external orders

When you access the Orders activity for an admitted patient, it is important to recognize that you can only order labs, procedures, and medications available at the site the patient is admitted to. For example, if your hospital does not have an MRI suite, you cannot enter an MR order in the order side panel.

External Orders

Ambulatory Referrals are an example of an external orders that are placed for an admitted patient.To order outpatient referrals while a patient is still in hospital go to the “External Orders” tab, in the Orders Activity, to enter the order

Go to the Orders activity tab, then to external orders (since it is outside the walls of your building)

• Click + new order then enters "ambulatory referral".

•  this will bring up the alphabetical list of all referral services by specialty.

• Select “Ambulatory Referral to ...”.

• The window that opens after accepting the service has fields to enter specifics for the referral.

• The first step is to confirm if this is an Internal or External referral. Internal referals are to an AHS ambulatory clinic; External referrals are to community providers. 

• By Provider – must have the name of your supervising physician or the appropriate attending physician. 

• Complete the remaining fields and Sign or Save the order.

External Sendout Lab Test

Some specialty tests that can't be performed by Alberta Precision Labs are sent out for external testing i.e., sent to other labs like Mayo Clinic. 

These tests are ordered in Connect Care as ‘Request for External Sendout Lab Test’ to order such as test:

• Go to Orders > External Orders

• Search for and select “Request for External Sendout Lab Test”

• This order is available for both inpatients and outpatients 

• Fill in all required fields:

  • Type of test (e.g., genetic, infectious disease, etc.)

  • Destination lab (where the sample will be sent)

  • Include brief clinical history (relevant context for the test Once submitted, the order is routed to the appropriate lab physician). 

  • The ordering provider will receive an InBasket message once the order is approved.

If the test is urgent (e.g., inpatient requiring lumbar puncture):

• • • Call the lab directly to speak with the on-call lab physician for the specific test type.

    • For lumbar punctures you can also use the ‘CSF, hold’ order to have lab hold CSF for future testing. 

    • For more details or for contact information regarding the change, see here: