Alberta Health Services completes 6th launch of ‘Connect Care’

Alberta Health Services (AHS) has completed the sixth launch of Connect Care, bringing more than 23,500 additional staff and physicians at 208 healthcare sites onto the provincial information system.

AHS announced the completion Saturday in a statement, saying Connect Care enables health records to be accessed through one standardized system.

Clinicians in all five AHS zones “will be offered common decision-making support.”

The zones include hospitals and healthcare sites in Calgary Zone, Edmonton Zone, and Central Zone.

“Albertans who have visited a site where Connect Care is in place can sign up to MyAHS Connect, an online patient portal where people can see their health information, test results and medications, manage appointments, and communicate securely with their AHS healthcare team,” reads the statement.

The Connect Care launches started in November 2019 and will continue to the final implementation in the fall of 2024.

“When fully in place, approximately 150,000 staff and physicians will be using Connect Care at 682 sites across Alberta,” reads the statement.

Through the information system, accessing health information will be more efficient, according to Mauro Chies, AHS interim president and CEO.

“Expanding Connect Care is an important step in healthcare in this province and provides us with a central access point for patient information across AHS,” Chies said.

“We are approximately 18 months from the full implementation of Connect Care, which when fully in place, will enable health information to be accessible from any AHS or partner location in the province. This will give healthcare teams a more complete health history for patients, access to consistent information on best practices, and resources at their fingertips while maintaining the privacy of their information. Healthcare teams will also be able to communicate with patients and each other more easily.”

The switch to Connect Care went smoothly and as planned Saturday at 5 a.m. AHS notes.

“We had safeguards and protocols in place to protect patients during launch, ensuring the care we provide is never compromised, including our standard practice of reducing some surgical activity at our launching sites for the transition period,” says Dr. Francois Belanger, vice president, quality, and chief medical officer at AHS.

“Patients may see AHS staff taking a little extra time to complete their charting and other tasks during launch, and we appreciate the patience of the public while we undertake this important improvement.”