Atlas.md | EMR Software for Concierge Medicine

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 28, 2013

A Tragicomic Irony: Pretending To Be Uninsured Might Save Patients Money

Dark Daily, our favorite watchdog publication, posted price comparisons between insured and uninsured patients. The numbers vary state to state, but the overall trend is that insured/Medicare patients are on average being charged a third of what uninsured patients are. This is a polar shift from the 1950s, when the poor and uninsured were charged the LOWEST rates of any patient. But there was also an ironic finding, steep cash discounts are being offered to patients who can pay for a service upfront. “[It was] suggested that when hospitals offer such deep discounts for paying cash, patients with high deductibles may be better off withholding their insurance information and paying the cash price.” This reminds us of a great quote by Richard Feynman, who says, “The thing that doesn’t fit is the thing that’s most interesting.”

More Reading
“Hospitals Generally Charge Self-pay Patients Top Price for Care, but Some Providers Now Offer Deep Discounts for Patients Who Pay with Cash” | Dark Daily

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 28, 2013

LISTEN: Atlas MD Podcast, Ep. 3

The third taping of the Atlas MD podcast is live. You can stream it on iTunes. Drs. Josh and Doug focused this week on dispensing prescriptions from your own office. The team goes over everything you need to know — state legislation, permits, etc. They also offer some tips about what’s realistic to prescribe and what prescriptions you’ll want to coordinate with local pharmacies.

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 26, 2013

Doctors, Let’s Not Forget That Patients Are People

Have you checked out Mind The Gap yet? It’s a blog written by Stephen Wilkins, MPH. He’s interested in physician-patient communication that’s both personal and professional. His most recent post (Via Health Works Collective) addresses the issue of relevancy, something that you might immediately think, that? Oh, I know that. But the truth is, if you’ve been a healthcare professional running through what Michael Tetreault called the “hamster wheel” then you might have developed some bad communication habits.

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 25, 2013

Even Satisfied Patients Think Direct Care Is “Too Good To Be True”

Dave Chase continues his Forbes expose awakening business and industry types to the benefits of direct primary care (DPC). Now having interviewed more and more DPC consumers, the recurring theme to their comments is something like “it’s too good to be true.” That’s a concern we had. You have this straight-forward, commonsense approach that saves everyone time, cuts insurance expenditures, cuts downstream high-cost treatments and can make doctors more money… The people who experience it love it. But how do we convince other people that it’s really happening, when happy patients can’t even believe it?

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 24, 2013

Are Doctors Passing The Buck On Healthcare Costs?

Eryn Brown of the LA Times posted an article yesterday claiming that physicians are concerned about skyrocketing healthcare costs. However, according to survey results released earlier in the week, most doctors don’t believe they have a “major responsibility” for reducing those costs.

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 23, 2013

Six In 10 Physicians Believe Many Doctors Will Retire Earlier Than Predicted

A Deloitte survey reports that a majority of physicians believe many doctors will retire earlier than planned in the next one to three years. The same percentage think medical experts losing control of their clinics will jeopardize the healthcare administration. This group also believes strongly that implementation of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, or Obamacare, will push doctors out of the primary care industry altogether.

A spokeswoman for the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Jane Orient, was not surprised by the results at all. In a recent WND article, it was reported that she said doctors already have started leaving the profession through early retirement. Of course, some will instead seek alternatives to what they see coming in the federal government’s takeover of health care. And that’s why we’ve been championing our model of direct care. Because the worst outcome is a doctor not practicing at all. And if that’s what an overregulated market will encourage, then we have a serious problem.

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 23, 2013

LINKS: Will “Federal Data Services Hub” Pose An Obamacare Privacy Risk?

We came across an opinionated article on Rare.us asking, “Would you trust thousands of low-level Federal bureaucrats and contractors with one-touch access to your private financial and medical information?” Our immediate answer was of course not. But with Obamacare’s enactment, we might not have a choice. That’s because of something called the Federal Data Services Hub. This Data Hub will supposedly be a comprehensive database of personal information established by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to help with the federally facilitated health insurance exchanges.

To paraphrase, with Obamacare, each state will need to have a transparent state insurance market (currently not every state has one). If a state creates and operates one themselves, then great. But if they don’t, the government will “run” one for them. And to help “run” this state insurance market, the Obama administration is planning to hire “tens of thousands” of “navigators” earning “$20 an hour or more” to help guide buyers to their taxpayer-funded coverage, according to the Washington Examiner.

Here’s a round-up of articles to give you a more complete picture of the Federal Data Services Hub:

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 22, 2013

LISTEN: Episode 2 of Atlas MD Podcast Now On iTunes

Drs. Josh and Doug huddled up for a second taping of the Atlas MD podcast. You can stream it on iTunes. The duo took a moment to discuss HIPAA compliance, HSA spending and Meaningful Use in context with direct care, as well as our new EMR that’s launching next month. And the team announced phenomenal news: Michael Palomino has reached 150 patients in only a couple months, vastly exceeding the predicted 10 patients per month increase.

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 19, 2013

Congress’ Actions Speak Louder Than Words

So we came across some share-worthy news today. Here’s a quote from CMT, referencing Congressional healthcare benefits:

“One of the most unusual perks may come from the Office of the Attending Physician of the United States Congress. For an annual fee of $503, House and Senate members can designate the official congressional physician to be their primary care doctor — meaning they never have to leave Capitol Hill, deal with crowded doctor’s offices or be subject to the same type of care from a doctor as the rest of us.”

This sounds kind of like their own personal doctor, that’s available 24/7, for a fixed yearly price (that’s about a third of what we charge hard working Americans), who provides primary care, same day, with no waits, who fields calls directly… which sounds a lot like what we offer at Atlas MD.

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 18, 2013

Personal Injury Lawyer Takes Interest in “Cash-Only” Medicine

This came as a surprise, but Console & Hollawell P.C., personal injury attorneys based in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York have taken interest in cash-only medicine. They posted an optimistic essay after interviewing three successful doctors who’ve left the insurance-based pay-for-service system. This included our own Dr. Doug Nunamaker, who had a chance to share his motivations for practicing Atlas MD-style of primary care. If you’re looking for a personal essay laying out the possibilities made possible by exiting insurance-based medicine, this is it. It’s definitely worth sharing with your online network.

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