The Million Hearts initiative is a great example of a new program in health care reform that really matters to ECPs. I wish I could tell you you’ll qualify to offer 20 counselling sessions per year for each of your patients who screens positive for obesity with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2. That role is restricted to PCPs.
Nevertheless, here’s takeaway for Eye Care Providers. As a user of certified EHRs, you must track vital signs including BMI. (As an ECP, you don’t have to weigh your patients. You can get vitals from other health records, from a Continuity of Care Document or Report, or you can ask the patient and record what he or she tells you.)
ECPs engaged in the Million Hearts program by making referrals are establishing one more way to become valued members of the Patient-Centered Medical Home. PCMH teams will soon be given control over access to chronic care patients. Eligibility will be restricted to those Providers who are qualified to participate on chronic care teams. That qualification will formally include the ability to share health information electronically. This means EHRs and specifically EHRs that can communicate within the state’s Health Information Exchange (HIE). At an informal level perhaps, inclusion in the PCMH will require demonstrating value to the team. And that brings us full circle to being engaged in health care reform programs whether or not the ECP is eligible for direct funding.
So, if recording vitals seems like a waste of time and effort, let’s remember we are now players in a brand new game. The rules have changed. Health care is now connected care. As an ECP, your view of the patient is unique. You can add value to a care team by knowing the new rules and being ready to play. The future of your business depends on it.
Alistair Jackson, M.Ed.
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