StarTribune posted a timely article (Via Huffington Post) from Durham, North Carolina. They’re reporting on a “new conservatism” that’s taking root on some college campuses, fed in part by opposition to Obamacare. The groups are modeled after The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy, which according to the post “has molded several generations of legal thinkers at the nation’s law schools.” We’re excited to hear that this new wave of conservative thinkers wants to take root in graduate schools of business, foreign policy, and most relevant to our fight, schools of medicine like Duke University.
July 8, 2013
July 8, 2013
Why Are Doctors Divorcing Their EMR?
So what’s driving dissatisfaction with EMR? While surveys document dissatisfaction among physicians, experts advise on the costs of doing so in a new article from Medical Economics. The statistics are sobering and have been validated by multiple surveys.
In the post, MGMA Healthcare Consulting Group’s Derek Kosiorek says, “This is an odd point in history, where we have asked physicians to take processes they have done their entire professional career and change them. We are taking the paper chart and every piece of information in that paper chart and we are shuffling it up like a deck of cards and putting it on a computer screen in different places.”
Nice job, Derek. We couldn’t have put it better ourselves. Check out the complete article below. The data’s eye-opening and writer Daniel R. Verdon includes sound advice for doctors looking to marry an EMR with their practice.
More Reading
“EHR divorce: What’s driving dissatisfaction?” | Medical Economics
Photo of Derek Kosiorek (@kosiorek) courtesy of Twitter
July 8, 2013
LINKS: Even With Meaningful Use, EHR Might Break The Bank
“Healthcare Observers Disagree on Cost-effectiveness of Electronic Health Record Systems” | Dark Daily
Along with the researchers at the University of Michigan, other experts have questioned EHR’s promise to deliver greater financial rewards. READ MORE
“If Practices Don’t Change, EHRs Lose Money” | Med Page Today
The average physician lost nearly $44,000 over 5 years implementing an electronic health record system, a large pilot study found, but the technology itself was just part of the reason. READ MORE
“A Survey Analysis Suggests That Electronic Health Records Will Yield Revenue Gains for Some Practices and Losses for Many” | Health Affairs (abstract)
This Health Affairs abstract will require membership. However, the title alone should be cause for concern. READ MORE
“Health Insurers Spending Big Dollars to Be Players in ‘Big Data’; Trend has Implications for Clinical Pathology Laboratories” | Dark Daily
With healthcare reform not likely to increase their growth, health insurers are expanding into data management to find new ways to make money. READ MORE
“New Study Predicts that Majority Of Physician Practices Will Lose Money On Their EHR Systems” | Atlas Blog
It appears that government intervention, while useful in certain cases (for instance, monopolies), can impede the marketplace. In EMR’s case it encouraged mediocre products to be bought and sold, costing money and wasting time overall. READ MORE
July 5, 2013
UPDATE: Prepare Your Practice For Atlas.md
Just a quick heads up for everyone ready to try out Atlas.md. We’re currently being certified by Quest laboratories to handle lab requests through our EMR. If you’re looking forward to using Atlas.md, we ask that you visit getmyinterface.com and complete the EMR Interface Request. Please indicate your desire to connect through Atlas.md. There is no other obligation besides filling out a simple web form.
We recommend filling it out now. This will expedite your ability to fulfill lab requests from Quest laboratories using atlas.md.
If you have any questions, feel free to send us an email.
June 29, 2013
The New York Times Launches Ongoing Series Following Obamacare in Action
Check out the first part in a series about the new health care law in action. It’s superb journalism from The New York Times painting a wide-sweeping picture of how different clinics are ramping up to the new legislation. This first story is set in Louisville, an interesting city in that it’s set some incredible medical precedents (first hand transplant, first successful transplant of a self-contained artificial heart) but also has the highest rate of death from preventable conditions like obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. The story follows a low-income clinic, revealing the abysmal salaries of the practitioners, two patients in dire conditions unwilling to get prescribed treatment, and an educator trying to help these clinics ramp up to the expected patient increase.
June 29, 2013
Why Do 30% of Concierge Medicine Patients Want To Switch Practices?
Our industry’s trusty watchdog, Michael Tetreault over at CMT, conducted some helpful surveys to get to the bottom of patient dissatisfaction. He says, “… Most concierge medical practices maintain a very high patient retention average of approximately 92%-94%*…” But adds that patients are writing in weekly looking for new doctors in their area. So what’s the deal?
He then analyzed over 1,000 prospective concierge medicine patient search requests that were submitted to CMT’s website and he found that nearly 30% of patients are leaving one concierge doctor and seeking another. Something’s obviously wrong here. Patients are sticking with concierge medicine, but what’s forcing patients to leave one for another? It looks like it all comes down to the “front desk” so to speak.
June 28, 2013
Kake.com Covers Atlas MD and Shows The “Crazy” Truth of Direct Care Success
Empty waiting rooms might seem like an ominous forecast for a business. But not here at Atlas MD. We’re grateful that Kake.com came by to talk to us, and see us on a busy day, seeing about 4-5 patients. Along with our waiting room that had practically no one sitting in it all day, since they could come right in to see us upon arrival.
We’re compelled by Kake.com’s angle, communicating that we aren’t THE answer, but an option that is on the market. Again, it’s always nice to hear sensible journalism. It’s incredible how much it feels like you have to yell to get media attention these days. And generally it comes along with immediate opponents who make us sound like we’re the bane of patients seeing doctors, that we’re cursing people automatically to some lower tier where there won’t be any doctors left for them to see.
June 28, 2013
Dr. Doug Nunamaker On Huckabee
We’ve got the direct care ball rolling and the movement’s definitely gaining momentum. Yes, it’s considered an alternative within our insurance-based, government-controlled healthcare system. But it’s getting attention from mainstream national media, and that’s great news! Here’s Dr. Doug on a segment of Fox’s Huckabee, hosted by Governor Mike Huckabee.
Featured alongside Dr. Doug are Drs. Marcy Zwelling and Michael Ciampi. Together they discuss the reality of privacy invasion caused by billing codes, Meaningful Use (or fail, depending on how you look at it) where doctors work for the machine instead of the patient in order to get paid, and the fact that doctors can still make a healthy salary without charging patients hundreds of dollars for each visit. Check out the second segment below.
June 28, 2013
AAFP CREATES POLICY ON DIRECT PRIMARY CARE
The AAFP released an official statement on DPC. It’s going to bat for practices like ours. We especially like their word choice in their support for both doctors’ AND patients’ choice to embark on direct care. In our opinion, the free market principle of choice is what behooves our healthcare system, offering competitive options that eliminate red tape and incentivize innovation (like we’re doing with atlas.md). Couple that with increased public awareness of unfair, exorbitant costs associated with greedy pill makers and we might continue to see falling healthcare costs in the upcoming years.
“The AAFP supports the physician and patient choice to, respectively, provide and receive health care in any ethical health care delivery system mode, including the DPC practice setting,” says the policy. It notes that the model is structured to “emphasize and prioritize” the physician/patient relationship to improve health outcomes and lower costs
As Gandhi once said, Be the change you want to see. We are that change in primary care. But we’re human, too. We prefer receiving support, instead of resistance.
View the AAFP’s policy on Direct Primary Care here.
June 28, 2013
AAFP Embraces DPC, Creates New Policy Guidelines
Wait, is this the same Association of American Family Practitioners who’s been used by dated critics to turn direct care into another Red Scare? They once warned, according to the LA Times, that direct primary care could lead to further shortage of doctors down the line. We, of course, knew better and said, No, unhappy doctors who refuse to practice altogether should be the real concern. We’ve been charging ahead, day-by-day, doing what we believe in, and the media is paying attention. Meanwhile, the AFFP maintained a strictly neutral opinion, to our awareness. But now it appears they’ve leapt off the fence and into our court, with a new article highlighting three direct care practices, including Atlas MD.