Province expands availability of Connect Care across Alberta
Alberta is expanding its Connect Care program to cover more of the province.
Connect Care ensures that a patient's health information can be easily accessed by doctors across Alberta, rather than being confined to the family physician.
The province says 25,000 staff, physicians and other healthcare providers are part of the expansion.
In total, with all five launches to date, there are now more than 75,000 staff, physicians and other healthcare providers using Connect Care to provide care for patients at many locations in North, Edmonton, Central, Calgary, and South zones.
There are also more than 139,000 patients using the MyAHS Connect patient portal into Connect Care to manage their health.Alberta Health Services says 135 new sites have been added to the program as well.
The online portal lets patients access many of their own records as well, along with information about the best approaches to treatment.
“Connect Care ensures all physicians, front-line staff and other care providers have access to the same clinical standards and best healthcare practices, and can provide high-quality care the same way, no matter where you are in Alberta,” said Dr. Francois Belanger, vice president, quality, and chief medical officer at AHS.
“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," added Belanger.
"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."
AHS said that with the latest upgrade, about 60 per cent of the province's doctors and nurses are on Connect Care .
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