Posted by: AtlasMD

July 14, 2016

Consistently Delivering the “Different”

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“The road to success isn’t productivity, it’s differentiation.” – Tony Crabbe

That statement is invaluably true – especially for DPC professionals. Your patients aren’t coming to you because you’re the same as everybody else. In fact, they’ve chosen you for the exact opposite reason. You’re gloriously different. The other guys force patients into the mold they’ve created – restrained by long waits, life-sucking insurance battles, and reduction to nothing more than a chart to be shuffled in and out the door as fast as possible.

But you, you’re different. You have something completely unique to offer. You understand the value of putting a patient’s healthcare back in their hands. You put emphasis on actual quality healthcare instead of getting all tangled up in quality metrics. But you already know why you’re doing what you do. So how can you continue to delivery the different? Let’s look at a few ideas.

Communicate Consistently.

There’s something to be said for giving your patients freedom and space, but they want and need to hear from you. Sometimes that can be your office, but other times it needs to be from you. An email, a phone call, a text, and even a video chat. The sort of personal communication that says over and over again how much you truly care. That you’ll go above and beyond for them. That they can rely on you to have their best interest at heart. This kind of communication isn’t always easy, but it’s different from what they’re used to, and it will set their expectations very high. Which is exactly what you want. Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 11, 2016

What’s up with MACRA? Mass Exodus.

MACRA is happening in January, and Direct Care is waiting with arms wide open.

Okay, let’s backtrack. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) is expected to result in penalties for 59% of physicians in practices that have fewer than 25 clinicians. But what exactly is MACRA? Medscape.com explains.

“MACRA replaced Medicare’s sustainable growth rate formula for setting physician reimbursement with the Quality Payment Program, which represents a shift from fee-for-service to pay-for-performance. The Quality Payment Program has two tracks: the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), which most physicians will initially participate in, and Advanced Alternative Payments Models for physicians more accustomed to getting paid based on how they perform on quality and cost-control measures.”

So what’s the result of all this? That’s where the exodus thing comes into play.

“Almost four in 10 physicians in solo and small group practices predict an exodus from Medicare within their ranks on account of the program’s new payment plan and its punishing penalties.”

For small practices, sticking it out in traditional healthcare won’t be easy.

A small business is hard enough to keep afloat without rules and regulations constantly trying to drown it. We get rules are there for a reason, but at what point is it all just too much? And how on earth is everyone supposed to keep up?

“CMS is trying to allay physician fears about MACRA. It has budgeted $100 million during the next 5 years to help small practices get up to speed on the law. The agency acknowledges that complying with MACRA, particularly its reporting requirements, promises to be harder for smaller practices than bigger ones, which have more financial and personnel depth.”

That’s a 5 year learning curve a lot of docs won’t put up with, and quite honestly we don’t blame them. But instead of throwing in the towel, or even getting frustrated, imagine your career in a different light. One that you shed directly on your patients. It’s true – some physicians come to Direct Care out of frustration. But in this case, the grass is definitely greener on the other side. So come on over.

Direct Care isn’t just any solution. It’s a good solution.

Let’s consider the alternative to penalties and a laundry list of rule and, consequently, lifestyle changes. You’re looking at the opportunity to make your own decisions. To free yourself from the restrictions third parties hold you down with. To spend your time focused on patients rather than buried under a mountain of Medicare paperwork. All this freedom doesn’t mean sacrificing income, either. It only means a lot fewer paper cuts.

Update: It hasn’t even been implemented yet, and MACRA is already breaking down. See why “962 pages of gibberish” is causing an uproar and may essentially cause a delay in the new rule’s launch…

Posted by: AtlasMD

June 17, 2016

How to be the Best Problem Solver Your Patients Have Ever Worked With.

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As a DPC provider, you wear a lot of hats. You’re the doc, sure. But sometimes you’re also the nurse, pharma, scheduler, accountant, and cleaning person. All important. All over the board. So what’s the single most important thing you do? Solve your patients’ problems. It’s probably easier than you think.

How to be the Best Problem Solver Your Patients Have Ever Worked With.

Patients come see you for all sorts of things. Just when you think you’ve heard it all, you’re totally perplexed by the reason one of your patients sits in your exam room. It’s commentary you thought only existed on that Reddit thread about what should be considered medical common knowledge. (You’re searching for it now, aren’t you?)

You are, by trade, a problem solver. Honestly, when was the last time you got an email from your patient saying, “Hey doc! I feel amazing. Have some time today to chat about it?” Your patients have a lot going on in their lives, and they rely on you to be their problem solver. They rely on you to confirm their sneaking suspicion (ahem, Google) is right and their child’s skin condition is, in fact, eczema (and treatable!). Alternatively, they lean on you to advise them to stay far, far away from the internet because one minor headache doesn’t mean brain aneurism.

Okay, in all seriousness (and because we feel a little guilty for laughing at the expense of our patients!), in a world where people are drug through the mud to attain and maintain their health, you have to be their voice of reason – and that means doing one thing very, very well.

Listening.

It’s that simple. And it’s the single most important thing you can do to be the best problem solver your patients have ever worked with. They might be distressed about their condition. They might be worried about an impending diagnosis. They might be unaware a problem even exists. They might be in pain, literally. They might be confused about their symptoms. Problems come in all shapes and sizes, but no matter how they’re feeling about their health, the important thing is to get them talking so you can listen very carefully. Because the answer to your patients’ problem lies right there in between the complaint and side note anecdote of what they did last weekend.

Hopefully you’re not rushing through your day as a DPC doc (your business model is set up to give you the gift of time, after all). But if you happen to be feeling the burden of wearing all those hats at the moment, stop for a minute and remember the only thing you have to do to keep patients coming through the door is… listen. Your incredibly well-trained and compassionate mind will take over from there. Problem, solved.

Posted by: AtlasMD

June 15, 2016

What’s New in Atlas.md? Announcing Video Calls!

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See It Like You Mean It.

We’ve been thinking a lot about accessibility lately. It’s a really big part of Direct Care: you want to be available for your patients when they need you… and how they need you. Atlas.md already lets you communicate via email, phone, text, and Twitter DM. All great options. But we went bigger. Clearer. Announcing video calls!

That’s not all we have up our sleeve this time, though. We’re also introducing a directory of contacts, fully flexible office hours set up, intuitive automated emails to patients about expiring credit cards and more. Let’s go!

VideoCallOutbound Video Calls

Now when your patient cuts her hand 3 hours away from home, you can get a great visual (literally) before telling her to hightail it to the nearest ER, or walking her through how to take care of it herself. Now that’s service. Get all the juicy details on making outbound video calls over here.

 Performance-Oriented Tweaks to Prescriptions

You know how we’re always working to improve the performance of Atlas? We targeted an area of improvement we think you’ll be happy about. Sure, it’s a behind-the-scenes update, but one you’ll definitely notice. We re-engineered the drug database search so you can prescribe faster and get instantaneous results for any drugs you need!

Directory of Contacts

Keeping your team’s third party contact information in one place makes sense, right? We thought so, too. Store them in Atlas.md, be a stronger team because of it. Psst. You’ll probably find this pretty helpful when faxing, too! Learn more.

Flexible Office Hours per UserFlexible-Hours (1)

Each user can set their own office hours. So now you have complete control over which phone number Atlas forwards calls to while you’re away. Learn about the change here.

Smarter Inventory SKU Input

Heads up! That’s what Atlas will be saying when you enter a non-NDC item with a SKU that’s already in your inventory. In the form of a friendly notice about which other items are in your stock with that same SKU, we’ll help you easily review (and avoid!) mistakes made by conflicting SKUs.

Set Auto-Charge Date When Adding Patients

Now when you manually add a patient, you can select the exact date you’d like to charge them each month. Boom. It’s that easy.

NotificationsAutomated CC Expiration Notifications to Patients

If Atlas notices a patient’s payment information is about to expire, or there might be an issue with their payment method for the next billing cycle, we’ll send a friendly reminder to them so they can investigate. Find out what’s in the email here.

Fitness/Vitals Custom Date Ranges

Now you can view reports based on a custom time range you select. Details, details, details!

Multiple Daily Entries for Vitals and Stats

Have a blood pressure re-reading you need to enter for a patient? No problem, now you can add multiple entries per day. Get the details here.

Posted by: AtlasMD

May 6, 2016

DPC Gets the Spotlight in Powell, Wyoming.

Wyoming_01Quality over quantity. That’s what’s being praised via the Physician of the Year Award in Wyoming. So without further ado, a very well-deserved congratulations goes out to Dr. Tracy for earning this award. Not only is he one of the pioneers of Direct Care, he’s done it so well, in fact, that he’s being recognized on a state level. That means he beat out all the traditional docs for the title… which tells us he (and his EMR… which happens to be Atlas.md!) is doing something really right.

Not surprisingly, he’s super humble about the whole thing.

“It’s a real surprise and it is an honor to have this award given to me,” Tracy said. “There are a lot of deserving people in the state. I think about the people who have received the award in the past and it’s been for contribution in one way or another in the field of medicine making this state a better place to live and practice medicine, so it really is an honor.”

It’s difficult to break the mold of traditional healthcare. The scissors that cut red tape can get a bit heavy sometimes. And like any new business, the first years are tough. But Direct Care practices across the country are proving it can be done with the right tools… and the right outlook. It turns out that when you truly put the needs of your patients and community above all else, good things happen. Your genuine efforts to improve the lives of those around you make a bigger impact than a pile of paperwork ever could.

DPC docs aren’t in it for the accolades. But we’re certainly grateful for the positive attention awards such as this show our industry.

Posted by: AtlasMD

April 20, 2016

What’s New in Atlas.md? A Peek Under the Hood.

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Atlas.md is growing. Fast. To keep up with all the movement, we like to spend some extra time behind the scenes to make sure the features you use the most are in tip-top shape. So even though most of the feature improvements you’ll read about below aren’t visible up front, you can rest easy knowing things are humming right along beneath the surface. Let’s go.

Database Optimization
We’re always maintaining database optimization, but this time we took an extra long peek under the hood. As databases get bigger (read: more patient, drugs and general metadata is stored) they also tend to get sluggish from having to crunch all thatDATABASE additional info. Two things become super important to maintain a smooth ride at that point: targeted indexing and efficient querying. Don’t worry, you don’t need to know what those things mean to understand how we improved them: we found all the spots that could possibly act as a bottleneck and we set out to prevent slowness from happening in the first place.

This was fairly simple in most cases – we just stepped outside the box and approached things from a different angle. But it wasn’t all fun and games. Imagine a set of data likened to a tired and cranky five year old. This data required special attention from a dedicated server to make it happy. So we obliged. And once it got its desired one-on-one attention it performed beautifully, smiling and giving instantaneous results in most cases. So there you have it. The most crucial searchable data in Atlas.md now have their own special room with their own special toys where they happily sit and wait to be used by you.

A Brighter Future for Mailboxes
mailboxA few years ago when we developed the Mailbox integration (reminder: that thing where you connect your mailbox to Atlas.md so it can smartly read your relevant emails and effortlessly keep you connected to your patients) we had no idea if it would be a hit or not. So we took a leap of faith, and we’re glad we did – it’s one of the most widely-used features of Atlas.md. Fast forward to today, and it’s time to future-proof the process, which means going back to the drawing board and finding a new and better way to connect, fetch and parse data given the Mailbox’s blatant popularity. This is a tall order, so we broke it up into smaller pieces. To kick things off in Phase One, we’re making sure everyone’s mailboxes are checked and messages are fetched more regularly and consistently. Plus, it’s taking less effort from our server to do so. Now that’s what we call setting a strong foundation.

Outgoing Emails Get Some Attention, Too
checkboxesWe’ve always relied on Amazon Web Services SES to help deliver your emails to patients. It’s a really big part of why Atlas works in reaching so many people every day. Remember when you had to verify your email address before it would work? We’ve integrated Amazon Web Services even deeper into the EMR so you don’t have to prove you’re you anymore… we’ll just know. Bonus: this makes us even more compliant with anti-spam rules. If you’re all about the details, that means all emails sent out by Atlas are now fully SPF (no, not the sunscreen), DKIM and DMARC (do these sound like entertainers to anyone else?) compatible. This alphabet soup tastes like the three most important spam control protocols in effect for modern emailing, and we think that’s delicious.

Don’t Forget The Stuff You Can See!
So far we’ve talked about invisible updates, but there are a couple you’ll notice on the front end, too. For example, Atlas.md now supports multiple credit cards for companies whereas before only patients were graced with this feature. Oh, and now you can send your patients a welcome email even if you enroll them manually. We’re not leaving anyone out!

Posted by: AtlasMD

April 6, 2016

More Than a Million Bucks in Savings. Horn, Tooted.

Saving patients money is a huge part of what Direct Care’s all about. There are all kinds of ways DPC is geared to do it: low monthly subscription fees instead of outrageous insurance premiums, the reassuring mentality that patients only pay for what they need, and last but certainly not least is that DPC offers wholesale prescription prices – something that immediately (and very visibly) helps ease the pressure on bank accounts everywhere.

On that note, Atlas.md is having a really proud moment to the tune of more than a million dollars…

MillionDollarsAtlas.md was created by DPC docs who are literally on the front line of the Direct Care movement. They thought of everything, and their EMR is how they walk the walk. From fully supporting in-house pharmacies so it’s easier to offer wholesale prescriptions to pointing out GoodRx coupons when they’re applicable, Atlas.md helps its docs save their patients money on the regular. But just how much are we talking? This EMR has saved patients who belong to a DPC practice using it upwards of one million dollars.

The best part? That number continues to grow every single day. Just like support for Direct Care.

Posted by: AtlasMD

April 4, 2016

When Quality Metrics Ruin the Quality of Care.

Sigh. We knew this would happen… traditional healthcare is getting in the way of itself again.

Quality measurement is a good thing on paper, and not something to be ignored. But implementation of it is, well, complicated. And according to some recent studies, largely unhelpful. When you get down to the nitty gritty, we’re not convinced it does more good than harm, and Dr. Don Berwick, one of the nation’s leading champions in high quality, patient-centered care agrees.

“I have tremendous doubts about the accuracy and utility and overall wisdom of quality metrics at the individual level,” Berwick says. “When it’s a ‘falling off a log’ standard that you know everyone would want the same way then it’s good to know we’re adhering to the standard. The problem comes when we don’t get a chance to modify them to fit individual needs. Can we really be smart enough to write rules that get down to the level of what’s right for each individual patient? So we have to be really careful about these rule-based standards.”

Because it’s true that “doctors are so much more than metrics.”  In fact, a lot of docs feel metric bloat has had a negative impact on quality care. Oh, and it’s not worth the money it takes to implement, either, apparently:

In 2015 the Institute of Medicine issued its own report on the proliferation of quality measures, which found that “the growth in measurement and reporting activities results in considerable expense and requires substantial time commitment, without a matching return on investment.”

It seems that spending too much time measuring the quality is actually ruining the quality. Suddenly this is all too convoluted and you’re thinking – there MUST be a better way. Enter stage right – Direct Care. Where quality is literally the foundation on which DPC practices operate. No need for measurements. Quality just… is. It’s baked into every part of a Direct Care doc’s day – from the smaller number of patients they see, to the longer appointment times, all the way to billing transparency and acute interest in saving their patients money.

Quality shouldn’t be measured in numbers, but rather patient satisfaction. And as more and more patients opt for a truly personal relationship with their physician, Direct Care smiles from ear to ear. Because it has everything we need to show patients what quality’s really like – without any of the controversy.

Posted by: AtlasMD

March 18, 2016

Connect With LabCorp and Work Easier

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There’s been a lot to be excited about recently — your ability to accept ACH payments at a reasonable price, an opportunity to save 40% on insurance and a forum to keep you connected to other DPC docs, but now, there’s a new way to make running your practice even better.

You can now integrate with LabCorp to make tracking, requesting, and printing labs possible right from Atlas.md. This new addition will provide you and your patients with more possibilities and more flexibility. You’ll be able to do the following, right from Atlas.md:

  • Request labs from LabCorp
  • Print specimen labels directly from Atlas
  • Retrieve and integrate LabCorp results into your patients’ charts

When you’re ready to sign up, connect with your local LabCorp representative. You’ll receive an Atlas account number so that you can streamline the ordering, printing, and tracking process, right from Atlas.md. If you have any questions about this process, or if you want to reach out about your practice, feel free to connect with us by sending a note to support@atlas.md.

Posted by: AtlasMD

March 16, 2016

Bringing Hospitality to Healthcare: An Introduction

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Hospitality. A noun. It means “the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors or strangers.” It’s being nice. It’s treating people with kindness whether you know them or not. It’s going above and beyond to exceed expectations. Make sure people are taken care of. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Literally, who wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that? 

It’s sad how little we actually see hospitality in action, though. We complain about its absence all the time. At the grocery store when the checkout person tosses our goods to the bagger and we’re just sure the pretzels have been crushed into teeny tiny bits. At the drive-through window, when the employee barely looks you in the eye as he hands you your drink… which happens to be dripping down the side… and then all over your hands. On the road when the kid on his cell phone pulls out in front of you without looking twice – or once for that matter. At the Dr.’s office as you’re shuffled in and out the door like you’re just another pretty face.

Think about each of these situations and how they make you feel. The lasting impact they have on you. Your mood. How you treat others as a result. It’s a slippery slope, and it all starts with hospitality. As a DPC doc, you can’t do much about most of those situations… except the last one. That might be the hardest one to remedy, too. The healthcare community isn’t taught how to be nice, so we tend to come off a little rough around the edges. You might also argue that while you didn’t go to school to fill out paperwork, you certainly didn’t go to school to learn how to schmooze and blow smoke, either. Read more