Improvements
Enabling access and adding notification preferences when messaging patients
When you send a message to a patient who does not have access to the patient portal or CHR Connect, or does not have the required information necessary to send a message (i.e. a notification method and email or cell phone number saved in their chart), a new Message patient window appears. You can add the missing information directly in this window. This eliminates the need to navigate to separate sections in the CHR, saving you time.
From here, access to the patient portal or CHR Connect is automatically enabled. Add or update the patient's notification preferences if required, and click Save.
New lab report matching status labels
When viewing lab reports from the Inbox, a new label now clearly shows whether a lab result was automatically matched by the system or manually matched by a user.
The following labels appear in the lab report:
Auto-matched shows when the system automatically found and linked the lab report to a patient.
Manually matched shows when a user manually linked the lab result to a patient.
No label appears for lab reports that haven't been matched to any patient.
📌 Note: This feature applies to newly-received electronic lab reports only.
Unlocking your account with two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled
If you have two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled, when you are locked out of your account due to too many failed login attempts, the system automatically sends you an email with a link to unlock your account. Click this link to resume normal login. For security purposes, the link expires after 20 minutes.
This eliminates the need to contact the TELUS Health Support team or other CHR users to disable 2FA for your account.
📌 Note: This unlock option is available only for accounts locked due to too many wrong 2FA codes and not due to too many incorrect passwords.
Setting a payment due date period for private and third-party bills
You can now set a clinic-wide payment due date period for private and third-party bills. Previously this was only available for private billing.
To access the Due Date Period setting, go to Settings > Billing. When you configure the Default Billing Settings, the system automatically calculates due dates for all invoices and if there is a Due Date variable in the invoice template, it will appear on the invoice.
New third-party bill invoice template (with eClaims enabled)
For clinics with eClaims enabled, third-party bill invoices now have a more organised layout and additional information. The new template includes the clinic’s fax number and email address, the provider’s license and billing numbers, occupation and, if configured, electronic signature and payment due date.
We've also made visual improvements to make the invoice easier to read by highlighting key information in bold text, and fields only appear when information is available.
With your CHR language set to English, to use the new template, add a new billing provider in Settings > Billing > Default Payment Issuer Setting and select Insurer as the Payment issuer type.
📌Note: With your CHR language set to French, you'll see the new invoice template on new and existing bills.
CHR Connect: Controlling payment method access for third-party insured bills
For clinics using CHR Connect, if your CHR is configured with a Stripe integration and you enabled the option to use a patient’s stored credit card, when creating a third-party insured bill, you must select the new Visible to patient checkbox before you can charge the patient’s saved payment method. This gives you more control over when you charge a patient’s saved payment method.
When you select the checkbox and the patient has a saved payment method, this option becomes available when collecting payment.
📌Note: The Visible to patient checkbox is available on all third-party bills. In a future release of CHR Connect, patients will be able to view their third-party bills in their CHR Connect app. When you create third-party bills and select this checkbox, the bills will show up for the patient once this feature is released and the patient is using a version of CHR Connect with the feature.
Manitoba: Billing updates and new premium calculations
New billing rules and premium calculations are now available in the CHR when creating Manitoba insured bills. These updates ensure accurate billing based on various factors including patient age, service location, and provider specialization. The system now automatically applies several new premiums and includes updated requirements for specific benefits.
The changes include:
Updated anesthetic unit value to 2.170
New surgical assistant calculations: 40% for General Practitioners, 60% for Specialists
New ICD code requirements for radiologists billing hospital care benefits
New hospital care premium calculation: 15% additional for specific in-patient services
New age-related premium calculations: 10% for patients aged 65-69, and 20% for patients aged 70+ for specific fee codes
New fee code 40070 for pediatric local anesthesia
Updated start/stop time requirements for certain fee codes
New 35% Location of Service Fee Differential for Remote Communities
New specialties for Internal Medicine: Endocrinology, Infectious Disease, Respiratory
Fixes
You can now successfully fax prescriptions from a signed encounter without errors.
When you make updates to patient files and close without saving, the unsaved changes dialog message is no longer blank and displays the appropriate warning message.
When you print, fax, or email a growth chart from either the PDF viewer or patient dashboard, the action is logged in your Outbox (including the patient's name) and in the Patient Outbox.
When a patient enters a number that is outside of the defined threshold as a response in a Qnaire, an error message now appears advising the patient to enter a valid number before they can proceed.
When you create an encounter template, in the Billing section, the Billing Practitioner now always defaults to No Practitioner Selected.
You can successfully import Gamma Dynacare labs in Ontario even when they contain an empty OBX.6 field.
New Brunswick: Clinics using Medicare Claims Entry (MCE-WS) integration can now manage location-specific billing settings without requiring a Payee Number.
📌 Note: New CHR versions are released on a regular bi-weekly schedule. However, there are times where a fix is released prior to the next scheduled release. These off-schedule release fixes are documented in the separate off-schedule release notes.
What's new in the CHR help
Here’s what we recently added to the CHR help:
Creating flowsheet templates - learn how to create clinic-wide flowsheets to centralize key lab results, patient data points, injections, and medications within one area of the patient chart.