Category Archives: Announcement

Alberta Health Services – An Exciting Initiative

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On Thursday, September 28th, Dr. Verna Yiu, Alberta Health Service (AHS) president and CEO, announced that the AHS board had approved a deal that will see the implementation of an advanced clinical information system throughout Alberta. This information system will serve as an information hub for all of AHS’s clinical care areas, which include hospitals, ambulatory clinics and continuing care centres. Currently, there are approximately, 1,300 information systems being used, all of which will be consolidated by this one system. Click here to read more about this initiative and what it will mean to patients, providers and healthcare as a whole.

Transfer of Care Experience?

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Are you a patient or family member who has experienced what it is like to go from the adult Intensive Care Unit to the Ward of a hospital? If so, the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Calgary is inviting you to join in a facilitated session to discuss the transfer of care process. This session will be held on November 2, 2017; 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Room TRW2D39; Teaching, Research and Wellness Building, Foothills Campus, University of Calgary; Calgary, Alberta. Click here to read more.

Feedback Requested

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Your insights and suggestions are being sought as a means of improving Alberta’s Palliative and End-of-Life Care (PEOLC) website. By perusing the website and completing a short survey, you will be helping to ensure that the information provided is applicable, accessible and easy to understand. Please see below for additional details.

The provincial Palliative and End-of-Life Care (PEOLC) website has been available to all Albertans since May 2015. This provincial online resource allows Albertans and health care providers convenient access to trusted, evidence-based palliative and end-of-life care information that supports and enhances quality of life and quality of care. Creation of this website was one of the recommendations that came out of the PEOLC Alberta Provincial Framework (2014) and was supported by the Provincial Palliative and End-of-Life Care Innovations Steering Committee (PPAL/ EOL ISC). Implementing an evaluation plan for this website is a deliverable on the provincial PEOLC timelines and planning document for the 2017/18 fiscal year. We have developed an online feedback survey as part of the provincial PEOLC website evaluation plan.

We want to hear, for example, did you find information you were looking for, is the website easy to navigate, did you notice any gaps in the content? Actions requested:

  1. Please visit our provincial PEOLC website: https://myhealth.alberta.ca/palliative-care
  2. Please complete the brief online feedback survey by Oct. 5 by clicking on the following link: https://survey.albertahealthservices.ca/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=PEOLC_website

We will use this information to continue to enhance the website for all Albertans.

Share Your Experience

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Do you or someone you know have glaucoma?
Did you or someone you know have an operation related to this disease?
If you answered “Yes.” to the above questions, you might be interested in the following opportunity to share your experience. Below are the details sent to Pts4Chg by CADTH.

CADTH is an independent, not-for-profit organization. CADTH reviews health technologies to help health care decision-makers, patients, health care professionals, health systems leaders, and policy-makers make well-informed decisions and improve the quality of health care services

CADTH researchers are currently planning a review of minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, as compared with other ways to manage glaucoma. They will be doing a comprehensive literature review of patient and caregiver perspectives on glaucoma surgery, in addition to assessing trials on clinical and cost effectiveness.

To help CADTH develop the plan for the research and provide CADTH researchers with the patient perspective into glaucoma and surgery, we would like to hear from individuals who have experience with glaucoma treatments (including surgery). We are looking for volunteers to review our plan and comment on whether we have captured all the important aspects of diagnosis and care from a patient’s perspective.
CADTH would send the volunteers the draft plan for the project, (it’s a 3-page document) and then we would schedule an informal telephone call to discuss the project and make sure we are covering all the issues that are important to patients. The summary notes from the call will be sent to you for your approval before it is shared with CADTH researchers. Your name will be removed from the summary and anything you wish to have removed from the summary notes will be deleted.

CADTH hopes conversations like these will benefit future patients who experience the same condition and that the results of the review and any recommendations that come from it will better reflect the needs of patients if patients like you are consulted in the development of our work.

Thank you for considering to speak to CADTH about your experiences with glaucoma. For more information, or to volunteer please contact: Tamara Rader TamaraR@cadth.ca

September is Pulmonary Fibrosis Month

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Darlene, a member of our Pts4Chg community, was critical in making September – Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness Month – in Edmonton! If you or someone you know suffers from pulmonary fibrosis, this free patient forum may be of interest to you. The event will be held on September 27th from 9:00 a.m. – 3:30: p.m. in Edmonton. Click here for more information.

Congratulations again, Darlene, on a job well done!

Join the Roster

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Are you a socially conscious person with an interest in helping Alberta’s regulated health professions govern their members in a manner that protects and serves the public interest? Are you looking for a new and exciting opportunity to support the complaint and disciplinary responsibilities of the various college councils and associations that govern Alberta’s regulated health professions?

If so, Alberta Health is looking for you to become a member of the Roster of Public Members. Click here for more information. Deadline to apply for this opportunity is August 31, 2017.

Today is the last day to have your say.

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The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) and its key partners, Choosing Wisely Canada and the Canadian Cancer Action Network, are dedicated to supporting family doctors in providing the best possible care to their patients and communities. Their goal is to help patients feel comfortable asking questions and having conversations with their family doctor, making the clinical office environment a ‘safe zone’.

Related to this, are questions such as:
1. What does a ‘safe zone’ mean to you?
2. What is important to you in your interactions with your family doctor?

To assist in the creation of a “safe zone” for all, you are invited to participate in the College of Family Physicians of Canada survey.
Please note that the survey closes on Monday, August 21st, 2017.

Your Input is Wanted

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Are you…

  • Interested in improving the patient experience in emergency departments?;
  • Available on Tuesday, August 29th from 9:00 a.m. – 12 p.m.?
  • Iin the Edmonton area that day?.

If you answered “Yes” to the above questions, the Emergency Strategic Clinical Network and the Grey Nuns Community Hospital are looking for you. Click here for more details.

Feedback Please

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A small group of patient/famiy advisors and Alberta Health Services staff have been working to create an app that could easily capture data regarding the patient/family experience at the end of a clinic/hospital visit. This app would allow programs/areas to obtain information about the patient’s/family’s experience immediately after the care was received. All feedback, including Ideas and suggestions of how the program/area could be more patient and family centred, would be provided anonymously. Having this information readily available would allow managers and healthcare teams to make improvements in the care provided by their program/area.

A prototype of this app has been developed, which will be tested in two clinics. However, before doing so, your assistance is being sought via the completion of a short survey relating to the prototype. If you could take a few minutes to complete this survey, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help! Please note that the survey is NOT limited to family/patient advisors.

Get Involved

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What are you doing on Wednesday, July 26th,2017 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.? Will you be in or near Calgary? If so, the Emergency Strategic Clinical Network is looking for individuals to provide input, feedback and suggestions on a document they are creating about Iron Deficiency Anemia. You need not be an advisor nor a person who suffers from this ailment to participate in this focus-group discussion. Click here to see attachment below for further information.