Photo credit: Getty Images. Drs. Grue and Snyder share essential FAQs about Kno2.
FAQs about Kno2
By James E. Grue, OD,
Ronald P. Snyder, OD, FAAO
Oct. 1, 2025
In February 2014, Carequality was launched. Today, most of medicine is utilizing this efficient tool to exchange 1.2 billion documents per month.
Now new to optometry is Kno2, a health information exchange platform. It provides connectivity and services that allow eye care provider and EHRs to actually connect to Carequality “highways.” This allows a provider using Kno2 to request and receive complete patient records from any Carequality-enabled system and to share their own records back, streamlining referrals and care coordination with almost no effort.
Editor’s Note: Kno2 has contracted with Healthcare Registries, the organization that the authors of this article are affiliated with, to market this service and to support its marketing efforts to EHR companies. While Epic serves as the dominant standard across much of medicine, Kno2 is expected to emerge as the gold standard for both optometry and ophthalmology.
Instead of clipboards and guesswork, picture walking into the exam room already knowing your patient’s significant history.
One of us experienced this firsthand when a doctor he had never met began the visit with a complete, accurate summary of his complex background. The change in trust, efficiency and engagement was remarkable.
With Kno2, you spend less time chasing history and more time solving problems, improving care and creating a professional, patient-friendly experience.
How Does It Work?
For providers, it could not be simpler. You enter the patient in your EHR and their complete medical history appears as a readable document in your system. Individual details, like medications, allergies or lab results are also automatically extracted into the structured fields you use every day.
For instance, with a single click, your certified EHR can pull the full medication list from the patient’s primary care provider and update your own list instantly.
Here’s What Happens Behind the Scenes
Patient match: Your scheduler identifies upcoming patients.
Automated query: The system searches all participating providers for records on that patient. One rural optometrist expected few results but discovered over 140 providers in his area were connected, including every hospital and physician group.
Document retrieval: The network finds relevant records and returns them to your EHR.
Secure delivery: Documents arrive in your certified EHR’s direct secure messaging inbox.
Seamless integration: You can read the entire document or let your EHR automatically import key data into your workflow.
The result is no more chasing records, calling offices or relying on patients’ memory—just complete, accurate history at your fingertips.
Why is This Service So Popular?
Running a medical practice today is challenging. Overhead costs are high, qualified staff are hard to find and time is always short. Kno2 delivers instant efficiency by reducing the staff time and effort required to obtain and document a patient’s history, creating an immediate financial benefit for almost any office.
Providers also gain a clear, accurate and consolidated medical history, allowing them to spend less time gathering background and more time addressing the primary reason for the visit.
Kno2 not only streamlines workflow, it enhances your EHR’s capabilities. When paired with AI, it enables powerful new tools, such as add-ons that scan a patient’s medication and problem list and alert you to conditions or drugs with potential ocular side effects. It can even provide descriptions of those side effects and suggest tests you may want to consider. This makes your care more targeted, informed and efficient.
Nearly all providers find they can deliver higher-quality care with less effort and give patients a better experience after adopting Kno2.
From an ROI perspective, Kno2 is cost-effective. While there is a monthly fee, the savings often outweigh the cost within the first day or two each month, making the return on investment both rapid and substantial.
Currently, Kno2 is available through our organization, Healthcare Registries, and some EHR vendors are working to natively offer Kno2 services.
The Future Is Now
It is time for optometry to be on par with the rest of medicine. Interoperability is no longer optional, it is essential.
With Kno2, optometrists can finally access the same health data capabilities as their medical counterparts and elevate patient care to a new standard.
Read another article by Dr. Grue and Dr. Snyder
James E. Grue, OD, is a healthcare reform speaker and consultant. To contact him: JimGrue@HealthCareRegistries.com
Ronald P. Snyder, OD, FAAO, is the president and CEO of Healthcare Registries, LLC. To contact him: RonSnyder@HealthCareRegistries.com
