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Using lasers for star to star comms.... you have to be able to aim and hold your laser pointer at where the receiving planet will be in (insert X number of years hence here), with a degree of accuracy requiring not only knowledge of where that star is gonna be when your beam gets there, but also where in its orbit the receiving planet is gonna be at that time, cuz unless you up the output power to type II levels to afford a less focussed beam that's still detectable, you're gonna have a beam narrow enough that you won't be able to fill an orbit, much less a whole planetary system. This is accuracy so damn perfect we can't even approach it. But again, coherent light seems to be a pretty obvious thing to look for out there, just in case, don't it?
I think everything is worth looking at. But I bet if there is interstellar communication, we aren't privy to the medium yet. If we found a way to communicate that was much better than what we currently have, I am sure that we would send signals with this new medium. And, as any improvement will probably be of higher fidelity, lower energy, and possibly faster, we wouldn't bother with flashing laser lights.