Alberta’s government takes the health and well-being of all Albertans seriously, especially when it comes to having timely access to specialists to support their health needs.
In late September, AHS notified Alberta’s government that there was an issue affecting patient referrals to community specialists from AHS’ new electronic health record, Connect Care. Following an audit of referrals, AHS discovered that some patient referrals to community physician specialists or allied health providers (for example, physiotherapy and dieticians) outside of AHS were not being processed through Connect Care.
AHS has identified approximately 14,000 patients who may have been affected by the outgoing referrals to external health care providers not being properly processed. While the review is currently in its early stages, a total of 31 patients have been identified to date as requiring immediate follow up. They may have experienced a potential negative outcome due to the delay in referrals being processed in a timely manner.
A thorough review of the incident is underway to determine all possible contributing factors. Alberta Health has engaged the Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) to provide an independent third-party review of systems and operational process to determine how a situation like this could have occurred and can be prevented in the future.
“Timely access to care at critical times is a priority. This issue is greatly concerning, and we are committed to taking swift action to ensure AHS addresses and prioritizes the issue. I’ve asked the HQCA to investigate, and I look forward to recommendations brought forward as a result of the third-party review.”
AHS has begun to notify patients potentially affected by the disruption. AHS will work with the community provider to facilitate patient access in the event of delay that results directly from the issue. Patients can access information on the status of their referrals through MyHealth Records.
Quick facts
- Approximately 14,000 referrals to community providers outside of AHS may have been affected since the implementation of Connect Care.
- Prior to Connect Care, there was no way to monitor the number of referrals sent and whether they were received by the community provider.
- Approximate total number of unsent referrals to community providers by zone:
- Central: 741
- North: 549
- Edmonton: 10,025
- Calgary: 3,329
- South: 268