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
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.
June 27, 2013
NPR Exposes Top Medicare Prescribers Who Rake In Speaking Fees From Drugmakers
The blood pressure drug Bystolic hit the market in 2008. It faced a slew of cheap generics, so its maker, Forest Laboratories, needed to devise a plan. They launched a promotional assault targeted straight at the people scribbling on the pads: prescribing doctors. “It flooded the offices of health professionals with drug reps, and it hired doctors to persuade their peers to choose Bystolic — even though the drug hadn’t proved more effective than competitors,” says NPR in a damning exposé that includes some shocking numbers.
According to the article, at least 17 of the top 20 Bystolic prescribers in Medicare’s prescription drug program in 2010 have been paid by Forest to deliver promotional talks. And they together received $284,700 for speeches and more than $20,000 in meals in 2012. And it’s not just us over here at Atlas MD going, hmmm, I bet they prescribed a lot of the beta blocker Bystolic. NPR reports that in the 2012 fiscal year, sales of Bystolic reached $348 million, almost double its total from two years earlier.
June 25, 2013
GOOD NEWS: Hatch-Rubio Bill Would Modify HSA, FSA Rules
“A new Republican Senate bill seeks to facilitate the use of tax-advantaged health savings accounts (HSA) and flexible spending arrangements by loosening the rules that govern them,” says a recent post from The Hill. On Thursday, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced legislation to get rid of what they have labeled, “onerous” restrictions on HSAs. This would include the current ban that disallows the spending of HSA dollars on over-the-counter drugs tax-free.
This looks like great news for us as we’re trying to help people out of the insurance trap. As the host of Night Talker Radio Network said during a podcast with Dr. Doug, he doesn’t want to be 50 years old, paying $1,200 a month in case he gets a sore throat. A bill like this is one less shackle tying us to an entrenched, greedy system. It’s sure to cause a stir with opponents. We’re curious to see how they attack it, and are keeping an eye out for what other legislation is proposed within the bill. Obviously, based on the issues presented, we’re entirely on board.
June 24, 2013
Running List Of The Best ICD-10 Codes
And if you needed any more reasons to be concerned with the future of health care as it pertains to insurance billing, look no further. We’ve compiled some of our favorite ICD-10 billing gaffs.
Here are some straight-up laugh-worthy ICD-10 codes:
R46.1, “bizarre personal appearance”
R46.0, “very low level of personal hygiene”
W22.02XA, “walked into lamppost, initial encounter”
W22.02XD, “walked into lamppost, subsequent encounter”
V91.07XA, “burn due to water-skis on fire”
June 24, 2013
The Future of Doctor-Patient Emails Looks Bleak, for Everyone Else
Doug Farrago’s new post on Kevin MD makes a grim prognosis for docs operating within the insurance system. Looks like they will need to answer emails more promptly or risk diminishing profits.
Farrago’s future of patient emails includes not getting paid for answering them, getting dinged if you lag when responding, possibly getting sued, making bad prognoses based on cryptic messages (which you’re expected to answer or lose patients to doctors who will), and losing money since emailing patients are skipping out on the visit.
However, Farrago mentions that Dr. Josh has solved this quandary by introducing a subscription model and limiting his patient number. As we know, Atlas MD docs take calls and emails 24/7 and as Dr. Doug told CNN Money, “My professional life is better than expected, my family life and personal time is better than expected,” he said. “This is everything I wanted out of family medicine.” In fact, Atlas MD enjoys their work so much, they’re fighting to bring direct care to the masses. It feels good to be recognized as a solution in an industry riddled with incalculable problems.
Doug Farrago is a family physician who blogs at Authentic Medicine.
(Photo courtesy of pressherald.com)