Connect Care for Research

Alberta Health Services supports the use of Connect Care across all forms of clinical inquiry, including clinical research. Before requesting access to Connect Care for research, studies must first receive approval from the research ethics review board (REB). Researchers are encouraged to provide specific details in their REB application, including how Connect Care will assist in identifying potential study participants, the necessary data elements for research, and measures to safeguard extracted information.

After receiving approval from the REB, researchers can initiate their Connect Care access request through the AHS Resources application in IRISS. The AHS Health System Access (HSA) team reviews the request and grants approval based on AHS policies and guidelines. They will also help set up study records in Connect Care if needed and create user accounts for study team members who need access. For more information on Connect Care access, you can contact your assigned HSA advisor or email research.administration@albertahealthservices.ca.

In Connect Care, researchers have two levels of access: Connect Care Research View Only Access and Connect Care Write Access. Each access approval is assessed and determined based on the nature of the study. More information about Connect Care access can be found at the HSA Connect Care Research Access Tips webpage.

Connect Care data extract requests are supported by the Alberta SPOR Support Unit (AbSPORU) for University of Calgary researchers. Once your study receives administrative approval from the Health System Access team, you can submit data extract requests to AbSPORU. More information about the AbSPORU application process can be found at the  ABSPORU Service Application webpage.

Alberta Health Services provides research specific customizations within Connect Care, designed to support clinical researchers in maximizing the functionality for their project. Research Custom Builds help contribute to research process efficiencies including recruitment and clinical workflows within the research framework.

Please note that these requests are accepted on a case-by-case basis and will include additional costs depending on the type of request.

Examples of Connect Care Customizations for Research include:

• Customized Best Practice Advisories to identify potential research participants or alert clinical users to perform follow-up actions (such as initiating orders, lab collection, etc.).
• Customized smart set or order set builds.
• Customized reports that display data for a specific research study.
• Customized research flowsheets.

The AHS Health System Access (HSA) team consults with researchers to assess the cost requirements and feasibility for each custom build request.

Researchers are encouraged to engage with the HSA team early in the project planning phase, preferably before grant submission, to discuss feasibility. For more information about Connect Care Build Request, visit the AHS Connect Care Research Build Request webpage.