Specialty Access

Alberta Surgical Initiative

Improvements to Specialty Access

There are five primary and community projects within the Alberta Surgical Initiative (ASI). These projects aim to improve the referral and recovery phases of a patient’s surgical journey and include:

  • Central access and intake program for surgical referrals called Facilitated Access to Specialized Treatment (FAST)
  • A closed-loop electronic referral solution for all surgical specialties in Alberta
  • Provincial pathways to help providers and patients
  • Specialty advice that connects primary care providers with specialists
  • Pre and post surgical community supports

Collaboration

Specialty Access projects are a collaboration between Alberta Health, Alberta Health Services, Alberta Medical Association’s Accelerating Change Transformation Team (ACTT), primary care, specialty care, allied health and the patient and family advisors group. Indigenous representatives and organizations from across Alberta have also been involved in this work.