Some internet resources, such as the Clinician Manual (manual.connect-care.ca), are frequently used in Connect Care clinical content build, are designed as Internet reference materials and benefit from careful curation of content such that resource locators (URLs) remain stable over time. It would be unwieldy to create HEE links for the very large number of links to such AHS content. And those resources have independent link-redirection protections that allow for instant revisions that do not demand editing of link content within Connect Care.
Examples of other resources where HEE-facilitated link-management may not be required include:
Otherwise, it is best to assume that link coordinates can change over time; or that the best resource to associate with a link could change.
Simplified instructions for creating a HEE link for insertion into clinical content are abstracted from the resources listed below. Editor permissions are required and can be requested of Colin Latter for clinician builders.
Open the AHS SmartRedirect link manager to the Health Evidence Exchange collection: http://ahs-cis.ca/hee, using AHS Healthy logon credentials. (this link can be found within the "Builder Tools" dashboard in POC hyperspace, bottom right corner in the "Clinical Builder Tools" section)
Once the HEE is open, be sure to use the "Search" and/or Filter functions (with a variety of search terms) to ensure that the link to be added has not already been registered in the exchange. If the intended link is already present, select it, then copy the "SmartLink URL" for use with Connect Care clinical content hyperlinks.
If confirmed that a new link is required, select the "+New Item" button, then complete the provided fields as follows:
Link Name
Enter a short but descriptive name for the link.
The link name should be space-free and avoid special characters that can interfere with Internet hyperlinks (!@#$%&*).
If word-concepts are to be separated, use dashes ("-") to conjoin concepts and underscores ("_") to separate concepts.
Note and follow the naming convention (mostly) adopted in HEE when choosing a link name. In general, proceed from broad to specific concepts and heed the general principles in Connect Care naming norms. The first (broadest) concept-term should reflect the category of information, followed by any population limit, followed by topic terms (see Object Legend for link information categories).
Note that link names must be unique within the HEE collection. It is not possible to have a common link name point to two different Internet locations.
Redirect URL
Enter here the full Internet address (URL) for the target information resource.
If secure connections are supported, preferentially use the https:// prefix for the URL.
Note that duplicate URLs are allowed in the HEE. This capability should be used sparingly. A justifiable use case:
There are two different link-outs needed within Connect Care and both currently point to the same Internet resource (URL) but there is a possibility that one of the links will be changed in the future to point to a different (possibly more specific) URL.
App Name
Indicate the type of clinical content (CDS, Documentation, Inquiry), or possibly a subtype of content (e.g., orders) that the link primarily pertains to.
Use "Clinician Manual" for all links to content in the Connect Care Clinician Manual (manual.connect-care.ca)
Use "Builder Handbook" for all links to content in the Connect Care Builders Handbook (builders.connect-care.ca)
If the link could be used with different types of clinical content, use "CSD" (clinical system design) to indicate that this link pertains to clinical content. Other groups may create links for different purposes, such as "Help" or "InfoLink".
Notes
If the target information resource (e.g., website) has a user-friendly name, put that here.
Other brief descriptive information can include terms that will facilitate easier searches for the link when others seek to avoid duplicate entries.
Save the new link and note the SmartRedirect name that is assigned. It will be in the format: https://ahsweb.ca/HEE/Link-Name
Redirects to Internal (AHS) Resources
Some Connect Care tools may benefit from "external" links to Internet file resources (usually pdf files; as active document files such as doc and ppt should not be linked within Connect Care) that are "internal" to AHS. Such pdfs should not appear on the open Internet but should be available within the AHS Intranet. Connect Care launches in a Citrix workspace that has full access to the AHS intranet.
Resource files should be registered within and linked via the HEE link manager.
File resources that will be accessed via Internet link-outs from Connect Care workflows should not be stored in typical AHS SharePoint committee, workgroup or other Microsoft 365 spaces. When users try to follow these links, they incur an authentication process that often causes the links to break (too many redirects).
File resources (typically, pdf files) should be given a file name that avoids spaces (use underscore or dash characters instead) or any special characters that can affect Internet URL behaviours.
Such files should be placed in a Connect Care approved private (e.g., cmiofiles.connect-care.ca) or public (e.g., cmiofilespublic.connect-care.ca) AHS SharePoint sites that have been specifically set up to support Connect Care Internet resources.
