Connect Care Community-based Results Routing supports providers who work at community-based or private practices, helping them to understand how Connect Care will impact the way that they order laboratory tests, diagnostic imaging and other investigations and receive these results.

What Do I Need to Do?

All community providers in Alberta need to take action so that laboratory, diagnostic imaging, and other investigation results and reports are appropriately delivered:

• Find out when Connect Care will impact your practice
• Use Connect Care identifiers on requisitions
• Use current requisitions (2020) to order laboratory tests and diagnostic imaging
• Validate the demographic information (name, address, contact information) associated with Connect Care IDs
• Maintain current eDelivery information

What Do I Need to Know?

Connect Care Implementation Timeline

Connect Care implementation is happening in multiple waves to minimize disruptions for patients and healthcare providers. There will be nine implementation waves in total. View the latest implementation timeline to find out when Connect Care launches in your area.

Connect Care Impact on Community-based Providers & Clinics

Independent community-based providers and their private clinics will continue to use existing records of care, including Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and other methods (including paper charts). These providers will be asked to use Connect Care Identifiers when ordering labs and diagnostic imaging, and to ensure that their contact information is up to date with Alberta Health Services. These actions will support results routing to the right provider, at the right location for the right patient. Results are also available in Alberta Netcare.

Connect Care Identifiers

Community-based providers and clinics across Alberta who order laboratory tests, diagnostic imaging, and other interventions are being given new Connect Care Identifiers (IDs) to use when ordering. To learn more about Connect Care provider, submitter and department IDs, visit Connect Care Identifiers.

To obtain your Identifiers please visit the Connect Care ID Look Up Tool.

Ordering Lab Testing & AHS Diagnostic Imaging

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, and provide current identification information, legacy IDs AND (e.g. Millenium ID) new Connect Care IDs on requisitions. For more information, please see: Tip: Using Connect Care IDs on Laboratory and Diagnostic Imaging Requisitions.

eDelivery

If you receive lab, DI and other reports via eDelivery, your Connect Care IDs should already be loaded in your EMR. Clinics affected by upcoming Connect Care Waves may also receive an email from AHS eDelivery to confirm which providers work at that location. We also ask that you confirm that all requisitions generated from your EMR (including those customized for and/or saved by your clinic) include Connect Care ID fields. If your EMR is missing your Connect Care IDs, please contact your EMR vendor for support.

eDelivery users must maintain clinic demographic information with Alberta Health Services. Please also advise if provider status changes at a clinic: let us know when a provider leaves the clinic (or is retired or deceased), a new provider is added or a locum becomes a regular provider. This information ensures that results are appropriately routed to your EMR. To update eDelivery information, please use the Request for Provider/Prescriber Set-Up in Health Information Systems form.

Visit eDelivery to learn more about this service.

Providers Who Work at Multiple Sites

Providers who work at more than one location will find that most ordering and results review processes will remain the same as today. Results or reports for tests or interventions (hereafter referred to collectively as results) ordered from the community will typically be delivered to the provider and the location where the test or intervention was ordered.

Note that there is a slight change to how cc: results are routed. Providers are asked to identify a single primary location at which to receive results that are copied to them via Connect Care. These “copied to” results from Connect Care can only be sent to a single location.

For more information, please review: Understanding How Results are Received by Prescribing Providers Who Work at Multiple Sites.

Mixed-Context Providers

Providers who practice at a community-based clinic or private practice and who also work at an AHS facility will need to be aware of results routing for each ordering context. When ordering from the community, be sure to use Connect Care IDs to ensure that labs and DI ordered in your community practice return to the correct location. For more information, please see Connect Care Manual - Mixed Contexts.