Thank you for Tweeting us your direct care questions. We went through and answered them one by one in our newest podcast. Someone asked about how many patients we’re seeing. Great question! We’re proud to say that we’re seeing about 1,500 patients in total now, and that Dr. Palomino is seeing ~415 patients after entering Atlas MD last May.
March 7, 2014
March 6, 2014
Direct Care Is Business. And Its Business Is Serving Patients.
Last year, the New York Times wrote about Orlene Paxson, a 33-year-old, stay-at-home mom. Living on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, she was unable to find an obstetrician that she liked who would accept her insurance. A lot of them weren’t accepting new patients, and one doctor who came highly recommended didn’t return her call for five days and didn’t want to see her until 12 weeks into the pregnancy. This was Mrs. Paxson’s first time being pregnant. She didn’t want to wait. Her policy didn’t cover any out-of-network services, but she and her husband went the cash-only route and paid the entire fee themselves — $13,000.
March 6, 2014
We Think We Know The Answer… But How Has Your Insurance-Free Medical Experience Been?
At the end of their recent article about cash-only medicine, The New York Times asks, “With all the changes in health care and insurance, has your doctor stopped accepting insurance? If so, what has been your experience — both with the care and with your insurer? The article title is warily slanted — “Dealing with Doctors Who Only Accept Cash” — but the writer shared their own wonderful story about a cash-only doctor who drove an hour and a half to successfully take care of a sick baby.
March 6, 2014
You’re Paying That Much For Your Phone? You Can Get A Personal Physician For The Same Price.
Image provided by aei-ideas.org
Epiphany Healthcare in North Port, FL, is another member of our burgeoning direct care movement. American Enterprise Institute wrote about their model and included the price comparison table above. Two obvious points worth mentioning — ACA Bronze coverage DOES NOT do much for patients and still costs a serious amount of money. It might feel safe because it includes catastrophic coverage… But here at Atlas MD in Kansas, we’ve helped patients get wrap-around coverage with a $5,000 deductible for less than $150/mo… Meaning that with direct care and wrap-around coverage combined, we’re giving you more care, and security, for potentially the same price as a Bronze ACA plan.
March 5, 2014
Flaming Jet Skis, Spacecraft Crashes, Suicide By Jellyfish… And The Attack Of ICD-10
Seriously, ICD-10 billing codes are coming. Unless you untangle yourself from the red tape of bureaucratically controlled healthcare, you are going to need to adjust to this staggering reform. The common way to deal with corporatocratic upgrades is with the classic seminar — and ICD-10 is no different. Thankfully, The Weekly Standard sent a writer to cover one such seminar… Attendees paid between $585 and $985 for a two-day “boot camp” taught by Annie Boynton, with credentials “longer than the alphabet… BS, RHIT, CPCO, CCS…” Students took their seats and found a thin spiral book—the “ICD-10-CD General Code Set Manual” for 2014—and a six-pound “ICD-10 Complete Draft Code Set” that was as thick as a phone book…
March 5, 2014
We Love Seeing Direct Care In The Local News. But We Never Said, “No More Insurance.”
Direct care made a local news segment in Kansas City. But Dr. Troy Burns wasn’t too happy with the title of the online article that accompanied it. It reads, “Doctor’s new orders: No more health insurance.” Thank you, Fox News, for taking notice of our model of care — one that’s affordable, practical, and is making patients and doctors happy. However, we have to point out that insurance is DEFINITELY necessary in the event of trauma or catastrophe.
March 4, 2014
American Healthcare Deception Starts And Stops With Insurance
Dr. Sandeep Jauhar, M.D. posted a powerful blog entry on the New York Times website. He describes the ideal doctor-patient relationship, a place where intimacy transpires and information is exchanged openly and honestly. But he adds a caveat: “That is seldom the reality… Deception in the doctor-patient relationship is more common than we’d like to believe.”
March 3, 2014
Are Pillbox Apps Just Nagging Parents In Disguise?
Getting patients to take their pills requires something more than an app — it’s called finesse.
We’re big fans of technology here at Atlas MD. We bring our iPads into the examination room. We field phone calls from our patients. We’ve coordinated prescriptions and medications with pharmacies and then texted timely information to patients in need. Dr. Doug has literally brought tears of joy to a woman’s eyes for such an effort. So you’d think that helping people take their pills would be the perfect thing for a mobile app to do, right?
Well, there plenty of apps offering this service on the app store. But are they getting people to take their pills?
March 3, 2014
Direct Care Docs Left The Healthcare Blues Behind. Then John Stewart Sang Them.
If you’re in the mood for a good laugh, check out this comedy round-up from The Atlantic. At the 1:30 mark, John Stewart decries Obamacare and its endless woes with a montage of politicians determined to save the monstrosity. You won’t believe how many times various proponents have uttered the phrase “Fix it. Don’t nix it.” in front of a camera. Is this our government’s way of fixing healthcare? Rhyming idealism? To be fair, we are visionaries, too. But as direct care practitioners, we spend less time trying to make our desires rhyme, and more time just making them a reality.
March 3, 2014
Stephen Colbert Goes Where No Direct Care Patient Has To — Healthcare.gov
You have to love a good healthcare satire. Watch Stephen Colbert try to sign up for insurance on healthcare.gov on The Colbert Report. As an Obamacare “navigator” tries to help him through the process, Colbert makes the situation very uncomfortable when he jokes about getting “actual” care. Of course, as you know, the time-consuming nature of Obamacare enrollment is a prime example of red tape. And, as this sketch indicates, the way our administration fixes red tape, is with more of it, i.e. paid government employees known as “navigators.” Thankfully, here at Atlas MD, we don’t have to hire a team of people to help our patients sign up.
SPOILER ALERT: After a gruesomely awkward incident, Colbert finally finishes entering his information, only to find out the webpage he needs… doesn’t exist.