Posted by: AtlasMD

November 14, 2013

The Story Of The $1,000 Tetanus Shot

The Story Of The $1,000 Tetanus Shot

Olivier Van Houtte is currently a medical student. His blog post about a bike race turned trip to the ER makes for a compelling read. And to answer your immediate question–no, this tetanus shot did not include a band-aid made of pure gold or a side of heavily steeped saffron tea.

Olivier takes a compassionate look at his medical bills, going line item by line item. He’s fine with a $2,500 CT scan because yes it would have saved his life if he had internal bleeding in his brain. And he’s okay with an $800 ambulance fee if only to compensate for the on-site EMTs who immediately attended to him post-accident.

However, he’s curious how a nurse swabbing his arm with alcohol and administering a $15 shot in his arm was marked up to $1,000. Really, come on.

READ THE COMPLETE BLOG POST ON KEVIN MD

Posted by: AtlasMD

November 14, 2013

Uh Oh, WebMD Makes Millions Promoting Obamacare

Did you hear about this? About two months ago, a high-ranking healthcare official piled on the praise for WebMD. Why? Because they launched an online resource to help Americans navigate the complex law.

WebMD even had some nice things to say about Obamacare. According to The Washington Times, “In one article, it predicted doctors might pick up more patients and crowed in an article titled ‘7 Surprising Things About the Affordable Care Act’ that many consumers already had received insurance refunds under the law.”

Wow. Are they talking about the same Federal program we’ve been hearing about? Well, yes, but there’s a catch: “The company, which millions of Americans regularly read for health news, also stood to earn millions of dollars from a federal contract to teach doctors about Obamacare.”

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

November 13, 2013

The Atlantic Says, Healthcare.gov Tech ‘Surge’ Might Miss Its Deadline

This new post from the Atlantic is worth a read. The deadline for Obamacare enrollment is creeping up on us. Are Americans going to be able to wrap themselves in double-thick red tape? Who knows? However, this piece brought something else to our attention–the law surrounding pre-existing conditions.

Patients who have a pre-existing condition must sign up for an exchange plan by the end of the year (Jan. 1, 2014) in order to qualify for the unmodified fees.

As you know, we take a somewhat unbiased approach to the exchange. Yes, we think it might be one step forward, two steps back, but we’ve said it many times–if Americans can get more affordable wrap-around coverage, excellent. Only problem now is that people with obesity, diabetes, cancers and other serious conditions will only have a tiny window of opportunity to find an approved plan. And being as healthcare.gov is comfortably dysfunctional, this isn’t looking good.

And not to use fear tactics, but the fact is that many doctors don’t want to accept the exchange plans because of concern they themselves won’t be fairly compensated. This makes for an unfortunate conundrum: If someone has diabetes, they are A) running out of time to get fairly priced insurance and B) if they do acquire it, doctors might not accept it.

READ THE COMPLETE POST FROM THE ATLANTIC

Posted by: AtlasMD

November 13, 2013

Direct Care Is Routine Care Fit For A Cat

Direct Care Is Routine Care Fit For A Cat

Wait, come again? Okay, so the title of our post might seem nuts. But not after you read Ari Armstrong’s new piece on The Objective Standard. It’s called “Prior to Concierge Medicine, My Access to Health Care Was Inferior to that of My Cat.” As you know, Armstrong interviewed our own Josh Umbehr a few months ago and supports direct care’s free market approach to healthcare reform.

He compares his own scheduling nightmares (three months for a routine physical!) with that of his sick cat. His cat was able to see a vet and get blood work done in a matter of days. This led Armstrong to ask, “Why is it… that my cat has better access to health care than I have?”

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

November 12, 2013

Have You Heard About The “Cadillac Tax” Yet?

Here’s a funny development in the Obamacare story that’s emerging (actually more like shipwrecking than emerging, but that’s just semantics). Check out this article from CBS going over a law that’s set to be in effect come 2018. Evidently companies providing insurance benefits to employees might face what’s termed the “Cadillac tax” if they offer TOO MANY BENEFITS to their employees. Wait what? So CBS says, “The ‘Cadillac tax’ is one of the tools in the Affordable Care Act designed to bring down costs — by encouraging people to cut down on unnecessary health care expenses.”

First off, that’s silly. That means you’re going to tax companies and dissuade them from offering benefits.

Second, this is coming from an administration that’s FORCING people to buy better insurance plans, with more benefits. And sometimes these better plans are forcing single men to pay for MATERNITY LEAVE, when they can never have a child.

READ THE COMPLETE CBS ARTICLE HERE

Posted by: AtlasMD

November 12, 2013

Sean Hannity Demands More Atlas MD

Dr. Josh was invited to speak with Sean Hannity (again) just a few days ago. We don’t want to humblebrag since it’s poor online form, so we’ll be direct–we’re honored to be brought onto the popular show. And we’re blessed to have the chance to tell America, there are alternatives to overpriced health insurance. Thank you, Sean Hannity.

Hannity asked if we’ll go into the insurance exchange. Our answer is no. It’s another form of red tape. It’s not adding anything. It’s actually slowing our nation down. However, if it can make catastrophic insurance more affordable, that’s a fantastic side effect.

Hannity also asked if fee for service docs are accepting insurance from the exchange. All we’ve heard is a resounding no. After 6 national conferences, everyone is worried about participating. Docs are looking for a way around these plans that might short them more than existing ones.

Think about this. Isn’t it a sick irony when our administration spends a billion some-odd dollars to “help” people in need, when the problem was all kinds of red tape making the product more expensive than it needs to be.

Posted by: AtlasMD

November 11, 2013

Wall Street Journal Shares Pros and Cons of Concierge Medicine

Jen Wieczner of the Wall Street Journal stitched together a piece about the benefits and the doubts of concierge medicine. It did successfully clarify the outdated definition of concierge medicine, the personal medicine for jet setters. She also properly incorporated the term “direct primary care” as affordable, non-insurance based care, explaining that on one hand there still are “lavish, celebrity-type treatment” centers, but also a newly emerging option like our Atlas MD-model. She writes that “pared-down clinics charge roughly $50 to $100 a month for basic primary-care medicine, more accessible doctors, and yes, money savings for those looking to reduce their health spending.”

Not bad. That sounds like what we’re up to here at Atlas MD.

She also included this relevant stat. According to Concierge Medicine Today, “Of the estimated 5,500 concierge practices nationwide, about two-thirds charge less than $135 a month on average, up from 49% three years ago.” It’s believed our lower cost practices are driving growth in concierge medicine. Offices are being added at a rate of about 25% a year, says the American Academy of Private Physicians.

Also not bad. This is becoming the free market reaction we were hoping for.

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

November 9, 2013

Atlas.md EMR — Tutorial Video — Doctor Profile

Drs. Josh and Doug show you how to customize your doctor profile. Leave a default sign-off when sending Rx to pharmacies, sync your Twitter account, set up your phone services, upload a profile pic, and more.

VIEW NEXT ATLAS.MD EMR TUTORIAL VIDEO > TASKS

Have more questions about Atlas.md? Send them to hello[at]atlas.md …

Want to try Atlas.md EMR? Sign up for free at Atlas.md/signup.

Posted by: AtlasMD

November 8, 2013

There’s More Than One Way To Cut The Red Tape

Have you heard of Palmetto Proactive Healthcare?

They are an urgent care-type of cash-only practice. They charge cash for individual services but also offer an inclusive package for $60/month.

They’ve taken the red tape cutting to a new level. They’re offering a “Pay Penalty Promotion” for the next 30 people who sign up for a membership. What that means is that they will pay the $95 tax penalty assigned to people who ignore the ACA mandate.

Not bad, Palmetto. Not bad.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THEIR PROMOTION HERE