Alberta Health Services (AHS) is addressing a significant issue with its Connect Care electronic health record system. The issue has impacted approximately 14,000 patient referrals across all AHS zones, including 3,329 in the Calgary zone, encompassing Airdrie.
AHS has identified 31 patients across the province who require immediate follow-up due to potential negative health outcomes resulting from these delays.
"AHS takes any potential impact to patient care very seriously, and we are deeply sorry for any patient care delays. Our clinical teams are working urgently to assess every delayed referral, to determine what impact the delay may have had on each patient and to schedule those patients as quickly as possible."
According to AHS, an internal audit conducted in late September found that some patient referrals to external healthcare providers were not processed correctly, leading to care delays. To address the issue, AHS has implemented measures to expedite care for impacted patients and is directly notifying those affected.
Affected Referrals by Zone:
- Calgary zone: 3,329
- Edmonton zone: 10,025
- Central zone: 741
- North zone: 549
- South zone: 268
The Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) is conducting an independent review to investigate the cause and prevent future occurrences.
"AHS is dedicated to providing Albertans with the high-quality care they need when they need it, and we are deeply sorry that some patients did not receive that in a timely way," said Athana Mentzelopoulos, President and CEO of AHS. "We welcome this third-party review and look forward to working closely with HQCA to ensure that our systems have robust safeguards in place that will prevent something like this from happening in the future."
AHS handles approximately 100,000 referrals annually, and this issue primarily affects referrals to healthcare providers outside AHS, such as specialty clinics and allied health professionals. In response, AHS has introduced new training, improved auditing procedures, and enhanced electronic referral systems.
Patients are encouraged to check their referral status through MyHealth Records. AHS continues reviewing all referrals and working with community healthcare providers to minimize further delays.
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