March 2, 2014
It looks like telehealth and concierge medicine just got cozier.
Announced last week, Ringadoc, based in San Francisco, has launched a platform that allows patients to have a telehealth consult with their own doctor. According to Mobile Health News, “Ringadoc Phone Concierge costs roughly $40 per visit… similar to a standard insurance co-pay for a visit to the doctor’s office.”
March 2, 2014
Kevin MD might be the honorary ambassador of EMR frustration. He recently wrote about his EMR disappointment. He writes, “It takes me over 50 mouse clicks, all while scrolling through dozens of screens, to document a straightforward office visit for a sinus infection. Refilling a single prescription electronically, which I do over a hundred times a day, takes over 10 clicks.” You’ve heard this story all before, right? It’s what no tech conglomerate making these machines will ever publicize — EMRs are for the most part, epic exercises in mindless clicks. And to make it worse, reports from left leaning publications say that digital health records offer little savings.
March 2, 2014
Seriously, we’ve heard enough idealistic hoopla about EMRs improving patient care. It is not the reality of the situation. What appears to be the reality is that the companies who provide the EMRs, and get government kick backs for doing such, are definitely raking in a lot of dough. What’s not happening, though, is anything beneficial in the doctor’s office. The machines aren’t widely adopted and when they are, they’re costing doctors time with unnecessary clicks. And the nail in the coffin comes from the New York Times, who write, “The conversion to electronic health records has failed so far to produce the hoped-for savings in health care costs and has had mixed results, at best, in improving efficiency and patient care, according to a new analysis by the influential RAND Corporation.”
March 2, 2014
Kevin Pho knows how to craft a headline. He says on Kevin MD, that patient satisfaction is all the rage, and that it might actually kill.
March 2, 2014
In 2001, the government was getting people together in think tanks to re-imagine American healthcare. Coincidentally, at the same time, Dr. Josh Umbehr was envisioning his own solution to a world of rushed visits, stingy insurance reimbursements, and a potential dissatisfaction of a career in medicine. Then in 2010, Dr. Umbehr opened Atlas MD, a medical practice representing his ideals, a place where docs can shrug off the burdens and restrictions of government and insurance regulation and, instead, focus on what their patients need — actual care.
February 26, 2014
Bloomberg Businessweek wants to know what’s in store for our nation’s healthcare future. We are facing a staggering shortage of doctors, along with a growing demand for providers precipitated by Obamacare. In spite of thee challenges, there are doctors and entrepreneurs emerging, people searching for better outcomes. Our direct care operation, Atlas MD, was actually the first practice profiled in Bloomberg’s article. They shared one of our harrowing stories — helping a struggling, uninsured woman address her thyroid issues, and regain her vitality, for $147 instead of ~$1,500 a hospital would have potentially charged her.
February 26, 2014
Fierce Health IT reports that “nearly 50 of the nation’s most influential provider organizations–including the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association and the Medical Group Management Association–are asking for a front-end extension to Meaningful Use Stage 2…” In fact, they sent a letter directly to U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius expressing just that. Read more
February 24, 2014
In her open letter to the President, Texas physician Kris Held, M.D. writes:
“Dear Johns,
“I am not for sale.
“You may not use me and my works to discriminate against my fellow American patients, much less for your profit. I will not serve one patient under one set of rules and another patient under a different set of your pen’s usurious rules. You lie to me and my patients. I call you out. You falsely advertise my services. You profess “access to care” for your members using false advertising when you list me as one of your “providers”. You trick patients, who you call members; I will not be tricked by you. By the way, I am a doctor not a provider.”
February 24, 2014
According to the New York Times, “American physicians, worried about changes in the health care market, are streaming into salaried jobs with hospitals.” This exodus is most severe in primary care, followed by specialists.
February 21, 2014
Wired reports on a disruptive technology entering the healthcare market. PillPack, a startup pharmacy, hopes to overthrow the archaic process of picking up prescriptions. They’re charging $20 a month to enroll. PillPack will then deliver “drugs” directly to your doorstep. With the help of robots, all of your meds are organized into “dose packets,” which are small, well-designed plastic baggies. They’re even marked with the date and time they’re supposed to be taken.