Atlas.md | EMR Software for Concierge Medicine

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 23, 2015

What’s New in the Atlas.md EMR? Multiple Locations!

The Atlas.md EMR has always been poised to scale gracefully alongside your practice, but now we’re stepping things up in a big way.

We’re thrilled to announce the newest feature of the EMR, which fully supports multiple practice locations. We’re talking management of multiple offices, several doctors and staff members, and efficient movement of patients as you transition them from one location to another. You probably won’t notice the launch of this new feature unless you’re opening a new location firsthand. But we’ve taken great care to integrate location-based details throughout the entire EMR if it pertains to you.

Some of the biggest perks of this new feature include assigning doctors to a specific location, which automatically assigns their patients to their location as well. Each location has its own specific inventory, so when you dispense for a particular patient, that action will respect the location the patient is assigned to. But don’t worry, you’re not responsible for remembering all this. We’ve set up prompts and reminders so when you take an action that will affect another location, you’ll know exactly what to do.

So dig in, and congratulations on the growth of your practice! All the details are right over here in this help article. >

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 15, 2015

Why Transition to DPC? This Cardiologist Says ‘Practice Enjoyment and Quality.’

Who says DPC doesn’t work with specialties?

Making the switch from practicing invasive cardiology in a traditional healthcare setting to practicing Direct Primary Care was an easy decision for Dr. Kahn in Detroit. His new world doesn’t involve insurers, ICD-10, or billing fees. But it does involve a whole lot more happiness as of October 1! But let’s take a quick look at his “before:”

Generally, I was seeing more complex cases of heart disease compounded by obesity, metabolic disorders, and poor lifestyle. Trying to manage or at least give advice to patients was getting more complex and time consuming. In addition, the advent of advanced labs with inflammatory, oxidative, and genetic markers was taking more time to analyze and offer advice. Phone calls for pre-authorization first for invasive procedures, then for nuclear procedures, and now for just echocardiograms waste more and more time during the day. They say that if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life. I was finding that what I was doing was starting to feel suspiciously like work.

He describes his activity with some of his patients as “the four minute smile” because he had to dart in and out of appointments that quickly just to stay on time. Unfulfilled and well, rushed, Dr. Kahn knew there had to be a better way. But he didn’t want to just follow suit of others around him who had thrown in the towel on medicine. Instead, he created his own solution and in turn his own opportunities.

So what does his “after” look like? We can’t wait to find out, but we imagine he won’t be sorry to leave “the four minute smile” in the dust.

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 14, 2015

The New ICD Billing Codes Have Launched… But We’re Still Celebrating!

Some establishments are still scrambling to make ICD ends meet. Some are just trying to recover from the bumps in the road uncovered during the October 1 launch. But Direct Care practices around the country reported smooth sailing so far – and even had some time to show off their support for DPC!

We’ll continue to celebrate freedom from red tape and billing codes – you can, too! We’re still offering #IAmDirectCare T-shirts so you can wear your support all year round. We even heard some patients wanted shirts! Now that’s a party. Get yours over here, and see how Direct Care looks on you!

Cheers to happy docs and happy patients.

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 1, 2015

What’s New in the Atlas.md EMR?

In October’s Features Release we’re responding to some of your hottest requests, like additional growth charts and multiple patient subscription options. But we’re also introducing some features that will make communication between you and your patients easier than ever before. And who can forget about the ICD-10 rollout? Well, maybe you, since you don’t have to deal with it…

Multiple Patient Subscription Options – Including Yearly and More!
Now the Atlas.md EMR allows you to manage new kinds of subscriptions for your patients: yearly, quarterly (every 3 months) and semestral (every 6 months). Giving your patients what they want is getting easier and easier. Get the details here.

Updated Labs Pricing
You’ve been talking to us about Quest labs prices, and we listened! We’ve updated the way your practice handles custom quotes provided by Quest to make your life easier in the long run. Read more here. Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 28, 2015

The Pen and Paper Era was Accident Prone. How is Medical Tech Better?

“A study from the pen-and-paper era showed that 1 in 15 hospitalized patients suffered from an adverse drug event, often due to medication errors. A 2010 study (using data collected during the pre-digital era) estimated the yearly cost of medication errors in U.S. hospitals at $21 billion.” – Medium.com

Whoa.

When you look at those stats, it’s no wonder the industry couldn’t wait for a better way. Technology has done so much good in the way of standardization and reducing the margin of human errors. EMRs and the like have made it easier for docs to spend less time charting and more time actually with their patients. The benefits far outweigh any negatives, but that’s only if you use technology responsibly.

We can’t leave our jobs totally up to technology, as the story over on Medium.com illustrates perfectly. If we do, we’ll miss things like a massive accidental overdose (patient needed one pill, got 39 instead) and nobody wants to feel the guilt Nurse Levitt experienced so intensely. We’ll miss dangerous drug interaction warnings and potential allergy notifications. We’ll miss the opportunity to avoid life-threatening situations. Whether we’re in a hospital setting, or a clinic setting, this kind of attention to detail still matters. Immensely.

We know this. And we, as Direct Care professionals, have adopted a business model that wholeheartedly embraces the very two things that can prevent errors like this from happening — even in the technology era.

1. We’ve gotten rid of red tape and policy that does nothing but convolute the simplest of tasks. In fact, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to build the EMR that we want, and have thus turned it into a product incredibly useful for hundreds of other Direct Care practices, too. It’s based on accuracy, simplicity and ease of use. There are people working around the clock to make sure these things work together in tandem.

2. We have time. Time to think through every prescription we order and dispense. Time to double check dosage. Time to actually pay attention to the alerts that fire when an irregularity has been electronically recognized. This gift is not something we take lightly.

Technology can certainly make our jobs — our lives — easier and more efficient. For that we’re thankful on a daily basis. But we mustn’t forget that we are the threshold for which all medical decisions must pass. We can’t check common sense at the door in lieu of an app that thinks for us. And because we have a business model that allows us to work to the best of our abilities, we love our jobs… and therefore don’t want to just go through the motions.

So thanks to technology, for all you do for us. But more importantly, thanks to Direct Care, for existing so that we may also operate as the best versions of ourselves.

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 24, 2015

Medical Economics: The Rise and Fall of the Patient-Centered Medical Home.

On paper the idea of a patient centered medical home (PCMH) sounded great. But it’s gotten so bogged down with red tape that the only thing sticking to it is doubt. At least that’s the case for PCMH early adopter John L. Bender, MD, who recently contributed his perspective to Medical Economics.

“This year I am considering not maintaining PCMH recognition. It is basically a marketplace decision. The payments from insurers to maintain my care coordinators on payroll, to continue externally reporting from my large data registry, and all the other trappings of robust PCMH just are not sufficient.”

Dr. Bender is well aware of the rise of Direct Primary Care, but he has his doubts about that, too. He warns that you don’t want to be the first, or the last to adopt a new payment model. We might argue that at this point you’ll be neither, indeed. The payment structure is working brilliantly for DPC clinics around the country, and continues to adapt to the flexibility needs of patients. Maybe its success is partially to blame for its “cult following!”

But there’s another point Dr. Bender mentioned that we’d like to address. “Whether DPC will create a reduced standard in the delivery of healthcare quality remains to be seen, and the concern for quality is perhaps the largest hurdle DPC must overcome.”

We’ll go ahead and speak on behalf of the DPC community when we say – Challenge Accepted! We know DPC presents a lot of opportunities for us, as healthcare providers, to live the life we want while providing the kind of care we always imagined – while at the same time avoiding bureaucratic policies that seem to do little more than add paperwork to the stack at the end of the day. And we didn’t go to medical school to fill out paperwork…

So we’ll press on in hopes of proving to Dr. Bender that quality is the very pinnacle of what we wake up to do every day. We make ourselves available to our patients nearly 24/7, and via nearly every communication outlet available (Skype chat, anyone?). We’ll continue to make house calls as needed, and go above and beyond to save our patients money at every turn of the bend, including on medications and procedures. We’ll develop relationships with our local medical communities to negotiate the best deals possible on external procedures like labs. We’ll continue to use our spare time to sit extra minutes with patients during their appointments, do extra research to help with their preventative care, and further spread the concept of Direct Care to everyone who will listen. We’ll continue to walk patients through their invoices line by line if they want, explaining exactly where each cost comes from (they’ll continue to not be surprised, though, because they typically know the cost in advance!).

We hope not only patients, but other physicians considering a transition to Direct Care will continue to see the value in our business model. It might seem too good to be true, but there are practices all over the country who are living proof of its validity.

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 22, 2015

Hard for You. Easy for Your Patients. Perfect.

This article over on HelpScout’s blog is all about how to write well. How easy reading is damn hard to write. Well, you’re not writers, you’re healthcare professionals… but the concept still applies.

It applies in the most basic of ways — how you communicate with your patients. You have to translate medical terminology into something your patients can understand (they didn’t go to medical school at all, remember?). You have to break it down into simple, everyday words. What you say must be easy to digest. That means getting rid of all the excess stuff. Stuff like phrases that only repeat your point rather than further illustrating your point — there’s a difference.

Like the article says, “Great writing moves you effortlessly through the words; reading becomes as quick as thought.” Which is why it’s more than what you say or don’t say. It’s how you say it.

This whole “easy reading is damn hard” concept also applies on a deeper level of Direct Care. A level that stretches beyond writing, actually. This level is why your patients love you so much. It’s why they feel the need to tell people in the supermarket line about you. It’s because you make healthcare easy for them. You make them feel good about the decision they made to be part of the Direct Care movement. You make them feel empowered by their choice to ditch red tape and middle men. You make them healthier and more confident as they leave the tangled web that is health insurance behind.

So as you continue to provide excellent care for your patients, you’ll also continue to find your own style. Your own writing style, your own bedside manner style, your own practice style.

“Novelist Neil Gaiman once said that writers find their own voices only after they’ve sounded like a lot of other people. On the road to writing your own seminal sentences, start by studying those that have stood the test of time.”

We want to help make all this easier on you. We’ve done the legwork, the really hard stuff. We, and many others, have built Direct Care practices which have stood the test of time. So while you’re busy finding your own voice, it’s okay to use ours for a while. Get it in the DPC Curriculum. Get it through our free consulting services. We’re standing by at hello@atlas.md, excited to hear how you’re working hard to make life easier for your patients!

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 21, 2015

The Atlas.md EMR is Slashing Transfer Wait Times!

Image for Transfer Time Reduction (1)

You’re all very patient people. Just one of many things we love about the Direct Care community. But when it comes to your hard earned money being transferred to your bank account, we understand that maybe you just don’t want to be patient. Well, now you don’t have to be.

No more waiting seven days to make absolutely sure your money is available for transfer. The wait window is dropping to two days! We really wish we could see your happy dance right now. We’re thrilled to be able to offer you (nearly) instant gratification.

And of course, we’re still doing everything we can to keep your bank fees low, so we have your back just like always. (Like when we reduced credit card transfer fees, for example.)

Now, go start counting down the hours till your next transfer hits your account!

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 21, 2015

Introducing the DPC Easy Button!

Ever 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.

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