Last month we brought to life Atlas.md Mobile for Android, meaning you can now download your Atlas.md companion on any device. Today, we’re supercharging the app with two new features designed to make your mobile practice even more efficient and effective.
Fully Integrated VOIP Calls
Need to call a patient? With the new VOIP call integration, you can make calls directly in the Atlas.md Mobile app without having to jump between platforms.
Since the calls are VOIP-based, their quality is fantastic, meaning it won’t sound like you’re in a tunnel in the middle of a storm every time you ring a patient.
Atlas.md will also automatically log all basic call details into your patient’s profile, helping you effortlessly track your communications.
In-App Image Viewer
We know how important it is to review patient images quickly and efficiently, which is why we’ve improved the ability to view images directly in patient message threads.
Now, when patients send you pictures, you can view them directly within the Atlas.md Mobile app without having to leave the conversation.
We’re really excited about the way the app is developing and how these features will help you provide care to patients while you’re on to go.
If you have any questions about them, please don’t hesitate to reach out at support@atlas.md.
Remember the Patient Hub? It was a pretty big milestone for improving doctor-patient communication.
Well, today we have another one. It’s like the Patient Hub, but for companies. So after scratching our heads and maxing out our R&D budget, we decided to call it the Company Hub.
The Company Hub gives companies a way to quickly and easily create an account designed to interact exclusively with you and your clinic.
Using the Company Hub, companies can contact your clinic, manage their billing, and settle invoices. They also have access to general patient data like utilization reports and current coverage information. And if an employee leaves the company? No problem. Companies can remove employee coverage with a few simple clicks.
To register, companies simply have to create an account using their Atlas.md email address.
It’s no secret that prices for hospital services have been steadily rising, but what might surprise you is how these increases are gutting local economies.
Hospital mergers, touted as a way to improve services, are instead leading to higher prices, layoffs, and financial strain on businesses and communities alike.
But there is a solution. Direct primary care not only improves healthcare for more people but could also help buffer local economies from the damaging effects of skyrocketing hospital costs.
When Hospital Prices Rise, Layoffs Follow
Here’s the harsh reality: When hospitals raise their prices, it’s not just someone’s healthcare bill that gets more expensive—their job could be at risk.
A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that companies react to higher healthcare premiums (brought on by increased hospital prices) by cutting jobs. This makes sense since when healthcare insurance premiums skyrocket, businesses can’t just print more money.
They make cuts. And the first thing to go? Payroll.
For every 1% increase in hospital prices, the percentage of people losing their jobs also goes up. That’s not just an inconvenience—it’s a crisis for local economies.
Tax revenues drop, unemployment payouts increase and communities suffer. The most vulnerable economies are those where hospitals have consolidated, merging into ever-larger behemoths with enough market power to jack up prices unchecked.
If that sounds sinister it’s because it is. The study found that these hospital mergers—which were supposed to bring efficiencies and better care—did neither. Instead, they’ve padded the pockets of big healthcare while eroding the job market and driving up healthcare costs for everyone.
This impact hits hardest on workers earning $20,000 to $100,000 a year (the ones struggling to make ends meet) as employers look to shed jobs to make up for the rising premiums.
The False Promise of Hospital Mergers
Let’s talk about hospital mergers for a second. The argument goes that when hospitals merge, they gain efficiencies, share talent, and improve operations. You know, typical corporate jargon.
Between 2010 and 2015, nearly 300 hospital mergers took place, with the same story repeating over and over: higher prices, more layoffs, and no tangible benefits to patients or the community.
DCP Keeps Costs Down and Communities Thriving
Direct Primary Care is a game-changer not just for healthcare but for local economies.
DPC clinics avoid the expensive, bureaucracy-laden systems that dominate big hospital networks. By charging patients a flat monthly fee and eliminating the middleman, they can offer high-quality, transparent care at a fraction of the cost.
For local businesses, this could be a lifeline. Instead of hemorrhaging money on inflated premiums that fund bloated hospital networks, employers can partner with DPC clinics to provide their employees with affordable, effective care.
Fewer businesses would need to cut jobs just to keep up with rising healthcare costs. Employees would have predictable, transparent healthcare costs, and they’d actually be able to use their healthcare without the fear of surprise bills. Imagine.
Not only does DPC deliver better care, but it also creates more resilient local economies. By keeping healthcare affordable and simple, businesses can keep workers employed and communities financially stable. It’s healthcare as it should be: focused on the patient, not the profits.
How DPC Counters Hospital Price Gouging
The beauty of DPC is that it completely sidesteps the price gouging so common in hospital systems. In the traditional model, hospital mergers mean inflated prices for basic care.
But since DPC clinics aren’t tied to these big networks, they offer transparent pricing, often at wholesale rates.
Medications and lab tests? Marked up only minimally, sometimes around 10%, compared to the huge markups at large hospitals. And with no insurance to deal with, patients avoid hidden fees and surprise bills.
By offering a simple monthly membership fee, DPC not only makes healthcare more predictable but also eliminates the administrative costs that make hospital visits so expensive in the first place.
This kind of model could directly help employers who are struggling to keep up with escalating insurance costs, allowing them to offer competitive healthcare without laying off workers.
As hospital systems grow larger, communities face more layoffs, higher taxes, and a crumbling local economy.
But with a model like DPC, where care is patient-focused, affordable, and transparent, the tide can be changed. DPC clinics are nimble, focused on preventing illness rather than treating symptoms, and, critically, they build trust. That’s something big hospitals, with their endless billing cycles and hidden fees, can’t offer.
Let’s Build Healthcare That Supports, Not Destroys, Jobs
In a landscape where hospital price hikes mean fewer jobs and weaker local economies, Direct Primary Care offers a solution.
By keeping costs low, DPC clinics allow businesses to offer great healthcare without cutting into payroll. Workers get the care they need without fear of financial ruin. Local economies remain resilient, and instead of job cuts, maintain stability.
So, while big hospital systems are focused on mergers and profit margins, DPC clinics are doing something radical—putting patients and communities first. And in the end, that’s not just good healthcare; it’s good economics.
As we continue to better understand AI and how it can help you run your practice, we’ve been hard at work pumping up Atlas.md’s capabilities with some new features that will significantly enhance how you interact with patient information.
Check these out:
AI Reading Mode
With the AI Reading Mode, we’ve added formatting to make AI-generated content much easier to read. Whether reviewing a patient chart summary or analyzing a detailed AI-generated report, you can now skim through content and find the important information you’re looking for at a glance.
From here, you can decide your next steps like editing the content, sending a fax for a referral, adding a note to the patient’s chart, or just moving on while the AI does its thing. These actions are context-dependent, so they’ll change depending on what information is being generated.
Expanded Lab Result Summaries
We’ve also made significant improvements to our AI’s ability to summarize lab results. Now, it can summarize lab results in any format, rather than only imported discrete data.
This means whether you’re dealing with structured or unstructured data, Atlas.md can now draft clear, concise summaries that make it easier to communicate important findings to your patients.
PDF-Aware Chart Summaries
Finally, we’ve improved the context of our AI when running chart-wide actions to include PDF attachments. Now, Atlas.md can read and extract important details from PDF attachments and incorporate this information when creating chart summaries and referrals. This provides a much fuller picture of your patient’s history, ensuring that nothing gets overlooked.
If you have any questions about these new features, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at support@atlas.md.
Remember utilization reports for employer groups? We built them to provide detailed data on how companies use your services. Today, we’re bringing this same capability to the individual patient level with Patient Utilization Reports.
Now, you can use these stats to see how your patients are engaging with your clinic, and how their care is coming along. You know, like those little weather stations people use to measure temperature and rainfall – but for patients.
You’ll find a new “Utilization Report” link in each patient’s chart next to their name. This link pulls up a detailed report of your patient’s utilization stats.
This data is great for understanding the scope of services your patients use. Whether you’re reviewing treatment frequency or the types of care your patients receive most often, these reports give you the information you need to track their care journey effectively.
If you have any questions about Patient Utilization Reports, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line at support@atlas.md.
It goes without saying that being able to collect timely payments from your patients is a pretty important part of running your clinic.
While we already support Apple Pay, today we’re rolling out the same functionality to Android users with Google Pay support, making it easier and faster for patients to settle their bills – ultimately, generating more revenue for your clinic.
Now, when using the Atlas.md Patient App, patients can pay using any of the payment methods stored in their Google Wallet. This integration eliminates the need for patients to manually enter their credit card details, saving them time and making it easier for your clinic to get paid.
It’s important to note that Apple Pay and Google Pay currently don’t support subscription payments – they can only be used for one-time transactions.
Communicating lab results to patients requires a careful balance of clarity and empathy. Our latest feature, Draft Main Findings, helps you strike that balance while giving you more control over the messaging.
Powered by AI, this new feature summarizes the main findings from lab results in a single click. When emailing lab results to patients, simply select the AI button and click Draft Main Findings from the dropdown and Atlas.md will summarize the lab data.
From there, you can add your own personalized message, tailored to the specific needs and tone you want to convey.
We’re pretty excited about how these AI features continue to enhance workflows and save valuable hours. If you have any questions about them, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line at support@atlas.md.
A few months ago, we launched Atlas.md Mobile for iPhone — a mobile app that allows you to communicate with patients and take care of business when you’re out of the office. Today, we’re excited to bring even more users on board with Atlas.md Mobile for Android.
The Android version of Atlas.md Mobile functions the same as the iPhone one, putting the Atlas.md features you use most — messaging patients, appointment tracking, and task management — right at your fingertips.
Now, whether you have an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Pixel, or any other mobile device, you can take your practice with you and continue to provide quality care to patients.
To learn more about how Atlas.md Mobile works, check out our support article.
One of the great joys of being a DPC doc is being able to spend as much time with your patients as you need. And sometimes, these encounters can go on for quite some time. To help you document these longer appointments, we’ve introduced artificial intelligence to improve our existing Audio Transcripts feature.
The upgraded version of Audio Transcripts uses AI to support contexts 10 times larger than the current limits, meaning even the most extensive patient sessions can be transcribed and converted into SOAP notes, summaries, or diagnosis suggestions in seconds. What once took hours can now be demolished in a few clicks.
From routine check-ups to hours-long patient encounters, you can now efficiently document and communicate patient information of all lengths and complexities.
The best part? You don’t have to do anything. Simply upload the audio file using your phone’s Voice Memo app (or WhatsApp, iMessage, or whatever recording app you prefer) and Atlas.md’s AI will transcribe it automatically, crushing even more administrative busywork so you can focus on your patients.
For a more in-depth look at how this works, check out our support article. And if you have any questions about AI Audio Transcripts please don’t hesitate to reach out at support@atlas.md.
Whether generating referrals or contacting patients, a certain amount of correspondence is part and parcel of your day-to-day as a doctor. While there are many ways you can already do this in Atlas.md, today we’re rolling out improvements that make it easier to send email attachments to third parties directly from the EMR, where all your patient information lives.
These improvements allow you to send attachments not only to patients, but to anyone, including other doctors, specialists, imaging labs, and more. This makes it even simpler to share important documents and files and keep a record of it.
When sending attachments from a patient’s chart, you’ll now have the option to change the recipient from the default patient. You can do this manually if the recipient’s email address isn’t in the system. But if their information is in your contact list, Atlas.md’s autocompleter will find it for you.
This makes moving attachments and sending documents much faster, streamlining communication and saving you tons of time in the process.
