2019-09-18

Supporting Medical Support Staff

Medical informaticians working to advance Connect Care may be aware of some physician concern about whether their office support staff will be able to continue to do things like surgical case bookings once the clinical information system deploys. Many are not AHS employees. Please see and promote the following messaging about support for support staff.
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Access to and use of the Connect Care clinical information system (CIS) is supported wherever, whenever and for whomever Connect Care is the record of care.

Many physicians will serve where Connect Care is the record of care but Alberta Health Services (AHS) is not the provider of care. Some of these physicians work through partner or affiliate organizations and others are members of independent practices or networks.

By now, all Wave 1 physicians should know that they need to join the Connect Care community. Some, however, are concerned about how those who support them will be supported. Medical Office Assistant (MOA) activities include things like facilitating clinical communications, patient preparation, case scheduling and other informational tasks. The activities vary by clinic and specialty.

Just like the physicians they support, MOAs need to register for the training tracks that fit their work. This happens automatically for AHS support staff. The process can be more confusing for support staff working with independent health service organizations or private practices.

Medical Affairs has tried to identify all MOAs who need to be supported for the Wave 1 launch of the Connect Care CIS. All physicians registered for Wave 1 should ensure that all of their MOAs needing CIS access are identified to Medical Affairs, have their job tasks defined, and are allocated to appropriate training tracks.  If in doubt, contact Josephine Amelio (medical affairs) as a matter of urgency.