Question: Is there any way to attach an image or document to a Connect Care secure chat or In Basket message?
Context: Alberta Health Services clinical communications norms promote use of the Connect Care clinical information system whenever communications may contain personal health information. This makes sense, but what if one needs to send a clinical document, image, video or other digital file object to a colleague? The object will contain some form of personal health information.
The Connect Care clinical information system (CIS) can be used, within limits, to share clinical information objects with others in the patient's circle of care. However, the framework for doing this is patient-centric. The object (e.g., investigation results from an external system that does not interface with the CIS) must first be attached to the patient. Then the patient chart (with a pointer to the object of interest) can be sent to another prescriber for review. This ensures that clinical attachments benefit from the same privacy and security protections as the rest of the chart.
A single exception involves use of Connect Care mobility (Haiku or Canto) with secure messaging also supports capture of an image for sending to a Connect Care colleague without having to first attach that image to a patient chart.
Answer: The following workflows support clinical document sharing, with the second working best for images newly captured with Connect Care mobile apps.
In Basket Message
- Open a patient chart, then the "Chart Review" activity, then the "Media" tab.
- Find the chart attachment (object) of interest and select its row in the list of Media objects.
- Use the "Route" button/command at the top of the Media list, then select one or more Connect Care users to send the object to.
- Upon sending, the recipient will find a "CC'd Chart" In Basket message with the media object attached and immediately viewable without having to open the patient chart.
- A slightly more complicated workflow is supported through the Media Manager activity (Tip: Sharing Objects attached to a chart).
- This same method can be used to direct some objects (documents) to external clinicians via their preferred clinical communication method (e.g., fax, mail, eDelivery).
Secure Chat Message
- Open secure chat (in Hyperspace, Haiku or Canto).
- Set up a message to one or more Connect Care users.
- Select a patient to attach to the message.
- Note the image icon just to the right of the message text box, select this, then select from the patient chart media objects and send the text message with an attached object.
- This same method can be used with mobile apps to send a quick image (captured with the mobile app) to a colleague even if a patient chart is not selected first.
