‘Greatly concerning’: Alberta asks for investigation into thousands of delayed medical referrals
Posted Oct 4, 2024 5:21 pm.
Last Updated Oct 4, 2024 5:56 pm.
Alberta is requesting an investigation into how some medical referrals weren’t properly processed, leading to possible delays for thousands of cases over the last five years.
In a Friday news release, health minister Adriana LaGrange says Alberta Health Services (AHS) notified the province in late September about an issue affecting patient referrals to community specialists, sometimes causing a delay in care.
The problems stem from referrals being improperly processed through Connect Care, AHS’ new electronic health record. AHS says the issues are not impacting Connect Care users, and instead affecting referrals to outside healthcare providers, like specialty clinics and physiotherapists.
An initial audit revealed the issue impacting referrals to some Central Zone providers, but a further investigation found it impacted patients throughout the rest of the province as well.
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The health ministry says there were more than 10,000 delayed patient referrals in Edmonton, more than 3,300 in Calgary and around 1,500 throughout the rest of the province.
“While the review is currently in its early stages, a total of 31 patients have been identified to date as requiring immediate follow up,” reads the release. “They may have experienced a potential negative outcome due to the delay in referrals being processed in a timely manner.”
The Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) is being asked to conduct an independent third-party investigation into the situation and determine why the referrals weren’t processed.
“Timely access to care at critical times is a priority,” says LaGrange in a statement. “This issue is greatly concerning, and we are committed to taking swift action to ensure AHS addresses and prioritizes the issue.”
AHS’s CEO, Athana Mentzelopoulos, says it does an average 100,000 referrals per year, but in some cases it can’t confirm if patients received referral services.
The health authority says they will be getting in touch with any patient where the delays may have led to a negative clinical impact, the cases could date back to 2019.
With files from The Canadian Press
