What are you doing about health care reform? (Part 1)

I recently asked that question of an optometrist I considered a prominent figure in the eye care profession. Response? “You know, I just don’t believe the feds are going to pull it off.” Unfortunately, that answer belies what I’ve heard all too often. Ostrich syndrome.
Meanwhile, our friends at HITECHAnswers (I strongly recommend following ) are announcing,“Critical Mass in the Advance of Health Information Technology” including:

• Over 115,000 eligible professionals have signed on with the Regional Extension Centers.
• Close to one billion dollars have been paid out in incentives to date. [aj: HHS has since announced, as of Oct.31, it was over $1.2 Billion.]
• Over 650 complete EHRs have received Stage 1 Certification.    
• 2012 will see the transition from the Temporary to the Permanent Certification Program. 

Optometry has a problem. Though far from all, too many leaders are playing wait ‘n see. Ophthalmology is not playing that game. Instead, the MDs are running away with the evidence-based medicine that will be critical to the Quality Measures upon which all eye care pay-for-performance will be established.
In our 2007 white paper, A White Paper for Optometry: Medicare Pay-for-Performance & Value-Driven Health Care, we asked the question, “Is it in the best interests of either the patient or the health care system itself to emphasize surgical and advanced-treatment methods over early intervention and preventive methods?” Then we gave our answer. “Clearly not! Yet this is the natural course of the current pay-for-performance implementation. Optometry must position itself to gain input into the outcomes selection process.”


Alistair Jackson, M.Ed.