocancelled upon discharge.

Answer: When a patient is discharged from an ED or inpatient unit, any incomplete DI orders are automatically cancelled. To ensure the required imaging is completed in the community, new outpatient orders must be placed. This can be done by placing an After Visit type order from the "Dispo" activity (ED) or Discharge navigator (inpatient). See the tip sheet for more details on this workflow.

How do I resend a letter to another clinician?

Question: I received a message in my In Basket that a note I had sent to a community provider through Connect Care was not delivered and that I would have to resend it. How do I do that?

Context: Similar to faxes, there are some rare scenarios where letters or summative documents sent from Connect Care fail to successfully route via eDelivery (i.e., the system responsible for electronically delivering clinical information to community clinic electronic medical records [EMRs]), due to issues with how that provider is set up in the system. When that happens, the communication may need to be resent ("re-routed") via another method (fax, mail, or In Basket, depending on the receiving provider's preference). Because these communication workflows are clinical in nature and the user who sends it is recorded as the author, resending cannot be done automatically by IT.

Answer: Any Connect Care documentation object (e.g., notes, letters, laboratory results, procedure reports) can be manually shared with other clinicians, and the manual document sharing workflow is the same as that for re-routing communications that previously failed. Notes (e.g., progress notes, discharge summaries) can be manually shared from the "Notes" activity of a chart opened to an inpatient encounter, and notes and all other documentation objects (e.g., laboratory results, imaging reports, procedure reports, letters, attached media) can be manually shared from any of the tabs (e.g., Lab, Notes, Letters, Referral, Media) within the "Chart Review" activity of an opened patient chart.

To manually share/re-route documentation objects from Notes or Chart Review:

Open the Chart Review or Notes activity.
Browse to and select (click on) the documentation object of interest (e.g., consult letter).
Select the "Route" button (in Notes, is above the selected note's preview report; in Chart Review, is in the button bar at the top of the current activity tab).
Within the routing pop-up that appears, enter:

One or more recipient names. These are checked against the Connect Care provider registry. It may be necessary to select a specific address when recipients have many. Hovering over a selected recipient name will expose the routing methods (e.g., In Basket, fax) available for that person, with the default (preferred) method selected and alternate(s) selectable.
Optional comments about the intent of routing the selected information.

Click "Send" when ready. A "Preview" button allows the proposed routing to be examined before sending.

For more information, see:

Why did my Pulmonary Function Test request not go through?

Question: How do I order a Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) correctly to make sure it goes in the PFT Lab's scheduling workqueue?

Context: There have been a few recent incidents where a patient called the PFT Lab about a PFT ordered by their provider, but the request was not on their workqueue. After some investigation, it was found this was due to details selected in the order composer.

Answer: There are two separate Connect Care orders for PFTs, based on the software that the particular PFT Lab uses (Sentry Suite or Ascent). The sites that use each software are listed in the "Process Instructions" of the appropriate order and are selectable from the "Preferred site for this order" field within the appropriate order. For both orders, in the "Status" field, "Normal" should NOT be selected, as this will result in the PFT request not appearing on the PFT Lab's scheduling workqueue. In addition, note that "Non-Connect Care – Req to Print" should only be selected for PFTs being requested at private, non-AHS PFT Labs; the request will then need to be printed and manually faxed.

See the Quick Start Guide for screenshots and more information.

Guide: Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) Quick Start Guide

How can I report an adverse effect following immunization?

Question: How can prescribers satisfy requirements for reporting an adverse event following immunization (AEFI)?

Context: In a separate post, we describe how to report a patient safety event and how to report serious adverse drug reactions. There is another process for reporting an adverse event following immunization (AEFI), defined as an unfavourable health occurrence experienced by a patient that:

follows immunization
cannot be attributed to a pre-existing condition
is determined by a health practitioner to be one or more of the following:

a life-threatening health occurrence requiring hospitalization or urgent medical attention
an unusual or unexpected health occurrence not previously identified, or previously identified but of increasing frequency
a health occurrence that cannot be explained by the patient's medical history, recent disease, illness or use of a medication

All AEFIs must be reported to the AHS Provincial AEFI team. By completing the AEFI form within Connect Care, the team is automatically notified; no further notification to the team is required.

Answer [updated January 2025]: AEFI reports can be completed entirely within Connect Care. From within an opened patient chart, seek the "Serious Adverse Drug Reaction Form" (SADR Form) activity by using Chart Search with "serious" or "reaction" as a keyword. Note the "AEFI Criteria" tab at the top of the SADR Form activity. Select (click on) the “Complete an AEFI report form in Connect Care” link; a “Flowsheet Pop-Up” form will appear. Fill in the form, ensuring the “Patient Aware of Notification” questions are both answered. Add a brief note in the “Notes” sidebar activity.

Once completed and signed, the report is automatically directed to the Provincial AEFI team for review and reporting.

For screenshots, see the tip sheet.

Tip: Adverse Event After Immunization Reporting

Email Subscription Service Ending for Connect Care Clinician Blogs

Effective end of this month (December 31, 2024), we will be discontinuing our current email subscription service for all our Connect Care clinician blog channels. At this time, we do not have an alternate email subscription service available, but will continue to look for an appropriate service that meets our readers' needs.

In the meantime, the blog channels do each support “subscribing” to their RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed, for those who use newsfeed readers - see the tip sheet for more information. For others, perhaps consider bookmarking the main Bytes channel (bytes.connect-care.ca) and checking in on Fridays and the end of each month. Digests of new blog posts across all Connect Care clinician blog channels are published most Fridays on Bytes under the title "On Other Channels". Also, our monthly prescriber newsletter, Between the Charts (news.connect-care.ca), highlights key blog posts from the previous month; issues are typically published in the last week of each month, and a notice is published on Bytes as soon as the next issue is available. Both of these updates are gathered under the same tag, and so can be directly bookmarked via ahs-cis.ca/cmioupdates.

Why is there a delay in being able to view diagnostic images if the exam was completed at a Connect Care site?

Question: Why is there sometimes a delay between completion of an imaging investigation or intervention ordered in Connect Care and availability of associated images for viewing in Connect Care?

Context: Diagnostic images are not instantly available to the ordering provider when an imaging exam is marked complete in Connect Care by a Technologist. The imaging workflow involves a number of steps that may not be apparent to all users:

A Technologist facilitating the intervention or investigation completes their documentation in Connect Care.
"Picture Archive and Communications System" (PACS) receives an "End Exam" message from Connect Care and generates a unique identifier for the exam.
The identifier initializes archiving of the diagnostic images and data to a storage system ("Impax Data Center", IDC).
IDC generates a message when all of the images for that diagnostic imaging procedure have been received, which then makes the images available to be viewed in Connect Care and Netcare.

Answer: A number of steps occur behind the scenes once an imaging investigation or intervention is marked complete in Connect Care by the performing Technologist. These steps are usually fast but can trigger a perceptible delay when a diagnostic imaging procedure generates many images, large images or image transfers when network traffic is high. These variables are outside of the control of the Technologist.

If diagnostic images are taking longer than expected to appear for clinical use, or if the images are critical to provide urgent patient care, please call the IT Service Desk (1-877-311-4300) to report a high priority ticket, or email Imaging Apps Support (ImagingAppsSupport@ahs.ca; available Monday–Friday, 07:45–16:00). In critical situations, the images can be viewed in the imaging department if there is an unexpected delay with image transmission to Connect Care.

Do I use a Recommendation or Referral to send a patient to an allied health provider?

Question: Is entering a Referral order appropriate to send my patient to physiotherapy or another allied health provider?

Context: If a provider does not require closed loop referral management (i.e., confirmation that the patient was seen by the specified allied health provider and the outcome of that appointment), this is considered to be a Recommendation rather than a Referral. If a Referral is instead placed in such a situation, the provincial standard agreed upon is to confirm with the ordering provider that the Referral was intended to be a Recommendation rather than a Referral order. A comment can then be added in the Communication section summarizing the discussion, and the referral can then be closed with the "non-clinical flag".

Answer: If a provider does not require closed loop referral management, a Referral order should not be entered. Instead, a Recommendation can be made via a Communication letter, or, if a prescription is required by insurance, it can also be made via a Patient Care Order. See the tip sheet for further details and screenshots.

Tip: Prescriber Allied Health Recommendations vs. Referrals

How can I review and edit key patient preferences?

Question: Can key patient preferences be viewed and managed with a unified Connect Care tool?

Context: The Alberta Health Services (AHS) "Shared Commitments" initiative aims to improve healthcare experiences for patients, families and healthcare providers through inclusive approaches to learning about, respecting and promoting patient agency. One shared commitment is to ask about and respond to identity, language, religious, spiritual and other support interests in a compassionate and confidential manner.

Answer: While patients' identity and preferences are captured and used throughout the Connect Care information space, key indicators are gathered in a "patient preferences" patient list template that can be used to configure any "My List" patient list.

The list columns are "active", providing extra information on hovering and relevant editing tools on double-clicks. They include representations of:

Patient identity, preferred name and preferred pronouns
Patient goals for the encounter
Spoken and written language preferences, including any translation or interpreter requirements
Self-reported relationship and religious affiliations, plus spiritual support requests
Indication of whether a consent to release of personal information has been filed
Indication of whether AHS Shared Commitments teaching has occurred
Communication preferences
Patient portal status

This patient preferences list functionality can be replicated in ED trackboards, L&D greaseboards and outpatient schedules. Reporting Workbench (My Reports) templates (under the same "patient preferences" title) can facilitate quality improvement efforts for facilities, services or departments.

How do I reorder parenteral nutrition (PN) to ensure the order stays active?

Question: Why are the PN orders for my patient no longer visible in active orders?

Context: Recently there have been a few tickets related to PN orders no longer being visible as active orders. This appears to be due to the Order Frequency not being changed as needed when a PN reorder is placed. The PN Order Frequency determines when and how long the order will be active for; if the Order Frequency is not changed, the field will default to the number of doses/days for which the previous order was active. There is currently no technical solution to prevent this from happening but can be prevented by following the workflow.

Answer: Each time PN is reordered, review the Order Frequency field. If it is not changed, the field will default to the number of doses/days for which the previous order was active, which may not be appropriate for the reorder.

If you anticipate updating the PN prescription daily, use a frequency of "1 day". This will populate a start time of 18:00 and an end time of 17:59. The reorder button will appear to easily update the next order’s prescription.
If you anticipate updating the PN prescription less frequently (i.e., stable patient), consider entering the PN order with a frequency for a specific duration (i.e., 7 days).

For more information, see the Quick Start Guide (page 9).

Guide: Parenteral Nutrition Ordering for Dietitian Prescribers

How is COVID-19 Testing Ordered? - UPDATED

Question: How can a prescriber order COVID-19 laboratory testing in Connect Care?

Answer: Ordering of rapid COVID-19 PCR occurs using the "Respiratory Infection (incl. COVID-19) NAT" order. Connect Care prescribers can enter "COVID" when searching for an order in ER, outpatient or inpatient contexts. Any physician can order the test. If the "Respiratory Infection (incl. COVID-19) NAT" test does not immediately appear in one's department preference list, be sure to click on the "Facility List" tab to find the order. This order is also used to order rapid influenza/RSV PCR and the respiratory pathogen panel (RPP); rapid COVID-19 testing will be automatically selected by default.

Be sure to indicate the reason for testing (symptomatic, infection control screen or pre-transplant testing) and then patient location/disposition (not required for outpatient orders). As resources for rapid on-site testing are limited, answering accurately whether the patient is admitted or is likely to be admitted is very important to ensure the sustainability of the rapid COVID-19 testing program.

For more information, see the tip sheet and lab bulletin.

[Note: This post was updated May 13, 2024]

Can I get tap-badge access for Connect Care as a consulting prescriber to EDs?

Question: Can consulting prescribers in the Emergency Department get tap-badge access to Connect Care like other ED prescribers?

Context: Tap-badge technology supports faster network access to computing devices by eliminating the need to manually enter a username and password. As the use of Imprivata tap-badge technology (i.e., tap-badge access for Connect Care) requires a user license, only select AHS departments have been approved for deployment of this technology.

Recognizing the need for consulting prescribers in the ED to have more rapid access to Connect Care, any physician, physician assistant, resident, fellow or nurse practitioner who logs into any AHS ED computer at least 15 times per month is eligible to request Imprivata access.

Please note that obtaining Imprivata access for EDs will not enable tap-badge access for workstations on other clinical units where tap-badge readers are not available.

Answer: Yes, any physician, physician assistant, resident, fellow or nurse practitioner who logs into any AHS ED computer at least 15 times per month is eligible to request Imprivata, including consulting prescribers. See the tip sheet for instructions on how to request Imprivata access.

Tip: Consulting Prescribers to EDs – Requesting Connect Care Tap-Badge Access