We had to put the title of this post in quotes because Pamela Scherer McLeod published an article with the same title. She was reporting on a comprehensive and media-stirring exposé that was published by Time on March 4 under the title “Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us” (you’ll need a subscription to read the full article). It was written by Steven Brill, a prominent journalist and entrepreneur who founded Court TV.
June 7, 2013
“Well-known Journalist Blasts Hospitals, Drug Makers, and Device Manufacturers for Lack of Transparent Prices and High Cost of Medical Care”
June 6, 2013
You Can Still Hang Out With Dr. Josh On Google+
The bad news is that Dr. Josh will no longer be hosting his regularly scheduled Google+ Hangouts, though. The good news is that’s because he and Dr. Doug have launched their weekly iTunes podcast. They’ll be discussing direct care start up, operation, and will do their best to answer any questions you submit to them.
However, if you still want to video chat with Josh, you can request a one-on-one hangout here. He’ll do his best to find time in his busy but flexible schedule.
June 4, 2013
We’re Listening To Both Sides Of The EHR Story
Glenn Tullman was the CEO of AllScripts, an EHR company, until his departure last year. We believe his latest op/ed piece illuminates the peril of government inserting itself into business. Sure, they come in with good intentions, but they end up stifling the quality of products on the free market.
June 3, 2013
We’re Making Atlas.md For YOU, Not EVERYONE
You may or may not know Dan Slinker. He’s taught journalism at Columbia College Chicago and was a Knight Fellow at Stanford University. He also created the controversially hilarious fake Twitter account @mayoremanuel.
He’s written a great article you should read here. His piece is entitled “Oh God, Don’t Make Things For ‘Everyone.’” and even though he’s writing about Vertigo Comics, a subsidiary of DC Comics, his point rings true with Atlas.md.
June 3, 2013
Meet Scott Borden, the HSA Guy
Scott Borden is “a passionate Health Savings Account (HSA) expert [whose] background has been in health insurance marketing and management for 23 years” according to a recent interview with Mary Pat Whaley from ManageMyPractice.com.
Borden’s company Direct Pay Consulting provides services like conversion planning and execution, patient insurance education, management of wait-listed patients and much more.
May 29, 2013
Let’s Adopt EHR For Better Patient Care, Not Federal Benefits
Xavier E. Martinez wrote about Why EHR Adoption Rates Vary Across Certain Specialties. A recent joint study from CareCloud and QuantiaMD shows that 82% of cardiologists have adopted EHR software, the most of any specialty. Overall, the article isn’t fully fleshed out. However, it raises an interesting question: Do heart doctors use EHR more widely because of their immersion in technology?
Martinez thinks so.
May 29, 2013
Practice Profitability! (Insert Sarcasm)
The stats are in. Looks like some doctors are doing a day’s worth of paperwork every week. There’s something clearly wrong with that picture. In the spirit of things not working in healthcare, here’s a well-designed infographic on where profits are headed for our industry as a whole.
May 24, 2013
David Shaywitz Asks Healthcare Customer Service, Why Not Us?
David Shaywitz wanted to get a flu shot for his child. So he used an app to find a location. The situation went awry and he wrote about it for Forbes. He was misdirected to a location that could not vaccinate his children, and then got the “we’ll transfer you to so-and-so” runaround at his own doctor’s office, culminating in multiple visits and “you’ve-got-to-be-kidding”-length waits.
Through his unfortunate experience he made three brilliant observations:
May 22, 2013
Okay, So The Free Market Isn’t Exactly “Free”
First things first, The Atlantic published a Health article online recently. It’s a doozy, and after reading it, we did wonder, did it need to be this long?
However, it addresses a poignant issue: Drug companies are motivated by malleable policies that end up creating more incentive for hair regrowth drugs than ones fighting global diseases that are “Biblically”-severe i.e. malaria, Dengue fever and others.
May 22, 2013
EPIC Fail in EHR/EMR
Here’s a quick rundown of factors contributing to EPIC’s EHR software failure. (Previous link no longer available.)
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FEATURES
Microsoft Word has approximately 1,200 features/functions (this is rough estimate), most of which are ignored by common users. The problem with EHR software, though, is that the market is filled with hoodwinking, one-size-fits-all “solutions” all gimmicking for doctor’s dollars. MS Word has a core base of users (the entire professional, semi-professional and college-educated world) who are familiar with core procedures and who can adapt to new features with each version. EHR/EMR software DOES NOT HAVE THIS ADVANTAGE. Asking people to sift through tens of thousands of buttons and features to “figure out” how to do something is an exercise in futility. Yet it actually happens on the marketplace.