Connect Care FAQ: Medications

Showing posts with label Medications. Show all posts

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

How do I manage orders for Long-Term Care/Supportive Living patients on dialysis?

Question: How do I manage orders in Connect Care for Long-Term Care (LTC) and Supportive Living (SL) residents requiring hemodialysis (HD), peritoneal dialysis (PD), or an Alberta Kidney Care (AKC) clinic appointment?

Context: If an LTC/SL resident requires HD/PD or an AKC clinic appointment, there is a specific workflow that needs to be followed so that information flows appropriately through Connect Care. This will allow medication orders to work correctly and help to mitigate patient safety concerns. The specific workflow is dependent on whether the facility is on Connect Care, and, if it is, whether the facility has an on-site pharmacy (e.g., CareWest or Capital Care facilities) or uses a contracted/community pharmacy.

Answer: For HD, PD, or AKC clinic appointments, the LTC/DSL Prescriber and Nephrologist must follow the workflow specific to the whether the facility is on Connect Care (as this will determine whether the resident is considered an outpatient or an inpatient) and whether the facility has an onsite vs. contracted/community pharmacy, with the following considerations in mind:

Connect Care facilities with on-site pharmacy: Medications are ordered in the inpatient "Orders" activity.
Connect Care facilities with a contracted/community pharmacy: Medications are ordered in the "External Orders Community" tab.
For HD: Ordered via the Hemodialysis Therapy Plan, with any changes to be made by the Nephrologist. The "Dialysis Treatment Orders", "Hemodialysis-Anemia Management Protocol" and "Hemodialysis-Intradialytic Anticoagulation Protocol" medications are already included in the Hemodialysis Therapy Plan. It is important for the LTC/DSL Prescriber to ensure there are not duplicative orders for medications, as duplicative orders may lead to patient safety concerns.
For PD: Ordered via the Adult Peritoneal Dialysis Order Sets, with any changes to be made by the Nephrologist.

Please see the memo and tip sheet for further details.

Can I suppress or filter a medication warning?

Question: Is it possible to suppress or filter a particular Medication Warning?

Context: Alert/pop-up fatigue is a concern for prescribers. While some alerts such as Best Practice Advisories (BPAs) are important to fire each time and cannot be turned off, Medication Warnings can be suppressed or filtered, if a prescriber does not think it is necessary to see the warning again for their patient(s).

Answer: To suppress a particular warning, when it fires, click "Don’t Show This Warning Again" (click on first camera icon below for screenshot), and then choose to suppress it for just that patient or for all your patients (click on second camera icon for screenshot).

How do I manage orders for admitted patients on dialysis?

Question: How do I manage orders in Connect Care for admitted patients on hemodialysis (HD) or peritoneal dialysis (PD)?

Context: If an admitted patient requires HD/PD, there is a specific workflow that needs to be followed so that information flows appropriately through Connect Care. This will allow medication orders to work correctly and help to mitigate patient safety concerns. (Note: There is a separate blog post for managing orders for Long-Term Care/Supportive Living patients on dialysis.)

Patients receiving dialysis have their dialysis treatment and associated intradialytic medications ordered via the Hemodialysis Therapy Plan or Peritoneal Dialysis Therapy Plan. When a patient with a Hemodialysis/Peritoneal Dialysis Therapy Plan is admitted to the hospital, the Therapy Plan is automatically placed on hold so that the Nephrology team can adjust the prescription and intradialytic medication orders. Once the prescription and orders have been adjusted, the Therapy Plan is available for the duration of the admission.

Answer: For HD and PD, to ensure information flows correctly and medication and blood product orders function properly in Connect Care, a non-nephrologist admitting prescriber should first place a consult order to Nephrology. Then there are specific workflows for medication and blood product ordering, including (but not limited to) the below:

For HD: The dialysis treatment prescription, anemia and intradialytic medications are already included in the Hemodialysis Therapy Plan, and changes are to be made by the Nephrologist. It is important to ensure there are not duplicative orders for medications, as duplicative orders may lead to patient safety concerns.
For PD: All PD treatments and medication orders are ordered via the Peritoneal Dialysis Adult Order set and inpatient orders by the Nephrologist.

Please see the memo and tip sheet for further details.

How can I resend a prescription via direct electronic fax to a community pharmacy?

Question: How can I “reprint” or refax a prescription that was originally sent via direct electronic fax?

Context: Prescriptions sent directly from Connect Care via electronic fax to a community pharmacy are handled by the RightFax application. In the “My Printouts” activity, the “Printer Used” column will show “RIGHTFAX”.

If the initial fax fails, the RightFax application will attempt to send the fax a total of five times, every 5 minutes. After that, the message goes into a failure queue in the RightFax application. Similar to community EMRs that fax prescriptions, the pharmacy or patient would need to request a reprint from the prescriber if the fax does not come through.

If a prescriber receives such a reprint request, or if the original pharmacy information was incorrect, there are a few different ways to reprint/resend, depending on the context. Note that the usual method for reprinting prescriptions, via the My Printouts activity, will not work, and the only option in some cases will be to print, sign, and manually fax.

Answer: For ambulatory encounters, the following options can be used to resend/reprint a prescription that was originally sent via direct electronic fax:

If the patient’s preferred pharmacy is still the same, from the relevant encounter, the prescription can be resent via direct electronic fax using the “Reprint Meds” link.

If the original electronic fax was sent to an incorrect pharmacy/fax number, contact the pharmacy that was sent the prescription in error to cancel the original prescription, and then either:

Print on paper by going to Chart Review >> Meds, selecting the medication, scrolling down to “Reprint Prescription”, and clicking the link. Then sign and manually fax to the correct number.
Cancel the original order and reorder with the correct pharmacy information. Follow the steps in the tip sheet to send via direct electronic fax.

For inpatient encounters, the following options can be used to resend/reprint a prescription that was originally sent via direct electronic fax:

Print via one of the below methods, then sign and manually fax:

In the “After Visit Summary” section of the Discharge Navigator, click the add icon ("+") found beside "Discharge Medications".

In the “Discharge Status” section of the Discharge Navigator, click the “Reprint” link next to the relevant medication.

If the original electronic fax was sent to an incorrect pharmacy/fax number, contact the pharmacy that was sent the prescription in error to cancel the original prescription, and then either:

Print on paper by going to Chart Review >> Meds, selecting the medication, scrolling down to “Reprint Prescription”, and clicking the link. Then sign and manually fax to the correct number.
In Discharge Med Rec, click on the pencil icon next to the medication and modify/reorder with the correct pharmacy information entered for the patient’s preferred pharmacy. If “Fax” is selected for the order class (as detailed in the tip sheet), it should send via direct electronic fax.

Information on reprinting discharge prescriptions that were originally printed out can be found in this FAQ.

Why must all medication prescriptions be entered into Connect Care at discharge?

Question: Why must responsible prescribers enter and review medications within Connect Care at discharge from inpatient encounters?

Context: When newly onboarded prescribers first encounter discharge workflows, it may seem easiest to continue to write out medication prescriptions on paper pads.

Apart from the fact that such manual medication workflows over time impose greater informational and safety burdens on prescribers, what other reasons justify the requirement that all medications be entered (ordered) within Connect Care, irrespective of what is manually written?

Connect Care minimum use norms unequivocally indicate that all medications must be entered into the legal record of care (Connect Care) and that medication reconciliation must be done at all discharges or interfacility transfers.

Answer: Proper discharge medication management, including entry of all new or changed medications into the Connect Care record of care, is an unequivocal professional and organizational expectation of discharging prescribers. It is not acceptable to manually write out prescriptions without appropriately recording the patient's intended medications in the Connect Care chart.

This requirement is reflected in hospital accreditation standards, medical staff bylaws and College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta standards.

Aside from matters of professionalism, regulation and good clinical practice, a failure to properly record medication orders at discharge can have unintended consequences, including impacts on the following areas:

Community Pharmacy Report

A "MedRec for Community Pharmacist" report is generated at every discharge once discharge orders are completed. The report lists all medications that a patient should be taking at discharge, highlighting home medications that may have been changed or discontinued.
The report should be manually faxed to the patient's registered pharmacy (it cannot be automatically sent at this time). In the absence of a preferred pharmacy, the report can be provided to the patient together with any printed prescriptions they are taking to a community pharmacy.

Decision Supports

Checks for drug-allergy, drug-dose, drug-drug, drug-disease and drug-lab interactions are flawed if Connect Care does not have a complete and up-to-date medication list.

Summative Documentation

Standard provincial templates for summative documents (e.g., discharge summary) sent to Netcare and community electronic medical records automatically incorporate Connect Care medication information.

Colleague Information Burdens

Accurate discharge medication records make information flows faster when patients return for outpatient or emergency reassessments.

Risk of Medication Harms

Prescriptions missing from medication profiles in Connect Care (such as those manually written at discharge) can result in these medications being overlooked when patients re-present for care.

Compliance with minimum use norms is tracked in Connect Care, with performance measures reviewable in personal and group minimum use dashboards. The measures may also be reportable under prescriber individual service agreement contracts with Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services.

How can "non-standard" medications be ordered?

Question: When an inpatient medication is not found on the Connect Care facility list, is there a way to order (request) its use during hospital care?

Context: Whereas outpatient medication orders represent what is dispensable from any of many community pharmacies, inpatient medications reflect what is approved, available and configured within a particular facility. Some medications may not be on the Alberta Health Services (AHS) formulary but still possible to procure or make.

For example, melatonin can be used for seniors' sleep-cycle regulation. While the AHS Drugs & Therapeutics Committee has removed this non-formulary medication from inpatient facility lists, there may be reason to continue the medication at admission for some patients. Other non-standard medications can be made available in some facilities.

Answer: If a medication cannot be found on inpatient facility order lists (be sure to try different spellings and the generic drug name), it is likely non-standard. A pharmacist will need to check to see if it can be provided.

The ordering prescriber should request the medication by placing a "Non Standard Medication" order. Enter "non-standard" in the order search box (using the "Facility List" tab if needed). Other synonyms will work including "Other", "Non-formulary", "Custom", "Unable" and "Non".

Upon selecting the "Non Standard Medication" order, one is presented with a pop-up requiring the drug name, form (e.g., "tablet"), request reason (e.g., "patient taking"), together with details of dose, route and frequency.

Once all details are entered, the specific non-standard medication order can be saved as a favourite (be sure to copy in the drug identification details and suitably name the favourite before saving). This will allow the medication to be ordered in the future without having to enter all the data required of a de-novo non-standard order.

How can I reprint a discharge prescription?

Question: How can I reprint a discharge prescription from the Connect Care clinical information system?

Context: The standard Connect Care discharge process is guided by a Discharge Navigator. The easiest way to make sure that things like discharge prescriptions and medication instructions print is to follow all the steps in the navigator (in order).

At the point that the discharge order is signed, two documents are printed for the patient to take home. An "After Visit Summary" (AVS) includes information about the hospital stay, together with easy-to-understand alerts to continuing, changed, discontinued and new medications. An accompanying "MedRec for Community Pharmacist" summarizes changes from prior home meds.

At this point, any new medication prescriptions can either be electronically faxed directly from Connect Care to the patient’s preferred pharmacy (no printing or manual signature required), or can be printed with expectation that the prescriber will sign (handwritten "wet" signature) for delivery to the chosen pharmacy. For information on how to send a prescription via direct electronic fax from Connect Care, see the tip sheet.

The AVS and pharmacy instructions can be reprinted at any time from the "After Visit Summary" section (last) in the Discharge Navigator. The same section can be used to reprint the discharge prescriptions.

With the After Visit Summary section open, note how an add icon ("+") can be used to include the "Discharge Medications" (prescription) among the document(s) to be (re-)printed. The remove icon ("x") can be used to de-select other documents for printing.

Unfortunately, there is a catch. Using this option, due to printing defaults, only a printout can be generated (not another direct electronic fax, even if discharge prescriptions were originally sent that way). The document(s) will default to print to the designated printer for the patient's current location (e.g., nursing station) to allow support staff on the relevant nursing unit to provide materials to patients being discharged and to follow their instructions for manually faxing materials to a pharmacy of choice (if needed).

There may be situations when a prescriber wants to reprint a prescription and needs to direct the prescription to a different device (printer, PDF or print-fax) in a location distant from the inpatient unit. For example, the prescriber may not be at the patient's discharge location at the time of departure and may need to print, sign and send without returning to the unit.

Answer: The following workflow assumes that the discharge medication reconciliation is complete, that discharge orders are signed, and that the original discharge documents were already printed at the patient’s nursing station.

The discharge prescription can be reprinted to a local device using the following steps:

Open the patient's chart (be sure to open to the relevant inpatient encounter).
Use Chart Search (in Storyboard or at the top right of Hyperspace) with the term "print" to find and "Jump to" the "My Printouts" activity.
When opened, My Printouts should list all recent print activities initiated by the user's actions, including the most recent. Use the "Print Again" link in the rightmost column of the row for the latest AVS print event. (Note: If a discharge prescription was originally sent via direct electronic fax (“Printer Used” = “RIGHTFAX”), it will say “Can’t Reprint” in the “Reprint” column.)
This time, a printer selection dialog is presented. Locally attached printers, including "Save to PDF", are available for selection. The rest is as usual for local printing.

If you are wanting to resend a discharge prescription via direct electronic fax, see the separate FAQ:

FAQ: How can I resend a prescription via direct electronic fax to a community pharmacy?

How can I report a Serious Adverse Drug Reaction?

Question: How can prescribers satisfy requirements for reporting serious adverse drug reactions (SADR)?

Context: In a separate post, we describe how to report a patient safety event. Safety threats that specifically relate to serious adverse drug reactions are subject to federal (Health Canada) reporting requirements and so have unique supports within Connect Care.

To be "serious", an adverse drug reaction should cause or potentially cause a:

hospitalization or prolongation of an existing hospitalization
congenital malformation
persistent or significant disability of incapacity
life threatening situation or death

Answer: SADR events can be reported from within Connect Care. From within an opened patient chart, seek the "Serious Adverse Drug Reaction Form" activity or use Chart Search with "Serious" as a keyword before jumping to the SADR activity.

Note the "Adverse Drug Reaction Note" in the SADR navigator and create a note. A NoteWriter "SmartForm" will open to highlight the required reporting elements. Any clinician can initiate the SADR report. However, the patient's attending prescriber must complete the indicated section, with details about:

The impact of the adverse drug reaction on the patient's health.
Any comorbidities which may have affected the impact of the adverse drug reaction.
The date on which health was restored (if applicable).

Once completed and signed, the report is automatically directed for review and reporting to Health Canada.

What needs to be recorded in Connect Care when an outpatient prescription is refilled?

Question: What is the minimum work required in Connect Care (where it is the record of care) when a pharmacy requests a prescription renewal/refill?

Context: Busy outpatient physicians may receive faxed prescription refill requests from pharmacists serving the physician's patients. The legacy convenience was to simply sign and return the pharmacy fax.

Now that Connect Care is the legal record of care, physicians new to Connect Care suffer significant information burdens if the pharmacy request is taken as a trigger to enter all meds (for a patient not yet seen in Connect Care), generate a new prescription, print, sign, scan and fax back to the pharmacy.

Unfortunately, e-prescribing (PrescribeIT) is not yet available in Alberta, though Connect Care plans to work with this protocol when tested and ready.

Answer: There are three ways of completing prescription refills in Connect Care, dependent on whether the medication is already entered in the patient's Connect Care chart:

For medications not already entered in Connect Care:

Hand-sign and fax back the pharmacy-provided refill request, AND enter those medications into the patient’s Connect Care chart (without sending the prescription) to document the prescribing action; OR
Enter the medication into the patient’s Connect Care chart and then send the prescription from Connect Care to the pharmacy by direct electronic fax (“eFax”). There are two steps to send via eFax: (1) enter the pharmacy that requested the refill as the patient's preferred pharmacy; and (2) change the order class to "Fax" (the default is "Print") and select the destination pharmacy. See the tip sheet for further details.

For medications already entered in Connect Care:

Generate a refill order (either through the “Reorder Rx” button in the “Medications” activity, or by creating a new “Orders Only” or “Prescription Refill” encounter) and then send the prescription from Connect Care to the pharmacy by eFax (see above and the tip sheet for further details).

The key is that Connect Care, as record of care, must be used to document prescription activities. Later, when the patient appears for an appointment, a full list of home medications can be generated and validated.

Once over a transition period, charts will be more complete and refill workflows from within Connect Care will prove the fastest way to get things done.

How should medication orders with dosing ranges be entered?

Question: How should medication orders be entered when there are options for either the dose or frequency given for medication administration?

Context: It may be desirable for patients to be provided a medication dose that falls within a pre-determined range, with discretion provided for adjustments based upon symptoms or other considerations (e.g., laboratory results).

When prescribers order a single scheduled medication order with ranged dosing, system restrictions (such orders cannot work with decision supports) cause delays as extra pharmacist resources are required to interpret the prescriber's intent. Accordingly, ranged dosing should be restricted to the very few situations where a combination of regular and as-needed orders is not possible or appropriate.

Answer: Dose range requests should be handled through two separate (but linked) orders. The first sets a regular baseline dose at consistent intervals. The second specifies an as-needed (PRN) dose that can supplement the baseline, possibly at a different administration frequency.

Manual: Medication Order Challenges

How can a medication be orderable but not available?

Question: Ordering prescribers may search for a medication, find it in a "Preference List" of specialty-specific search results, then order it only to discover that it cannot be provided at the ordering facility. How can this happen?

Context: A medication order is initiated by performing a search for the desired item, form and dose. Order search results default to present any matching personalizations ("favourites" organized in a "Browse" tab in order search) first. The next "Preference List" tab gathers search results commonly ordered by one's specialty. Finally, a "Facility List" shows the AHS formulary (but not necessarily stock on hand at a local facility).

It is possible for a medication appearing on the Preference tab or the Facility tab to not be locally available. It is also possible for an item to be available via the Facility tab when that item is not included in the Preference tab listing of search results. If an order is placed for an item not immediately available, Pharmacy Services will contact the prescriber to provide an estimated time of availability, or possible alternatives.

Answer: Effective mitigations include:

Familiarity with local ordering options
Prescribers familiar with a facility will have developed awareness of any limitations to what can be ordered and promptly provided at that facility. Prescribers less familiar can always ask a colleague, or check with the facility on-call pharmacist.
Preference Personalizations
Saving specific medications, including details of the form, dose, route and frequency, can build up a highly relevant quick-list that makes ordering easier and also ensures a good fit with fast facility medication provisioning.

More information:

Manual: Medication Orders

How can non-pre-mix IV medications be ordered?

Question: When an intended inpatient intravenous medication formulation is not found on the Connect Care facility list, is there a way to order its preparation for administration during hospital care?

Context: Commonly requested inpatient intravenous medications will be on the AHS provincial formulary, usually with pre-mixed bags available from a facility pharmacy. These are easy to find by entering the medication name in order search. Frequently used standardized preparations will appear on the specialty preference list (default search result tab). Less frequent options can be found by checking the "Facility List". It is always best to select from available options. These reflect recognized medication concentrations and mixes.

Sometimes, a desired intravenous medication cannot be found on personal, preference or facility lists. Or, a particular pre-mix may not be available at the local facility and specific formulation instructions are required as part of the medication order.

Answer: If an inpatient intravenous medication cannot be found on inpatient facility order lists (be sure to try different spellings and the generic drug name) and the medication is available within AHS, then a custom order can be entered. A pharmacist will check to see if the request can be fulfilled... success may be more likely by consulting with a facility pharmacist before proceeding.

Enter "Non Standard" or "Help", instead of a medication name, in the order search box. Select "Non Standard Medication". When using the order composer, indicate the dose and units to be given per hour, note the route to be "intravenous", and enter "continuous" as the frequency. The drug name must be provided together with a reason why a non-standard formulation is required. It can help to use the "Add Note to Pharmacy" field to provide more details.

Once all details are entered, and the pharmacy has proved able to honour the request, the specific non-standard medication order can be saved as a favourite (be sure to copy in the drug identification details and suitably name the favourite before saving). This will allow the medication to be ordered in the future without having to enter all the data required of a de-novo non-standard order.

Guide: Using Non-standard Medications in Practice

How can Prescribing Workflows work with Virtual Care?

Question: How can physicians providing virtual care, or otherwise working remotely, support requests for new or changed prescriptions?

Context: The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted many patient interactions to "virtual" modes. These include physicians managing prescription refills from remote locations without access to clinic devices (printer, scanner, facsimile) or support staff. The prescriber needs to order medications in the record of care (Connect Care) while getting prescription information to the intended pharmacy.

Answer: Working remotely can be frustrating. It is unlikely that Alberta Health Services (AHS) help desk staff are able to support devices that are not AHS-provisioned. The CMIO portfolio will continue to learn about and support remote workflows for physicians. So, the important "answer" is to ask physicians to share problems with us (cmio@ahs.ca) so we can share-back here.

As of July 25, 2023, AHS and AHS partner facilities using the Connect Care clinical information system can send prescriptions directly to community pharmacies via an electronic fax process ("eFax"), without the need for a printed prescription or handwritten signature. Accordingly, outpatient prescriptions get from prescriber to pharmacy by four possible pathways:

Sent directly from Connect Care to the patient’s preferred pharmacy (as set in their profile) via electronic fax.

There are two steps for this pathway: confirm/enter the patient's preferred pharmacy (or pharmacies); and change the order class to "Fax" (the default is "Print") and select the destination pharmacy (or pharmacies). As the screens where these steps occur depend on the context (ambulatory, ED, or outpatient), see the tip sheet for further details.
Please note the Connect Care eFax workflow cannot be used for prescriptions for drugs classified as Type 1 under the Tracked Prescription Program (TPP); these prescriptions still require the use of a paper TPP secure prescription form.

Printed and (manually) signed prescription handed to patient who takes it to a pharmacy of choice.
Printed and signed prescription faxed from the physician to the intended pharmacy.
Documented prescription telephoned by the physician to the intended pharmacist.

If the first option (direct electronic fax) is not possible, the key is to be able to “print” the prescription locally so that it can be managed at the remote location where the prescriber is working; the second option therefore does not work with virtual care. The third option can be adapted to virtual Connect Care workflows, and the last option is a fall-back that can be used in any context.

We will post again with suggested workflows when support staff are (remotely) available to help.

How can I send a prescription from Connect Care?

Question: How can I send a prescription from the Connect Care clinical information system?

Answer: As of July 25, 2023, three options are available for getting (most) outpatient or discharge prescriptions to the patient's preferred pharmacy:

New: Send via electronic fax ("eFax") directly from Connect Care to the patient's preferred pharmacy (or pharmacies).

There are two steps for this option: confirm/enter the patient's preferred pharmacy (or pharmacies); and change the order class to "Fax" (the default is "Print", including for refills) and select the destination pharmacy (or pharmacies). As the screens where these steps occur depend on the context (ambulatory, ED or outpatient), see the tip sheet for further details.

Print prescription from Connect Care, add handwritten signature, and manually fax to the patient’s preferred pharmacy.
Print prescription from Connect Care, add handwritten signature, and provide to the patient (or patient’s agent) to bring to a pharmacy of choice.

Notes:

We await pharmacy information system adoption of standards-based protocols for receiving and reconciling electronic prescriptions. A Canada Health Infoway initiative called "PrescribeIT" addresses the need for standards, currently piloted in Alberta. Connect Care plans to work with this protocol when tested and ready.
Telephone verbal prescriptions may be okay for some pharmacies, where medications are delivered to a home or continuing care facility.
Prescriptions for drugs classified as Type 1 under the Tracked Prescription Program (TPP) cannot be sent by fax and will always be printed.

If the patient requires a reprint or refill at a later date, consider opening an "Orders Only" or "Prescription Refill" encounter. Order or renew one or more meds, taking care to look to the "Class" field at the bottom of the order dialog. If sending via direct electronic fax to a patient’s preferred pharmacy (must already be set in their profile; see tip sheet), select “Fax”; if printing to manually fax or give to the patient to bring to the pharmacy, select "Print":

If printing from the computer and printer originally used to create a prescription: Note that an orders review icon appears just to the left of the "Sign Encounter" at the bottom right. Clicking on this lists the meds for potential printing and provides icons for printing individual or all prescriptions:

If printing from a different computer or personal device and locally installed printer: From an open chart, go to Chart Review, select the Meds tab, then either double-click on the medication to be reprinted or right-click to display the medication information in a side bar. Scroll to the bottom of the medication information (report) and note a link for generating a new prescription printout (1). Click on this, then the print icon (2), then select the correct local printer and generate the paper prescription for signing.

For more information on the new option of sending prescriptions via direct electronic fax, see the tip sheet and other resources:

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