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

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.

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 23, 2014

Recommended Reading: The Tipping Point

We often get asked for recommended reading lists. We’re delivering! These weekly posts feature one book we highly recommend to learn more about business, philosophy, and different perspectives to help you run your business. Do you have a recommendation that’s not on the list yet? Mention it in the comments!

This Week’s Recommendation: The Tipping Point.

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

BUY THE TIPPING POINT >

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 13, 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

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 2, 2014

Recommended Reading: Atlas Shrugged

We often get asked for recommended reading lists. Well, we’re delivering! These weekly posts feature one book we highly recommend to learn more about business, philosophy, and different perspectives to help you run your business. Do you have a recommendation that’s not on the list yet? Mention it in the comments!

This Week’s Recommendation: Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. 

In our opinion, Atlas Shrugged should have a home on every bookshelf ever made.

With adoring fans, rabid critics and very few in between, why does Atlas Shrugged evoke such impassioned responses? Because it grapples with the fundamental problems of human existence — and presents radically new answers.

Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s last novel, is a dramatization of her unique vision of existence and of man’s highest potential. Twelve years in the writing, it is her masterwork.

Is the pursuit of profit a noble enterprise or the root of all evil? Is sexual passion an exalted spiritual virtue or a dirty, animalistic vice? Is reason an absolute or is faith an alternative source of truth? Is self-esteem possible or are we consigned to a life of self-doubt and guilt? In what kind of society can an individual prosper, and in what kind of society is he doomed to the opposite fate?

Rand’s worldview emerges in the compelling plot turns of a mystery story, centered on the question “Who is John Galt?”

READ MORE ABOUT ATLAS SHRUGGED >

BUY ATLAS SHRUGGED ON AMAZON > 

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 1, 2014

HEALTH MEDIA: Explaining Your Job IS Marketing.

According to Alex Lubarsky of Health Media, there’s more to great marketing than just doing great work. You have to teach, too.

“Understanding marketing is crucial. If educating the public about your service is not incorporated into the cost of doing business, if it is something that comes as an afterthought rather then top-of-mind, true success will always be just around the corner French-kissing your competition. You will either learn to embrace marketing or you will always be at the mercy of those who do.”

READ THE ARTICLE ONLINE >

Lubarsky says healthcare is suffering most from this too-often overlooked marketing technique. And that’s why docs are so out of touch when it comes to how healthcare actually works.  Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 25, 2014

North Kingstown, RI Welcomes DPC to the Area.

After just one month in business, Dr. Lauren Hedde successfully enrolled a whopping 50 patients in her Direct Primary Care practice, the first of its kind in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. It would appear her patients also share the values of Direct Primary Care.

Dr. Hedde strives to provide personalized, individualized care, which is why she plans to cap out at 700 patients. Doing this will allow her to spend more time with each patient. In fact, her initial consultations typically last longer than an hour. In true Direct Care fashion, Dr. Hedde does everything in her power to make sure her patients are cared for, and comfortable. That includes seeing newborn babies in their homes during their first month of life. Everyone’s a priority in Dr. Hedde’s practice.

We’d like to congratulate Dr. Hedde on a great start to what we think will be a flourishing career!