Thank you for Tweeting us your direct care questions. We went through and answered them one by one in our newest podcast. Someone asked about how many patients we’re seeing. Great question! We’re proud to say that we’re seeing about 1,500 patients in total now, and that Dr. Palomino is seeing ~415 patients after entering Atlas MD last May.
STREAM EPISODE 15 OF THE ATLAS MD PODCAST ON iTUNES
Where is family medicine going to be in 2020? He who cuts the most red tape wins, says Dr. Doug. We believe family care is going to be distanced from the third-payer system. Copays are a classic culprit when people talk themselves out of seeing a doctor. We say get rid of them, make care affordable, and improve overall health in the long run. And with the advent of ICD-10, the 155,000-code billing catastrophe that’s coming down the pipeline, more and more practices are going to find getting paid an even bigger hassle. It’s even a do-or-die situation for some: go broke not adapting to the coding, or go broke as profits decrease when you adapt to the coding. As if medicine needed more Catch 22s…
We know fee-for-service docs getting paid for the work done is only going to become more difficult. But direct care is a realistic option, and much better choice than closing down your practice… Seriously, the stories we’re hearing of burnout and disappointment with working in a “patient mill” are disheartening. But compare that with direct care. Here at Atlas MD, we’ve had to excuse ourselves by request because a patient needed to cry after finding out their full month’s supply of meds cost 74 cents.
How often do patients actually leave their doctor elated? In direct care, it’s totally real. And we’re here to help you make the transition. Contact us anytime, anyway.