Atlas.md | EMR Software for Concierge Medicine

Posted by: AtlasMD

November 1, 2013

Where Did Our Accountability Go?

Obamacare has been “live” for a month now and it’s been grim. Visitors trying to log on to the Obamacare website early Thursday morning saw the same stubborn phrase that has roiled users for weeks: “The system is down at the moment.” It’s been almost a full month since the HealthCare.gov website launched. Technical problems have riddled it despite a series of advance warning signs. And sure, there’s been a chorus of apologies out of Washington, but it may be another month before everything’s running smoothly.

Here’s some “accountability” that’s been taken: Vice President Joe Biden became the highest-ranking administration official to apologize Wednesday for the botched rollout. “We assumed that it was up and ready to run,” he told CNN’s sister network HLN. “But the good news is although it’s not — and we apologize for that — we are confident by the end of November it’ll be, and there’ll still be plenty of time for people to register and get online.” This came after Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius apologized during a 3 1/2-hour congressional grilling. To the frustrated users who have had problems, she said: “You deserve better. I apologize. I’m accountable to you for fixing these problems.”

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 31, 2013

We Hate To Say We Told You So…

But we kind of have to say we told you so. Here’s a “stop-what-you’re-doing” type of article from Forbes-contributor Avik Roy. Let’s start with the title, “Obama Officials In 2010: 93 Million Americans Will Be Unable To Keep Their Health Plans Under Obamacare” and then some telling quotes:

“Obama administration knew that Obamacare would disrupt private plans…”

“Mid-range estimate: 51% of employer-sponsored plans will get canceled…”

You know our stance. We’re not here to be political. But if ever there was a time to take the leap of faith and start offering cash-only medicine, now is it. There’s all sorts of wrenches in our healthcare system. We have the government jeopardizing the free market, forcing people out of insurance plans they liked, for something that is in certain cases more restrictive and more expensive.

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 30, 2013

LISTEN: Atlas MD Podcast, Ep. 10

Apologies for the delay, everyone. We’ve had a bit of construction in the office here, and we’ve been on the road, too. That said, the next installment of our podcast is live on iTunes.

Obamacare was unrolled and docs are wondering what that means for direct care. For the most part, we are safe. Patients’ insurance plans, not necessarily. If you want to get a better understanding of the direct care landscape, there’s a great source, though. Just visit dpcare.org and have a look. There are tons of informative articles about the law.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 10 OF THE ATLAS MD PODCAST HERE

In this episode, the team went to San Diego for an AAFP conference where they were bombarded with questions (arrived an hour early and stayed two hours late)! Then Dr. Doug shares a story of how the system prevents docs from practicing good medicine (and how he saw a patient immediately when her doc offered her an appointment 6 days later). Dr. Josh goes over more direct care math, and that’s just the beginning…

Oh, we’re heading out to a few different conferences where we’ll be talking to more docs about our model, including the Physicians Summit on Nov. 1. Maybe we’ll see you there, or elsewhere. As always, thanks for tuning in, and if you have any questions, please, send us an email: hello[at]atlas.md

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 30, 2013

Direct Care Prescription Dispensing By State

In case you’re wondering, here’s the list of prescription dispensing laws by state. The rules vary, but only four states have banned dispensing outright — Montana, Texas, Utah and New York. We’ve extolled the benefits of dispensing meds for your direct care patients. First off, it gives your practice a kind of Costco-esque appeal. Now, the $50 monthly fee is giving them access to seriously discounted meds. We’re talking penny on the dollar in certain cases. Secondly, it adds a convenience factor. It’s one more thing for a patient to worry about when they see you and then have to go wait for a prescription. And it’s one more thing for you to do, either calling in or faxing over the order (or handing a piece of paper to your patient to deal with). But when you can dispense yourself, the visit becomes a very complete experience — a personal one, and a satisfying one.

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 30, 2013

Your Patients Want To Hear From You

Finally, some good news in the healthcare realm — this report from Mobi Health News outlines the extensive results of a survey related to digital communications. This section is most telling:

“Asked to list ‘most welcomed messages,’ respondents named three health-related messages. Sixty-nine percent welcomed a reminder about an upcoming appointment or vaccination, 57 percent mentioned a notice to reorder or pick up a prescription, and 39 percent would be happy with a message reminding them to schedule an appointment.”

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 30, 2013

And The Survey Says… Doctors Are Resistant To The Affordable Care Act

According to a new survey reported on by the New York Post, “New York doctors are treating Obamacare like the plague.” The poll surveyed 409 physicians and was conducted by the New York State Medical Society. The results were ghastly. Here are the highlights:

44 percent of MDs said they are not participating in the nation’s new healthcare plan
33 percent of MDs are still undecided about whether or not to become Obamacare providers
Only 23 percent said they’re taking patients who signed up through health exchanges

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 29, 2013

Red Tape Puts Insured Californians in a Bind

Fox News conducted a hard interview with a doctor in California. All things considered, we’re aware of the network’s general political leanings, and we’re not politicians at Atlas MD (we’re doctors). However, it’s very difficult to argue with the fact that paying subscribers have been kicked off of existing plans in California, and forced into Obamacare programs. Regardless of whether one plan is better than the other, one thing has been eliminated, and that’s the power of choice.

Had we been invited to the program we might have added that the insurance doesn’t guarantee quality care. Quality care is something that takes time and experience. The more fee-for-service doctors deal with insurance to get paid, the less medicine they actually practice. In a perfect world, there’d be MORE doctors, not more red tape. Ironically, as we add more bureaucratic influence, albeit well intentioned, we run the risk of running doctors out of medicine entirely.

Sadly, the government imagines medicine like this — insure everyone, problem solved. But what happens when all the doctors are occupied, and there’s no one to see all these insured patients?

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 26, 2013

Prepare Yourself for the Fork in the Road

We found a great blog post from The Happy MD that clarifies a schism that’s likely to develop here in the American healthcare system. With an influx of patients gaining insurance through Obamacare (assuming those exchange websites finally work), primary care docs have essentially two directions they will be pushed in:

One group of docs will be part of the patient mill, who due to the inherent volume of patients coming through a clinic will only see the very sick; here the doctor will spend a majority of time in a management position, overseeing nurses and physician assistants who actually interact with patients.
Another group of docs will be part of the concierge medicine/direct care movement, and will see all of their patients for longer durations; here the doctor will free up this time by removing the red tape and operating their practice with limited assistance.

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 26, 2013

STREAM: Atlas MD on The Sean Hannity Show

In case you missed it, we were invited back as guests on The Sean Hannity Show last Friday. We’re honored to be recognized as a solution to an overwhelming healthcare debacle. Afterwards, we were flooded with emails from people interested in learning more about our model and where they can find a direct care clinic in their own community.

As we mentioned on the program, you can visit IWantDirectCare.com to express your interest in joining a direct care clinic, or, if you’re a direct care doctor, where your clinic is located. And wouldn’t you know, the map’s filling up fast! We think this disproves a direct care criticism, that healthy people subscribing to a direct clinic is like paying for an unused gym membership. We’re wondering, where do these arguments originate? Our patients constantly praise the services we provide and our accessibility. And the question we keep hearing from people who first come across our business is, Where can I find my own direct care doctor? We’re hoping that within the next few years, patients can find direct care almost anywhere. Really, it’s up to the doctors to meet the demand and interest that’s growing as we speak.

As always, thanks to everyone who tuned in to The Sean Hannity Show on Friday, and to those who spread the word on social media. It may not seem like much, but every patient who demands affordable primary care makes direct care more viable for the doctors who want to provide it.

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 25, 2013

Research Shows Top 10 States And Top 25 Cities To Practice Insurance-Free Medicine

Are you curious if your state or city made one of the lists? Keep in mind, we’re having a great time practicing direct care here in Wichita, KS, and get this–we didn’t make either one! On top of that, not all of these states are eligible to dispense prescriptions (New York, Montana, Texas, and Utah prohibit it). In our experience, the real value in running a direct practice comes from offering wholesale prescription discounts. Over time the savings add up, especially for patients with chronic conditions (diabetes, thyroid disease, asthma, migraines, etc.) where it becomes cheaper to subscribe to your clinic and stop using insurance to pay for prescriptions.

Given these facts, we’re not treating this as the ultimatum for who or where one should or shouldn’t open a direct care clinic. However, the research brings up some good reminders. According to Dr. Chris Ewin, Founder and physician at 121MD in Fort Worth, TX:

“Direct practices should be successful in most cities and states where there is an inadequate supply of primary care physicians.” He adds, “… Most important, a physician needs to have social skills to sell him/herself and their new practice model to their patients and their community.”

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