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COMMON PROVINCIAL INFO SYSTEM

AHS makes final Connect Care roll out

Nov 4, 2024 | 12:20 PM

Alberta Health Services (AHS) completed its ninth and final launch of Connect Care on Nov. 2, putting more than 11,000 additional staff and physicians at 155 AHS-partner sites and locations onto a common provincial information system.

AHS officials say the launch of Connect Care has made Alberta the only province nation-wide to implement a province-wide clinical information system. They add that Connect Care gives healthcare providers more tools for patient support at almost half the cost per use as the systems AHS was previously using.

“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.”

This launch added the following facilities into the program:

  • Community Care and Home Care programs and services in Edmonton, North, Calgary, Central and South zones.
  • Population Public Health sites across Calgary, Edmonton, Central and North zones.
  • Health Link’s 13 provincial programs.
  • Community ambulatory clinics in North, Edmonton, Calgary and South zones, and Bone and Joint clinics in Calgary, Central and Edmonton zones.
  • Recovery Alberta’s 10 Correctional Health Services facilities across all five zones.
  • 12 CapitalCare facilities and five Covenant Health sites in the Edmonton Zone.

Following this launch, there are now more than 125,000 staff, physicians, and other providers that have transitioned to Connect Care over the last five years.

“Today marks an impressive milestone for AHS,” says AHS president and CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos. “Health information across all AHS programs and services and with our partners is now integrated, so front-line healthcare workers, physicians and patients have shared information that gives the whole healthcare 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.”

Additionally, through Alberta’s MyHealth Records, Albertans have access 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.