Atlas.md | EMR Software for Concierge Medicine

Posted by: AtlasMD

April 20, 2015

The Truth in Numbers. It’s a DPC Thing.

We talk a lot about the services Direct Care practices offer. We also talk a lot about how DPC docs have the time and resources to put their patients first. And then there’s the ever present mantra of how DPC cuts out the middle man, taking healthcare back to two key embodiments: quality and simplicity.

That’s all well and good, but it’s time we talked more about the numbers. They don’t get nearly enough attention, and they’re starting to feel left out. And they definitely deserve it.

Dr. Josh of Atlas MD recently talked to the Vermont Watchdog about some of the savings his clinic is able to pass along to their patients:

“I just stitched up a kid, one of our patients, who fell at the ice rink and needed six stitches in the chin. That could be $2,000 in an emergency room or $500 at an urgent care center. But I can do it for free.”

Beyond that, though, there are savings around nearly every corner.

“MRIs cost about 80 percent less than what hospitals charge. Blood tests costs $3, not the hundreds of dollars charged in the hospital system. Migraine medicines that cost more than $100 per month at a pharmacy cost just $6 at Atlas MD.”

The savings extend to companies, too. Dr. Josh explains:

“We have an employer with 17 employees in a local company. In 2013, they paid $98,000 for their health insurance. By the end of 2014, they were paying $48,000 because of how we helped restructure their plan in combination with us.”

Of course Atlas MD isn’t the only clinic who can offer these types of savings – it’s a DPC thing. Dr. Ryan Neuhofel of Neucare gives an example of the savings his Direct Care practice can offer in the way of affordability.

“I also recently managed a forearm fracture in an uninsured patient for a total cost of $45 ($10 for a splint, $25 for an X-ray, and $10 for cast a few days later).”

The savings are everywhere – even in prescription medications. We talked about that a while back, remember? Many Direct Care clinics have an in-house pharmacy which not only makes things incredibly convenient for the patient, but brings wholesale prices to the forefront. That’s right – prescription medications at wholesale prices. Oh, and if the DPC clinic can’t offer you the prescription in-house, they’ll probably send you out the door with a @GoodRx coupon for additional savings at the pharmacy.

They say there is strength in numbers. With Direct Primary Care, we also find the truth.

Posted by: AtlasMD

April 15, 2015

What Matters More Than Features?

You can boast about features till you turn blue in the face. And you’ll probably get conversions from it. It’s important to tell your patients what you offer, but that’s not what they really want.

Truth be told, they want the same thing you do. They want the Direct Care lifestyle.

Sure, they like that you’re available 24/7, but what they really care about is that you’ll answer their text at 2 a.m. when their baby spikes a high fever. They like extended appointments, but they truly value being heard. They appreciate wholesale medication prices, but they tell their friends how their doc just keeps on trying to save them money.

So tell your patients about the features you offer. But sell them on the benefits. Luckily for Direct Care docs, backing up feature claims is built right into the business model. When you and your patient act as a team, your vision for your practice can really come to life.

Posted by: AtlasMD

April 13, 2015

We Should Aim for “Crazy and Oldschool”

If being crazy means we know our patients backwards and forwards, show up at the hospital when they’re admitted, and help fill in the blanks of their medical history when our patient is unable, then sign us up.

If being old school means our doctor-patient relationships are rock solid, cradled in trust, and wrapped in endless care, then we’re on board.

Like the experience in this story told by Dr. Dhand over at KevinMD, we’re totally up for letting DPC take us back to basics.

A couple of weeks ago I was on-call and had to go down to the emergency room to see a patient. Before I entered the room, I was told that the patient was accompanied by her long-time physician who was a bit “crazy and old school.”

“Hmm … that’s strange … why would her physician be in the room with her?” I thought to myself. When I went in to introduce myself, sure enough sat next to her was an elderly physician probably in his late 70s or early 80s. After he greeted me with a warm and friendly handshake, he told me that he had practiced medicine in the local area for the last several decades. I still continued to wonder exactly what he was doing there, and this thought persisted for the next few minutes.

However, as I got further into the interview, I quickly realized just why he was sitting by his patient’s side. This doctor had cared for the patient for at least the last 30 years, was in the process of winding down his practice, but felt compelled to come and visit his patient (with no financial incentive to do so) as soon as he heard she was being admitted to the hospital. The patient — elderly herself and hard of hearing — wasn’t able to give me a complete history. But that was OK, because her doctor knew her inside out. Every little detail.

Read the full story over here and after you do, a little personal reflection of your own might be just what the doctor ordered.

Posted by: AtlasMD

April 10, 2015

Selling Your Vision

Are you starting your own Direct Care practice? Maybe just thinking about it? Either way, if you’re interested in Direct Care you have a vision in mind, right? The big picture, the overarching purpose, the ultimate goal.

Then there’s the part where you lose sight of that goal and get lost in the details. That’s okay, too… to a point.

Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, has some invaluable advice on aligning the details with your vision – and what can happen when your entire team is on board.

A team aligned behind a vision will move mountains. Sell them on your roadmap and don’t compromise — care about the details, the fit and finish. Only work with those that have (as Larry Page puts it) “a healthy disregard for the impossible,” and push everyone on your team until it’s uncomfortable.

So go. Start your Direct Care practice and do your part to change the face of healthcare. Just don’t forget to sell your vision along the way.

Posted by: AtlasMD

March 25, 2015

What’s New in the Atlas.md EMR?

This month, simple is better. Read below for all the ways the Atlas.md EMR encourages a simpler process for running a Direct Care practice.

Simplified Prescription Interface
You’ll notice more intuitive placement of buttons, making prescribing again and refills much simpler processes. Get the details here.

Create Custom Vitals & Stats Categories
This new feature in the vitals and statistics section allows you to track the stats that mean the most to you (and your specialty!), enabling you to provide an even more personalized experience for your patients. Learn how to create a custom category over here.

Account Fax Number
You can now enter your fax number from your settings page, which means your fax recipients will be able to respond more easily since your fax number will be more visible to them.

Improved Archival Experience
Now when you’re unarchiving a patient, you’ll have the opportunity to recreate the patient’s monthly subscription. In addition, if you archive a patient who is part of a family, you have the option to archive other family members as well – saving time and money. Read more here.

More Detailed Download Records Capability
Now when you download a patient record, you get not only the patient’s chart, but all the files that come along with it. Just unzip the resulting file and view the content, which will be organized in folders.

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

Posted by: AtlasMD

March 2, 2015

Texting Could be Good for Your Health.

The Direct Care community is totally on board with embracing unconventional methods of communication. It’s why our patients text, email, Skype, and Tweet us in addition to making the tradition phone call. Turns out we’re on the right track.

Text messaging is a fixture in modern culture. In two separate studies, U-M Family Medicine researchers have shown that in addition to facilitating everyday conversation, texting can help people adopt healthier behaviors, and can make it easier for health researchers to gather information.

Companies are apparently using texting campaigns to send messages to people in an attempt to raise their awareness about type 2 diabetes risks. And it turns out people are pretty darn receptive to it. In fact, not only is texting turning out to be an effective way to promote healthy habits, but a new study even suggests that it could replace direct mail campaigns in urban areas where researchers are trying to conduct surveys.

Think this seems like a no-brainer? Texting has been around for a while, right? Nothing new about the technology itself, but now researchers are able to extract information – collect data that tells whether or not the campaign is working. That, friends, is new and exciting. Out with the old and in with the new, right?

Read the full article on how texting could be good for your health. >

Technology is great, but the DPC community needs to look past it to stay grounded in truly patient-centric objectives. What we’re really using technology for is to go back to the basics – before the fancy stuff even existed. The idea is to create a more personalized experience, to develop a real relationship between doctor and patient. One that never underestimates the value of a face-to-face conversation or house call.

Posted by: AtlasMD

February 27, 2015

Direct Care Sells Itself.

In the most recent Atlas MD podcast Drs. Josh and Doug touch on something every DPC physician should embrace.

Direct Care sells itself.

Having said that, those new to the DPC business model have a unique opportunity to propel the “self-selling” part forward. In a nutshell, make pristine examples out of your first few patients. Be impeccable, intuitive, proactive, and all the other positive adjectives that might describe DPC docs. No excuses. Make it impossible for your patients to overlook the value in what you have to offer. Show them what their care is made of so they’re bursting to tell everyone they know. Here’s why letting them in is so crucial:

When you show how a product is made, you’re inviting your customers behind-the-scenes and enchanting the narrative they hold of you. There is a fundamental difference between simply using a product versus using a product where you also know its history and how it was conceived—the latter elicits an emotional connection.

DPC is already emotionally charged, so it’s only fitting that transparency is what will keep patients coming back. If Direct Care physicians give their patients the right ammo, patients might just change the face of healthcare all on their own.

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