Beyond EHRs

With the Supreme Court decision on the health care law, news of ONC's Permanent Certification Program and the onset of Stage 2 Certification, there's still plenty of buzz around EHRs. Many ECPs are now, at last, acceding that they better get going on EHRs and have joined the search. That's great. 


Whether you have or are looking for EHRs, the real reason for them is beyond EHRs. 


Here's a five phase continuum we need not only to understand but to be engaged in pursuing right now:

1. Select and utilize a certified EHR
2. Use your EHR to communicate electronically
3. Prepare for team delivery of care
4. Get accepted and involved in coordinated care
5. Get paid through a bundled payment system

Over the coming series of posts, we're going to unpack these five phases. What do they mean? What are the details? Why are they important? Why, in particular, are we saying they're important today, that you should be pursuing them right now? What's the big rush?

I hope you'll join us for this important dialog. And, as always, you are welcome to join an ongoing discussion with your colleagues through the National Eye Care Communications Project. You can also find a group by the same name on LinkedIN. The above continuum is what they Project is all about. We're not simply talking about it, we're doing it.

Alistair Jackson, M.Ed.

Jim Grue, O.D.