Alberta Health Services (AHS)

This depends on the type of study.

Industry Sponsored Clinical Trials and Participating Sites (pSites) utilizing the REBX can submit an AHS request after the ethics application is submitted. Note – the administrative approval will not be issued until the ethics review has been approved.

All other study types can be submitted once the ethics approval has been issued.

IRISS will send notifications based on your study type reminding you when you are able to submit. It’s good practice to submit as soon as possible to ensure HSA reviews are conducted in a timely manner.

Only those research staff with permissions to modify the ethics application can submit the AHS module.

Confirm all team members are listed on your ethics application to ensure they included for the HSA review.

Yes - there are 2 steps to adding a new member:

1. All study members must first be added to the ethics application.
2. Once added, you must amend the AHS application by logging a comment through the EMAIL AHS button and list members needing to be added

Yes - the system will refresh data continuously. All updates on the status of your application will be visible within the AHS Resources and Facilities tab.

You can view a full list of status states in the Reference Guide.

Yes! The submission remains accessible and visible through the AHS module in IRISS. 

With the AHS module, you can edit, save, and return to your application at any time before you submit.

Once the application has been initiated, you can find it again under the AHS Resources and Facilities tab in your study's workspace.

The questions are very similar with some variation. The purpose of the questions remains the same. In many cases, questions have been updated to improve clarity.

Helper text has also been included with many questions to help give context for how to answer.

Lastly, logic has been built into the system to guide the researcher through only the sections relevant to their request.

Yes - you can narrow down selections based on criteria such as City, Location and Epic Specialty using the advanced filter.

If you are still having trouble, try using the % symbol with any word, or partial word, that you know. Search results will list all selections with the word anywhere in the name.

For example: %child will bring up all locations with the word “children” or “childrens” anywhere in the title.

At this time, only clinical networks associated with Connect Care are available. The Connect Care departments available cover all clinical areas in the province but it does not cover provincial programs such as Strategic Clinical Networks (SCNs), Emergency Medical Services (EMS), or patient advisory committees.

Studies using networks not listed will still require an Operational Approval as HSA will need to approve access to AHS staff and patients.

Respond with YES to needing AHS staff, resources and facilities.

You must then list the specific SCN or patient advisory groups you are engaging with in the open comment box. The HSA advisor will need this information when reviewing the application in order to grant Operational Approval.

These questions can not be left blank. Ask the clinicians working with your study team what they use for Connect Care.

Purchased Services departments support research by operating on a fee-for-service basis. These departments typically have an established price list for their services and require arrangements to be made ahead of study initiation and documented with a mutually agreed Service Quotation or Purchased Services Agreement signed by the researcher and the service department.

Purchased Service departments include:

• Pharmacy
• Laboratory Services
• Diagnostic Imaging
• Health Information Management
• Other Research Services

If your research study involves any of the AHS services listed below, contact research.administration@ahs.ca for more information.

The status will change to “AA Granted” in your AHS workspace and you will receive an email notification.

Currently, AHS cannot process an amendment submitted by the system.

To request an amendment to a submission, log a comment to AHS using the EMAIL AHS button in the side bar and detail the modification in your message. Future releases will include this feature.

You can use the EMAIL AHS button at any time. T

his feature is located in the sidebar of your AHS Resources and Facilities dashboard within IRISS.

Note - once you have submitted your application, the advisor assigned to your review will be visible in the statuses tab so you can mention name of people working with your request.