Atlas.md | EMR Software for Concierge Medicine

Posted by: AtlasMD

November 5, 2014

Kevin.MD: Healthcare Has Failed at Customer Service

But according to Dr. Rusnak, a family medicine resident, that’s all about to change thanks to Direct Care and other business models like it.

“There are a few physicians ahead of the curve right now. They get it and fully understand that the industry is changing. You may call it the consumerization of health care. I call it paying attention to the entirety of a doctor’s appointment.”

One Medical Group is a Primary Care practice that offers patients who are willing to pay an additional $150 per month many of the same features you’ll find in the ever-growing Direct Care model. A relaxing atmosphere, appointments that last as long as the patient needs them to, and no wait times. Oh, and smiling staff members. Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 30, 2014

REBEL.MD: The War on Physicians Escalates

The Sunshine Act attempts to shed light on a potential ulterior motive of physicians influenced by exterior perks, but in what seems to be the latest attack on physicians, Direct Primary Care advocates like Dr. Cavale are fighting back.

“After nearly 20 years of clinical practice, I have yet to encounter even one instance where I felt I prescribed a drug or referred a patient for a test under the influence of a payment or gift from a pharmaceutical company… Our loyalty is and should be to our patient only and patient benefit should be our criteria while prescribing a drug or device.”

Dr. Cavale is in the DPC business to create trust between he and his patients, not tear it down with seemingly unsubstantiated claims.

“The Sunshine Act adds one more suggestion that patients should distrust their doctors. I am not surprised that leaders of both political parties gang up against physicians, but I am astonished that the major media outlets have bought into this notion, without asking for evidence of conflict. Could it be possible that these actions are a concerted effort by those in power to force patients to accept government-prescribed cook-book medical care as the only option available to them, by forcing physicians to be mere pawns in this chess game? Someone tell me it ain’t so!”

But take solace in the fact that word of mouth is powerful. Very powerful. So, may the patients of Direct Primary Care clinics tell the world about the positive experiences they have with their physicians. May they spread the word about how DPC docs put their patients first.

May they declare with confidence that they trust their Direct Primary Care physicians, and in doing so put this whole thing to rest. Once and for all.

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 30, 2014

DPC is More Than a Trend. Dr. Wulfers is Proving It.

According to an article published on ILuvLocalPlaces.net, Direct Primary Care physicians who are “making the radical departure from traditional healthcare” have the answers to the negative connotation healthcare carries these days. The positive paradigm shift is reflected in the words used to describe DPC.

“… old school care with advanced technology and modern medicine.”
“… small number of patients, top notch referrals…”
“… access to wholesale medicine…”
“… preventative checkups, same day appointments…”
“… 24/7 access to your physician.”

Dr. Mike Wulfers of IndependentMD in Missouri is one of the “trendsetters” of DPC, and like so many other physicians, he was unhappy with the way healthcare had been evolving. So he did something about it. As a result, he’s operating a practice that puts his patients first – just the way he always imagined. Rather than facing retirement with a bitter taste in his mouth, he’s able to continue his career in a truly meaningful way. He partially credits Atlas MD’s Dr. Josh for showing him back to what he feels is the root of medicine.

“In March of 2013 we were driving to Florida. On a Sunday morning I had my iPad and was Googling Direct Primary Care and started looking at the practice in Wichita… I sent the email and about 10 min later my iphone rings and it’s Dr. Josh himself.” He laughs as he talks about his surprise in how quickly they responded.”

Dr. Wulfers is candid about how his retirement alternative is going for him: “I’m having loads of fun!”

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 29, 2014

THE HILL: The Pinch of the Primary Care Bottleneck

“According to a 2013 study by the Commonwealth Fund, 26 percent of 2,000 Americans surveyed said they waited six days or more for a doctor’s appointment when they were sick or needed care.”

If that snippet isn’t enough to convince you DPC is the way to go (you know, the whole same day scheduling, home visit thing), then maybe nothing will.

But in a world where a traditional primary care physician has 2,000 patient charts on her desk and must spend 17.4 hours per day to provide them with adequate care, the truth is that the fluidity of DPC is better for everyone. In a nutshell, physicians are doing what they love (caring for patients and as a result loving their jobs) and patients are getting what they deserve (quality healthcare in an available, comfortable format).

Plus, did you know DPC integrates with the ACA?

“…the ACA allows DPC practices to offer coverage in the health insurance exchanges when combined with a wraparound catastrophic insurance policy provided by a qualified health plan (QHP). The QHP is used for hospitalization, specialty care and other more costly services. To date, there are no DPC practices operating in the federally facilitated exchanges, but the first DPC offering paired with a QHP will be available in the Washington state exchange in January 2015.”

Bottleneck, busted.

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 29, 2014

What’s New in the Atlas.md EMR? Part Two.

Messages Inbox Now Includes Automatic Routing
When there’s no doubt when a message goes with a certain patient, Atlas.md will automatically put the message where it goes – in the correct patient’s chart. So if there are no duplicate email or phone numbers found, the app will be its proactive self by helping you out with the details. But don’t worry, these automatically routed messages can be easily reviewed, deleted or even re-assigned to different patients through your regular Messages Inbox. You’ll see a little note alerting you any time a message has been automatically routed.

Sending Emails Directly from Atlas.md
You’ve always been able to hook up your inbox to your external email client and send emails through Atlas.md, but now you have the option to skip the external part if you’d like. As long as you have Amazon email service enabled and verified, you can send emails to patients straight from the sidebar of Atlas.md. The message will still end up in the patient’s record, detouring around the inbox. Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 28, 2014

What’s New in the Atlas.md EMR? Part One.

Here a look into the latest feature updates we’ve launched.

Introducing Your Files Inbox
The new Files Inbox feature allows your clinic to connect to other file sharing applications, or email-in files to make your clinic’s life easier by providing a quick and easy way to send attachments to your account. Essentially, your documents will now be accessible to the entire office. Catch up on the details over here.

Better Vitals Tracking
Now you can integrate fitness apps to Atlas.md to track vitals, or enter them manually to stay on top of your patients’ health. Read more about this update here.

Expanded Appointment Reminder Options
You can send appointment reminders using any of the patient’s preferred methods of contact, which now includes Twitter DMs. To review the full list of scheduling and appointment reminder options, read this.

But wait, there’s more! Now when you set an appointment, you can kill two birds with one stone by scheduling follow ups or reminders right then and there. That’s right – you can choose when the appointment notification goes out. Find out how over here.

More Macros
We’ve added some helpful macros to use throughout the application. Some of the newest include:

#SH: Social History
#HH: Health History
#CCH: Chronic Conditions History
#Vitals: integrates with vitals tracking feature above and inserts the latest reading taken.

Check out the full list here.

Custom Lab Attachments
You already know that if you use Quest for your lab processing, results are automatically uploaded to your patient’s chart. If you use another lab provider, however, now you can upload the results you get from them, and still tag it as a lab result so it’s just as searchable as Quest information. Read more about it over here.

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 23, 2014

DPC JOURNAL: Swap Insurance for Direct Pay.

The Direct Primary Care Journal reported on a trend we’re thrilled to see – the furthering spread of Direct Care.

Rather than join the trend of independent doctors securing their financial future through mergers with large health systems, many are adopting a new business model that eliminates the need for third-party reimbursements: direct primary care.

The DPC Journal explains many of the reasons more and more docs are considering the transition from the traditional primary healthcare model: no more hassling with insurance, no more ridiculous regulations to adhere to, no pressure to shuffle patients in and out of the office at an alarming rate just to turn a profit… to name a few. Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 10, 2014

Michigan Takes a Step Back… To The Basics of Healthcare.

In Lansing, Michigan, the Senate Committee has decided SB 1033 will move forward. According to the Direct Primary Care Journal, the bill expands access to Direct Primary Care Service by “assuring physicians who convert their practice to a Direct Primary Care Service model that the administrative burden associated with insurance regulations will not interfere with their treatment of patients.”

Those supporting the bill are doing so on the grounds of logic and common sense: a direct result of Direct Care is quality healthcare from spending less money and more time. In fact, employers who adopt health plans featuring Direct Care not only give the gift of better healthcare to employees, but save up to 30% compared to more traditional insurance programs. The benefits continue:

“Widespread adoption of this care model could potentially turn the tide on primary care physician shortages in our state. It would yield an effective doubling of the capacity of current primary care physicians and expand access to care in rural communities. Doctors would finally be able to spend more time with individual patients and effectively put an end to ‘fast food’ health care.”

Just one more way the Direct Care movement gains momentum as the battle for better patient care and passionate careers for physicians rages on across the United States.

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 7, 2014

The Social, Functional, Custom EMR Wishlist.

Dr. Val Jones wants more from her EMR.

She’s looking for social functionality, accountability, ease of use and _personality_. She has high expectations of the docs in her community. She knows that by entering comprehensive notes in the patient’s chart, everyone is better off for it. She can only imagine how useful being able to attach photos to those notes would be. And she definitely sees the benefit in being able to tag notes for easy search and reference later on.

Dr. Val, we hear you. And we felt the same way, which is why we jumped at the chance to create an EMR for Direct Care docs, by Direct Care docs. The Atlas.md EMR stacks up pretty well to Dr. Val’s wish list. Let’s break it down: Read more

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