Province launches ConnectCare info system for health-care professionals for final time

By ANNA SMITH Local Journalism Initiative on November 12, 2024.

asmith@medicinehatnews.com

Earlier this month saw the ninth and final launch of ConnectCare, which allows health-care professionals to access a provincewide clinical information system.

Bringing more than 11,000 additional staff and physicians at 155 AHS and AHS-partner sites and locations on board, this launch gives health-care providers more tools to support their patients at a significantly lower cost, said AHS.

“Connect Care as the only health authority in the country with a provincewide clinical information system,” said AHS. “In addition to this, AHS has the lowest cost per user to operate the system when compared to other clients of the software vendor, Epic Systems, who are of a similar scale to AHS.”

This launch includes in its new users Community Care and Home Care programs and services in Edmonton, North, Calgary, Central and South zones, HealthLink’s 13 provincial programs, ambulatory clinics and Recovery Alberta’s 10 Correctional Health Services facilities across all five zones, among others.

“This marks an impressive milestone for AHS,” said AHS president and CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos. “Health information across all AHS programs and services and with our partners is now integrated, so frontline health-care workers, physicians and patients have shared information that gives the whole health-care team a more complete health history for patients, access to consistent information on best practices and resources at their fingertips, while improving our ability to keep information private and secure.”

This is in support of best practices, says AHS, as it allows for health records from AHS, its subsidiaries and partners to be accessed through one system, as well as gives clinicians decision-making support.

“By having a common clinical information system, care teams across AHS and our partners have access to a patient’s complex histories and medication lists, with information that travels with the patient wherever Connect Care is in place,” says Dr. Peter Jamieson, vice president quality and chief medical officer. “It has improved how we care for patients and clients across the province.”

Patients may see care teams taking a little extra time to complete their charting and other tasks during launch as they adjust to these improvements, but AHS assures that all launches to date have included plans to ensure care is not compromised during the transition.

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