Posted by: AtlasMD

August 14, 2017

Feature Review: Listing Multiple Credit Cards

The ability to list multiple credit cards affects credit card management in three areas of Atlas.md: the main part of the EMR, the online bill pay pages (which are accessible directly by patients) and in the Patient Access iOS app. Patients can store an unlimited number of credit cards on file, which means you (and they) can choose which one is used when a manual payment is added. Refresh your knowledge of how it all works so you can make sure you’re offering your patients the best service possible.

For more information on how to manage multiple patient credit cards, check out the support document over here. Check out all our other Feature Review posts, too!

Posted by: AtlasMD

August 8, 2017

Want to Integrate Atlas.md With Your Favorite Lab? All it Takes is an Email.

It’s official. Atlas.md is putting the choice of who you use as your lab provider back in your hands.

We’ve partnered with ELLKAY, a company who acts as a go-between for Atlas and other lab providers. Get this. ELLKAY has one of the largest collections of lab integrations in the U.S., making many of them plug and play for Atlas. And for those lab providers ELLKAYhasn’t already integrated with, it may take a little more time, but it’s still totally possible. ELLKAY speeds up the process and even opens the doors for smaller labs to interface directly into Atlas.

Here’s the best part. All your practice needs to do is tell us who you want to integrate with; ELLKAY and Atlas will do the rest. So send an email with your lab’s contact info to support@atlas.md and check it off your todo list.

The choice is yours, and that’s how it should be. Each lab has their own minimum volume level requirements for integration, but if you have a really great relationship with a particular lab provider, Atlas will support you so you can keep working your way.

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 17, 2017

What Feels Like the End is Often the Beginning.

Remember the moment you realized you wanted to go to med school? It was definitive: helping people is what you wanted to do with your life. You were probably scared, a little nervous, but mostly excited out of your mind. You had a mountain to climb; you were under no false pretenses that it would be easy. But the steps were laid out for you. Take this class, learn this method, become excellent. So you did. You experienced endless sleepless nights of studying and the death of your social life. Even so, you put one foot in front of the other on this path so many before you had walked. You knew where it would lead; you couldn’t get there fast enough. And so when it came time to walk across the stage, your exhausted bones knew it was the end of an era. No more tests, no more classrooms.

You graduated! You did it! You reached the end of the road . . .  you’re laughing now, right? (Yeah, it was hard to even write that.) Everybody knows that not only does the road NOT end at graduation, but that’s when it gets steep. Really, really steep. Your internship, residency and fellowship were no joke; you often wondered if there were somehow more than 24 hours in your day because you seemed to fill up every single one of them and then some. You had to make some really hard decisions: would you specialize? In what? Who did you want to learn from in the real world? Where did you want to live? Where did your biggest opportunities lie? How could you care for people the best way you knew how?

You worked harder than you ever thought you could, poured over all your options. Again, you wisely followed the footprints of others who had run this marathon before. As the light at the end of the tunnel drew nearer, you watched as your career began to take shape.You fought for the letters that now followed your name and you believed in every word of the oath you took. And suddenly, although there was still so much to learn, you’d come to the end yet again. You were no longer under anyone’s wing. It was just you. And your patients.

Or so you thought. Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 12, 2017

Atlas.md EMR Update: Fewer Clicks is the Name of the Game.

In this mini-release for the Atlas.md EMR, it’s all about seeings things clearly – and quickly. These new features will help get you where you’re going faster, so you can spend a few extra minutes doing, well, anything else.

Send files from your inbox straight to billing.

When your clinic scans things like insurance forms, payment receipts and checks, now you can assign them straight to the billing section of your patient’s chart from the files inbox. Saves a step, every time.

Better management of read files from your dashboard widget.

Your “Unread SMS Messages” dashboard widget does a great job of letting you know what needs responded to. Now it does an even better job of letting you manage what doesn’t need responded to by letting you manually mark items as “read.”

New dashboard widget for recent lab results.

We didn’t beat around the bush with that title, did we? So there you have it – there’s a new widget for recent lab results. It’s simple as that – if you’re the author of the lab request, or the patient’s primary doctor, your dashboard will give you quick and easy access to the most recent results available to view.

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 10, 2017

What is a Technology Visit?

Life happens. Your patients can’t always come to you, and you may not always be able to go to them. Thank goodness Direct Care accounts for that by way of nontraditional methods of communication . . . otherwise known as technology visits! It really boils down to convenience. At any rate, here’s a little reminder of all the ways you can be there for your patients – no matter where there is.

Emails

Quick, easy, everyone’s tied to it from their phones anyway. It’s great because email is so versatile these days. Email from your desktop, your tablet, your phone – whatever works.

Phone

It’s a no-brainer. But in a world where we’re used to typing and texting, the phone can serve as a valuable resource when your patient need to be walked through something in a pinch. Plus, hearing the sound of your voice can really help calm a sticky situation.

Video Chat

Skype, FaceTime, the Atlas.md EMR in-app video phone feature. It all works, and it gives you an advantage of seeing what the patient is describing in real time.

Text

Texting is one of the most popular means of communications today. Makes sense; it’s also one of the easiest! Your patient can send a note, a picture, whatever. they need And you can respond pretty much anytime – except when you’re driving, of course. Technology makes healthcare accessible . . . but not that accessible.

Bonus

If you’re using the Atlas.md EMR, don’t forget the vitals of all this correspondence gets tied directly to your patient’s chart. So you can talk, type or text with your patient without worrying about logging it later. Plus, having these key correspondence features already integrated into your EMR saves you big bucks by having to use a separate tool.

How are you getting creative with technology visits in your practice? Share your story in the comments!

Posted by: AtlasMD

June 29, 2017

The Easy Answer to a Question You’re Asked All the Time: “Is there a DPC Practice Near Me?”

You’ll never get tired of answering that question, but now there’s an easier way to do it.

When someone asks you if there’s a DPC practice near them, just send them to atlas.md/map.

You’ll get popped right over to DPCFrontier.com/mapper where they feature a really great map of the entire country. (We just shortened the URL to atlas.md/map so it’s easier to say!) Zoom in, zoom out, click the dots for more information, and even see what kind of practice it is: pure DPC, on-site DPC, or hybrid DPC.

All that info – just tell ‘em to visit atlas.md/map. Again, it forwards right to DPCFrontier.com/mapper, but atlas.md/map is easier to say.

Posted by: AtlasMD

June 13, 2017

What’s New in Atlas.md? We’re Showing, Not Telling.

NewSite-Image-Wide

You’ve texted a patient just to see how they’re doing, right? That’s a really small thing for you to do, but it’s a really big deal to your patient. That seemingly insignificant action shows them how much you care. Proves they’re on your mind, and that when you say you want a meaningful relationship with them — you really mean it.

It’s the details that matter. So no matter how hard we have to squint or how long it takes us to get it perfect, we’re willing to put forth the effort, because we know it’s the details in these very features that show how much we care about your ability to run your Direct Care practice.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the latest features that we’ve taken time to integrate thoughtfully, test relentlessly and show off shamelessly.

What’s New in Atlas?

Friendly Tax Tracking for Inventory
Need to pay for taxes separately for each item in your inventory? Now Atlas handles that for you so it’s one less thing you have to worry about. You’re welcome.

SMS Dashboard Widget
Now you can respond to SMS messages right from your dashboard or the patient’s chart without ever picking up your phone. We support communication however it’s easiest for you!

Importer for Lab Prices
You can already customize lab prices, but now you can upload your carefully negotiated prices in one fell swoop with our new lab prices importer tool. Learn how it all works here.

More Control over Bulk Emails
Now you can review, edit and even cancel bulk emails you’ve already scheduled to distribute. Things change, right? We know.

Export List of Patients Sent to Collections
Now you can export a full list of patients who have been added to collections right from the billing page. Freshen up on all things patient billing over here!

Heads Up On Pre-Paid Cards
Pre-paid cards can be deceptive. Even when they get approved, funds can run out a day later. We’ve added a flag to pre-paid cards so you can be more proactive in your process of receiving immediate payment.

Send Invoice Emails to Multiple Addresses
If you’ve ever needed to send an invoice email to a patient and a company… now you can. Just separate the email addresses by semicolon and you’re good to go.

Instructions Added to Current Medications Sidebar
To simplify the workflow for many of you, we’re adding instructions to the medications sidebar. The information you want, where you want it.

Email Note Attachments
Want to email a file that’s been uploaded to the patient’s chart? Now you can with just a few clicks. Mic drop.

New Macro Alert!
Enter #ins to enter the insurance information listed for the head of household associated with your patient.

Option for Credit Receipt
Now when you add a credit or write-off to your patient’s account, they’ll know about it because you can email them about it.

New SMS Notification for Custom Faxes and More Details on SMS Notifications for Rx Faxes
Double whammy alert. You can already choose to send SMS notifications on prescription faxes, but now you can do the same for custom faxes. Read the details over here. Oh, and now the text you send your patient when their prescription has been sent includes the location of the pharmacy. It’s the little things.

A Closer, Different Look at Inventory
If you’re the admin of your account, you can see who’s responsible for the inventory, update the default price markup, default tax percentage for NDC items, and default tax percentage for Non-NDC items — all from the inventory page.

Posted by: AtlasMD

June 1, 2017

Feature Review: Setting Up Phone Services!

It’s such an integral part of so many clinics who use the Atlas.md EMR, but if you don’t know about it you could be chasing your tail trying to keep up with your practice. Enabling phone services through Atlas lets you control when and where patients can reach you – putting you squarely in the driver’s seat of your practice and essentially making you more available to your patients when they need you. If you haven’t already, here’s how to set up phone services within your account.

Posted by: AtlasMD

May 25, 2017

Feature Review: Adding a New User to Your Account

Thinking of adding another user to your Atlas account? That’s great! Doing so is quick and easy, and if you have multiple people sharing one login, it’s definitely a must to keep your charts clean and organized. Setting up individual users for the people in your practice gives everyone accountability – and helps you grow with grace. If you’ve never done it before or just want a refresher, this video walks you through it, step by step.

Posted by: AtlasMD

May 18, 2017

What ACA Repeal & Replace Really Means for DPC.

The house voted. The bill passed. The ACA is changing, this we know. Depending on who you ask, this is either a really good thing, or a really bad thing.

“This bill would be a tremendous improvement from the current system.  And in its latest form, the bill balances concerns about high costs and limited choice with protections for pre-existing conditions.”

“The ACA and leading replacement proposals rely on refundable tax credits to help individual market enrollees pay for premiums, although the credit amounts are set quite differently.”

“Even before the vote, some Republican senators had expressed deep reservations about one of the most important provisions of the House bill, which would roll back the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.“

It Doesn’t Matter How You Feel.

Okay, that’s a little harsh. It actually does matter how you feel. But even so, let’s put politics aside, yeah? Because those of us in Direct Care need to think about the bigger picture. Which is that very soon, lots of people are going to need what this platform has to offer. They’re going to need transparency like never before. They’ll need a quality relationship with their physician to come up with a plan unique to them…one that can’t be conjured up in seven minutes. They’ll need the flexibility to make healthcare work for their family instead of having to make their family adapt to the rules of healthcare.

Will We Be Ready?

Are our practices ready for them? How can we get more ready? Take the pulse of your community. Talk to them and see how they’re feeling, what their healthcare plans are, what they’re frustrated about. Be the one who helps explain all the things they don’t have time to research and understand themselves. Tell them how the Direct Care model accommodates for the areas traditional healthcare falls short. (Hint: transparency, time, efficiency, flexibility, availability, friendliness, quality…just to name a few) And then maybe. Just maybe you’ll feel comfortable thinking about the possibility of expanding. Hiring a new doc. Opening that second practice.

There are a whole bunch of ways to prepare your practice for a fuller patient panel. If you’re curious about any of them, we’re happy to help. Because your goal is to grow at a pace you’re comfortable with, while maintaining the lifestyle you want, and continuing to provide the quality care you went to med school to master.