"Welcome to our company blog. Within these blog posts, we hope to share our insights on clinical quality management, the patient-centered medical home, chronic disease management in primary care, evidence-based medicine, and the use of technology in ambulatory care settings."

- David Morin, CEO and Donald Nease Jr., MD, Chief Medical Officer

As of late, I've been on a lot sales calls pertaining to the immediate need for a "chronic disease management system" or a "registry". It's great to see that providers and practices are finding they need technology like ours (Cielo Clinic). But, I'm seeing two consistent issues in the approach to selecting a system that concern me. First is the inability of the prospective customer to document the true clinical and/or business problem to be solved (ensure providers maintain compliance with evidence-based guidelines, build a database of actionable clinical information to improve quality or increase the efficiency of a patient visit, as examples). The problem certainly is not the need for more technology systems to support! What we normally hear is " my payor said I need a registry to participate in their pay-for-performance program". Yes, if your payor says you need a system and there is financial incentive to do it, you should find one. But, what are the goals of the pay-for-performance program? What system features do you need to support these goals? What is required from the system to fit into your workflow and be usable by providers and staff? What do you need to ensure your solution takes you into the future (in other words, "what's next"?). What do you need to track and report on? Second is the assumption that the technology, by vitrue of its implementation, is the solution to the problem. The overlay of a technology on a workflow that can't take advantage of it, support it or understand it is a classic recipe for more problems. The technology is not the solution, it's the effective use of the technology that brings the benefit. These issues transcend health care - as a former technology consultant I've seen these same issues in a variety of industries. I've also seen the disappointment of many a technology purchaser when they find their system doesn't meet their needs, frustrates their staff and just leads to more cost. Cielo Clinic delivers a wealth of benefits to a primary care practice. When we call on you, tell us what you true clinical and business needs are; we love to discuss and analyze them and we are confident we will meet them! Dave Morin CEO Cielo MedSolutions