Posted by: AtlasMD

September 21, 2015

Introducing the DPC Easy Button!

kirk-headshotEver wished you could put someone on speed dial who had the answers to all your lingering questions? Kirk Umbehr, the newest addition to the Atlas MD team, might not know the exact day the world will end, but he can certainly help with all your DPC needs. That’s right, we’re giving you an Easy Button!

Kirk brings to the table some invaluable insight in the way of service – his hotel and restaurant management background has motivated him to bring this unique skill set to the medical world. His goal? To further revolutionize DPC by bringing hospitality to healthcare. So in essence, he’s here to help clinics of all shapes and sizes transition to Direct Care. Whether you’re starting fresh with DPC, or transitioning from a more traditional healthcare setting, Kirk’s your guy. Read more about Kirk and fire off all your DPC questions at will over here on the Atlas Team Page.

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 16, 2015

Are You Registered Yet? DPC Workshop in Irving, TX on October 24th.

DPC-Workshop

This workshop isn’t until the end of October, but you can save on the registration fee if you sign up by September 30th! You know we’re all about saving money and bettering ourselves, so naturally we’re passing this information along to you. And anyway, you should really think twice before passing up a chance to network with other DPC professionals, learn from those who have gone before you, and get relevant information on starting a DPC clinic from scratch versus transitioning from a traditional family practice. If you ever think you’re done learning, that’s when you’re in real trouble!

Get the details and sign up over here >

Can’t make this workshop? Don’t worry — there’s another one in Detroit in April 2016. 

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 15, 2015

Atlas MD Podcast 23 – Addressing the Scalability of Direct Care.

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In the latest podcast episode, the high school sweethearts of Atlas MD discuss what they’ve been up to lately, address the scalability of Direct Care, and make a connection between ICD-10 and Fight Club. You’ll be glad you listened!

Listen here! Atlas MD Podcast 23 >

Is Direct Care scalable? Yes!!
As you grow, adding a new doc to your practice can do more than just open you up to helping more patients. It also frees you up for a little extra vacation or weekend coverage and gives you access to instant second opinions! But you have to make sure your new addition is the right fit, or you’ll be backpedalling from day one.

Is your practice ready to add a new location? That’s fantastic! In this episode, Drs. Josh and Doug address how Atlas MD is adding an additional location, what to look for in new space opportunities, and answer common questions about the scalability of Direct Care.

A little fight can go a long way…
As you know, we recently launched our Direct Care Curriculum, where we share the knowledge we’ve amassed over the past ten years – for free. This isn’t just for everyone who’s already heard about Direct Care and wants to learn more… we’d like to challenge that particular group, though. We know you know people. Those people are stuck in their traditional healthcare setting and honestly they don’t see a way out. They’re facing a career change, or retirement — but that’s not what they really want. So reach out to those people. Help them use the fight they have left in the best way possible. Direct Care is waiting to give them the invigorating career they always thought they’d have.

The biggest mess you’ll ever avoid…
The launch of ICD-10 is right around the corner, and we’re hearing a collective sigh of relief from DPC practices around the country as they sit back and watch the madness from the sidelines. Those same practices are wearing their support for Direct Care. Are you? Check out www.IAmDirectCare.com/dpc-holiday to learn more! Oh, and don’t forget to tag your social media posts #IAmDirectCare!!

See you next time!

Listen here! Atlas MD Podcast 23 >

Posted by: AtlasMD

August 6, 2015

Announcing the Atlas Direct Care Curriculum!

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Announcing the Launch of a Tool that Teaches Everything about DPC.

We’re big believers in doing things the right way, which is why we’ve put together a comprehensive curriculum teaching about Direct Care. And since we don’t think you should have to pay for doing your homework, we’re offering the curriculum completely free of charge – just like our consulting services!

Okay, so let’s dive in. What’s this curriculum all about anyway? It covers all the most important aspects anyone considering DPC would wonder about:

• What is Direct Care?
• What Does it Mean to Cut Out the Middleman?
• Is Direct Care Right for You?
• How Much Will it Cost to Start a DPC Practice?
• What Technology Will I Need to Run a Smooth Practice?
• The Ins and Outs of Insurance in the Direct Care Model.
• Charging and Billing for Direct Care Services.
• Running an In-House Pharmacy.
• Making the Transition: How to Approach Patients About Your Decision to Switch to DPC.
• Marketing Your Direct Care Practice.
• Creating Value for Your Patients.
• Staffing Your Direct Care Clinic.

Additional Resources Galore.

Each lesson features additional resource links so you can continue your education if you so choose. Plus, we’re including our starter packet, stuffed full of templates and real life examples you can actually put to use in your Direct Care practice. We’re talking things like price comparison, Medicare agreements, conversion letters to patients, labs pricing spreadsheets and more.

Who Do You Know?

So, who do you know who might be interested in Direct Care? This curriculum covers multiple angles, including someone starting their practice right out the residency gate and someone transitioning from a long career in traditional healthcare. Send them to the curriculum where they can learn everything there is to know about Direct Care – at your own pace. All the information is available online, or you can have lessons delivered weekly to your inbox.

Less Talk. More Action!

Alright, now that you know the curriculum exists it’s time to check it out. Delve into it yourself, or pass it on to a colleague you think would benefit from Direct Care. Go, go, go!

Visit the Atlas Direct Care Curriculum. >

Posted by: AtlasMD

August 4, 2015

What’s New in the Atlas.md EMR?

What’s New in the Atlas.md EMR?

Point-of-Sale Billing Integration

The Atlas.md EMR is adapting to how its customers operate their clinics – one of the many great liberties the Direct Care business model allows us to take! This release, we focused on integrating Point-of-Sale Billing with Subscription-Based Billing, which means clinics can now more easily charge patients at the time of service if they choose. Get the details over here!

Growth Chart Improvements!

Since adding growth charts to the EMR, we’ve improved their functionality by allowing you to add past history information, and print and/or email them. Read more about how to get deeper and more precise analysis from growth charts here.

Improved Fax Layout
We’ve added information to the repeating header and footer on faxes. This means we’re increasing compliance with a few states who have specific (and rather strict!) prescription rules. The information has also been condensed to make it less likely for the prescription to span across multiple pages. Less confusion at the pharmacy is a good thing!

SMS Auto-Responder for Out of Office Time
A friend of the email “away message,” now you can easily set an auto-response SMS message when you’re going to be out of the office. Set the end date for when you’ll be back, and we’ll automatically turn your response off, too. Learn the details here!

Improvements on Current Medications

We now offer the option for users to keep prescribed medications permanently in your patient’s current medications list. Right where you expect them to be.

Subscription Charge Previews

When adding new users to your account, now you’ll know exactly how much you’ll be charged this month with the proration estimate, as well as what your future monthly charges will be with the addition of the new user. Transparency is key, right? Learn more about the charge preview over here.

New Lab Billing Report

Now you can view all your lab charges in one easy view, including a list of all labs ordered in the selected date range specifying the patient involved and the price charged. Learn more here!

Performance Upgrades!
We spent time behind the scenes making the EMR faster, and better. But you should notice some of the changes on your end, too – like how the dashboard loads about nine times faster than it used to! We don’t like waiting; we know you don’t, either.

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 17, 2015

What’s New in the Atlas.md EMR’s Patient Access iOS App?

We’re always looking for ways to improve, and you’re probably getting used to seeing our frequent update articles about features we’ve added to the EMR. But this time we have new features to announce for the Atlas.md Patient Access iOS app! These updates make it easier for you to track data, and ensure safety remains top of mind.

Manage and track patient health data in one place.

HealthKit Integration: The HealthKit merges patients’ health and fitness data from multiple applications and houses them in one place. HealthKit integration allows you to work smarter by decreasing the time you spend tracking and managing your patients’ information. While it’s already possible to merge health data with HumanAPI and FitBit, the HealthKit is an extra feature that increases the app’s fitness-tracking capabilities so you can easily monitor your patients’ health and so patients can reach their fitness goals.

  • HealthKit makes it even easier to track and manage patient health data because it integrates directly to the patient’s phone — patients’ caloric intake, sleep-tracking information, nutritional information, vital signs, and more can now be tracked and submitted with one easy application.

Safely connect with your patients.

Touch ID Security – we are excited to introduce a safer way for you and your patients to connect. Touch ID security decreases patient vulnerability by requesting a fingerprint authentication every time a patient gets back in the app. This security feature is much more difficult to crack than typical passwords, so you and your patients can collaborate safely and effectively. This security feature works on all products that support Touch ID (iPhone 5S and up).

  • Use fingerprints to login
  • Reduce risk

With these new features, you can manage and track patient information and ensure patient security — allowing you to focus on what matters: your patients’ health. We’re constantly improving the security and connectivity features on the iOS patient access app so you can have the freedom to connect with your patients in a real and a safe way.

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 15, 2015

ACH Is Coming to the Atlas.md EMR!

To everyone who has asked (or silently wondered) if we can do direct withdraw through the EMR using a credit or debit card, we have great news! We’ve been accepted into our payment processor’s private beta for ACH, which means the real thing is right around the corner. We’re already working on integration logistics; before you know it you’ll have additional options to make your patients’ lives more convenient. We’ve only just begun development but we’ll let you know when a firm launch date evolves.

Here are some resources that talk a little more about what ACH entails:

Posted by: AtlasMD

June 30, 2015

The Atlas.md EMR is Lowering Credit Card Transaction Fees!

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After much internal consideration, research, and full-circle thinking, we’re in a really exciting position to show you just how much we care about the success of your Direct Care practice. The credit card transaction fee in the Atlas.md EMR has dropped from 3.1% to 2.5%.

We’re Putting Ourselves in Your Shoes

At the core of it all, we’re only giving you what we would want if we were in your position. And that’s to know the company behind the product is thinking about us all the time. We’ve lowered the fee to make all the features you’re privy to more affordable and cost effective. It’s worth the loss in profit to us to know you’re getting the most bang for your buck!

We’re a Business, But…

Our driving passion isn’t to make money. It’s to help you build and run a successful DPC practice that will give you the life you want, and your patients the care they deserve. The whole point of Direct Primary Care is to lower overhead and cut red tape. Actions speak louder than words, which is why we dropped that number. A transaction fee may seem like a small thing, but we know it’s huge to you.

Thank you for being loyal customers of the Atlas.md EMR. We hope we can remain by your side as you continue to breathe life into Direct Care.

Posted by: AtlasMD

June 3, 2015

Direct Primary Care Awareness Happens in December!

Have you heard? Direct Primary Care Awareness now has its own official month, and what better time of year than when we’re already buzzing with love for, well, everything? Bring it on, December!

So, what does that mean for your clinic? It means you get to continue doing what you’ve been doing all year – promoting DPC to everyone you meet on the street, in the grocery store checkout line, and at the car wash. Okay, the car wash might be a bit of a stretch, but you catch the drift. Because Direct Care Awareness now has a month associated with it, that makes it the perfect time to hold community events and staff activities. You still have some time to plan these events and we’ll remind you when it’s not quite so hot outside but it’s never too late to start brainstorming how you can make more of an impact on those around you. The DPC Journal has some ideas to kickstart your creativity.

Here’s something to remind your patients about… 

The holidays tend to be absolutely insane. For patients, getting in to see the doc during those busy months can be nearly impossible in a traditional healthcare environment. A trip to the ER could set them back precious shopping hours, not to mention thousands of dollars. Thank goodness there’s an alternative! With many DPC physicians offering 24/7 availability, house calls and the ability to handle most “ER” type visits right in their own clinic (at no extra cost!!!), your patients can check “the possibility of needing to see the doc” right off their list of things to stress about. Make the decision to switch to Direct Care easy for them by presenting sanity during a time when sanity can usually be found flying right out the window.

Posted by: AtlasMD

March 17, 2015

Bloomberg Business: Thousands Have Already Signed Up for Apple’s ResearchKit

“With ResearchKit, Apple has created a pool of hundreds of millions of iPhone owners worldwide, letting doctors find trial participants at unprecedented rates. Already five academic centers have developed apps that use the iPhone’s accelerometers, gyroscopes and GPS sensors to track the progression of chronic conditions like Parkinson’s disease and asthma.”

It’s a big step for Apple’s newly launched ResearchKit, and possibly an even bigger step for the future of medical research. Do you hear the song in your head? The iPhone’s connected to the (dramatic pause) bluetooth. The bluetooth’s connected to the (dramatic pause) inhaler. The inhaler’s connected to the (dramatic pause) Asthsma App. And that’s-how-research-works!

Indeed, it’s all connected, but that’s not the only hot news out of Bloomberg Business’s recent article. Get this. Within just 24 hours of launching Apple’s ResearchKit, a whopping 11,000 people signed up for a cardiovascular study. Eleven thousand. Why does this have researchers jumping up and down? That’s easy – the iPhone is doing their job for them. Read more