Connect Care Launch Sequencing Update and Identifiers on Lab Requisitions - Important information for community providers

Connect Care continues to be one of Alberta Health Services’ highest organizational priorities. Upcoming launch dates have been confirmed, as follows:

• Launch 4 - May 28, 2022: Sites in Calgary and Edmonton Zones
• Launch 5 - November 6, 2022: Sites in Calgary, Central and North Zones; some provincial programs (including Cancer Care Alberta)
• Launch 6 - Spring 2023: Calgary and provincial lab services; sites in Calgary, Edmonton and Central Zones

AHS’ executive leadership continues to monitor the situation related to managing COVID-19, and should these dates change, the information will be shared through usual AHS channels. The final implementation, Launch 9, is scheduled for Fall 2024. Connect Care is already being used in parts of the Edmonton and North Zones. Additional information about which sites are included with each Connect Care launch is available here. 

All community providers in Alberta need to act so that laboratory, diagnostic imaging, and other investigation results and reports are delivered to your office. As of February 2022, Connect Care identifiers have been distributed to providers and clinics throughout Alberta, via letter mail. To confirm Connect Care IDs for providers and clinics, please visit: provideridlookup.ahs.ca. 

Please start using Connect Care IDs immediately and continue to also include non-Connect Care IDs on requisitions.

Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL), DynaLIFE and AHS Diagnostic Imaging (DI) have all introduced requisitions that include space for Connect Care and other current (“legacy”) healthcare identifiers. Please use the current requisition forms (updated in 2020), and provide current identification information, legacy IDs (e.g., Millennium ID) AND new Connect Care IDs on requisitions. For more information, please see: Using Connect Care IDs on Laboratory and Diagnostic Imaging Requisitions.

To facilitate results delivery, providers are also asked to maintain updated practice, demographic and clinic information with AHS using the Request for Provider/Prescriber Set-Up in Health Information Systems form.   

For more information:

• Delivery of Results to Community-based Providers from Connect Care: ahs.ca/ccresultstocommunity 
• Connect Care ID Look-up tool: provideridlookup.ahs.ca 
• Connect Care Information for the Community: ahs.ca/ccproviderbridge 
• Connect Care Information: ahs.ca/connectcare
• Resource: What Community Providers Need to Know for Connect Care Launch 5

Connect Care Wave Sequencing Update

As previously announced, Connect Care's Wave 3 launch date was moved from February 2021 to April 2021 to accommodate pandemic pressures. This, in turn, impacts the scope and timing for Waves 4, 5 and 6. These highlights reflect changes being announced today:

• There will still be nine implementation waves in total, to be completed in 2023.
• A modified Wave 3 launches April 10, 2021, primarily in the North Zone.
• Wave 4 will launch November 7, 2021, to include the Royal Alexandra Hospital and Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton, the Alberta Children’s Hospital and Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary, as well as Calgary Zone rural and urgent care sites (with aligned clinics and services), the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatric Centre, Central Production Pharmacy and all labs in the Edmonton Zone which have not already implemented Connect Care. 
• Wave 5 will launch May 14, 2022, to include the west area (former David Thompson Health Region) of Central Zone, Centennial Centre for Mental Health and Brain Injury in Central Zone, Richmond Road Diagnostic and Treatment Centre and Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, Cancer Care (and associated pharmacies), Alberta Kidney Care South, and all lab services in the rural portion of the west area of Central Zone.
• Wave 6 will launch November 6, 2022, to include Grey Nuns Hospital, Misericordia Hospital and Alberta Hospital Edmonton in the Edmonton Zone, the east area (former East Central Health Region) of Central Zone, the Rockyview General Hospital and the South Health Campus in Calgary Zone, the associated pharmacy services in Edmonton, Central and Calgary zones, lab services in the rural portions of the east area of Central Zone, and Alberta Precision Laboratories in the Calgary Zone.
• Wave 7 will launch in the spring of 2023, to include the east side of the North Zone (former Aspen and Northern Lights Health regions), the South Zone, including the stand-alone long-term care sites, and the associated pharmacy and lab services for these sites and programs.
• Details for Waves 8 and 9 are still being determined and will be shared when available.

More information about the scope and sequencing of the waves is available on an updated Wave Implementation Diagram.

It’s important to understand that future adjustments may be needed as we continue to rollout Connect Care. Patients and our healthcare teams will continue to come first in every decision we make, as we work to ensure each wave can be launched effectively and safely. 

The commitment to Connect Care has not changed and its successful implementation remains an organizational priority.

Connect Care Wave 2 Launch - October 24, 2020

Community practitioners are a significant part of any person’s care team, and it’s vital that they have information and awareness about Connect Care and how it will support and benefit patients. 

To ensure a smooth transition and ongoing delivery of laboratory and diagnostic imaging results, community providers in Alberta who do not use Connect Care as their record of care need to:

• Use Connect Care Identifiers
• Use new requisitions to order labs and diagnostic imaging that can incorporate those identifiers
• Advise AHS of any practice location(s) change, even if short term
• Provide a preferred method for receiving results and other information from AHS and affiliated organizations

Community health care providers continue to use their existing Electronic Medical Records and other processes to manage patient information that is not part of the AHS record of care.

• Alert AHS to provider information changes: AHS.Provider_Requests@ahs.ca
• Connect Care support for non-Connect Care users: ccproviderbridge@ahs.ca

Connect Care Planning Resumes with New Timelines and Sequence

As pre-pandemic activities restart across Alberta, Connect Care planning and implementation work is also resuming.

Waves 2 and 3 of Connect Care were temporarily delayed in March, given the significantly increased demands on our frontline physicians, staff and services, and the increased health risks our patients and healthcare teams faced due to COVID-19. While our response and management of COVID-19 continues across the province, we will be carefully and thoughtfully moving forward with preparations for the next waves of Connect Care, maintaining our ability to be flexible and ready for COVID-19 patients in the weeks and months to come, should demands change again in our province.

We have adjusted our rollout plan based on the impact of COVID-19. The launch dates for waves 2, 3, and 4 are as follows:

• Wave 2: Launch date - Saturday, October 24, 2020
• Wave 3: Launch date - Saturday, February 27, 2021
• Wave 4: Launch date - Saturday, June 5, 2021

The areas that will be part of each launch wave have also been updated. Please review the Connect Care wave scope and sequencing diagram to learn which sites and programs are included in these launch dates:

•  Connect Care wave scope and sequencing diagram 

A message has also been sent to staff, physicians and volunteers across AHS to advise them of Connect Care’s re-launch plans.

Community practitioners are an important part of every Albertan’s care team, and your ongoing support is vital  as together we move this provincial health care priority ahead. Thank you for your support.

Additional information about Connect Care activities will be shared soon. For Connect Care resources, please visit ahs.ca/ccproviderbridge, or email ccproviderbridge@ahs.ca.

When does Connect Care launch?

Connect Care is a 5-year initiative with a 3-year deployment timeline, completing in 2022. Roll-out is organized around a sequence of 9 waves, with the first wave launching November 2019.
Wave 1 brings Connect Care to:

• Edmonton Zone Walter C. MacKenzie Campus (University Hospital, Mazinkowsky Heart Institute, Stollery Children’s Hospital, etc.)
• All clinics currently using the eCLINICIAN clinical information system.
• East Edmonton Health Centre
• All pharmacy, imaging, and public lab services associated with the above.
• Cross Cancer Institute laboratories
• Large segments of Alberta Public Laboratories

Wave 2 is scheduled for launch in March 2020. It will encompass Red Deer and many rural communities in Central Alberta, and urgent care sites in Calgary Zone. A broad overview of the Connect Care implementation waves continues to be updated online.

• Vlog: When does Connect Care happen?
• Timeline: Connect Care Implementation