Life Hacker offers help for abbreviating those long emails that no one’s reading. You might be a master of the inbox, but if you’re finding yourself writing novels, take a look at the pointers below.
April 19, 2013
April 19, 2013
Technology Will Drive Concierge Medicine
Angela Dunn cited Dr. Josh and AtlasMD’s affordability in yesterday’s post on HL7 (Health) Standards’ blog. It’s the first in a two-part piece called “Technology Driving New Models for Concierge Medicine and Direct Primary Care.”
Check out her summary of concierge medicine’s key benefits. It’s an effective case for doctors who want to practice grassroots primary care. She sums up the movement saying that it aims to “minimize the need for insurance, except for emergency and catastrophic care, and… eliminate or minimize the high administrative costs for a practice.”
April 18, 2013
Encouraging Signs for Direct Primary Care in the U.S.
The Concierge Medicine Research Collective conducted a three year study and found some promising results.
Most encouraging was news that a third of the households seeing concierge doctors made less than $100,000/yr. An effective healthcare reform needs to be affordable to a majority of Americans. More practices opening up and better technology helping doctors to run their practices all serve to drive the cost of care down. Concierge doctors win. Patients win. Even insurance can win, by paying out fewer settlements. That’s the beauty of a free market.
The survey also suggested that concierge doctors have been able to make steady incomes while expanding their services to more Americans. You can check out the full press release here. It’s worth a glance.
April 17, 2013
Nicholas Genes says, “It’s just easier to insist on excellence before buying the product.”
Nicholas Genes is the ASSISTANT PROFESSOR Emergency Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. He posted a great piece about the problems facing EMR adoption—government regulation, concerns about efficiency, etc.
He finishes on a high note: We’re savvy shoppers and we demand a good product before we buy it.
His thought makes a double entendre, though. Of course, doctors are savvy shoppers who want to buy a helpful software product. But it’s a savvy nation of healthcare shoppers who increase the demand for that software.
Yes, savvy shoppers are one free market win. But the second win will be concierge medicine operating tech-savvy, too.
Read Nicholas’ complete article here.
Nicholas Genes // Courtesy of thinkwritepublish.org
April 11, 2013
Kansas Representatives Praise Stripped-Down Healthcare Plans
The Topeka Capital-Journal posted a story yesterday saying that David Powell and Beverly Gossage praised Kansas’ Legislature for passing of a bill that will open the state insurance market to stripped-down health plans.
Both candidates are vying to replace Sandy Praeger in 2014. According to them both, “Mandate Lite” policies will combat the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — otherwise known as Obamacare.
Ironically, the law wasn’t even written to battle Obamacare. According to Powell, a Republican who helped draft it, the idea originated much earlier. He said, “I wrote this law in 2008 based on my concern that the direction our health insurance rates were going (up) in Kansas would hurt our citizens and businesses.”
Supporters believe this new Kansas law will make insurance more affordable, especially for young, healthy Kansans. It will allow them to opt out of coverage for things like diabetes care, allergy treatments, prostate screenings and mental services. These services are known culprits of high-cost insurance premiums.
Check out the complete article at cjonline.com.
April 9, 2013
Use Facebook Chat Effectively
Facebook Chat is one of a multitude of online chat platforms. It allows quick instantaneous communication with a limitless number of people. More than you’ll likely ever want to talk to at once. Besides being embedded within one of the most highly trafficked websites on the planet, it has a key advantage: a certain degree of privacy.
As a doctor, you’ll of course want to check with state regulation to make sure Facebook Chat is compliant with standards. Here at AtlasMD, based in Kansas, we are able to Facebook chat with patients who sign a confidentiality agreement. A key advantage to this forum is that the messages are only able to be accessed by a sole user, and can be deleted at will.
First, make sure you are familiar with what Facebook Chat is and how to use it. Check out Facebook Chat Basics. The How To Use Facebook Chat section is all you need to get going. It’s easy to use. If you want, get a friend or family member to “chat” with you to try it out.
April 9, 2013
Make Friends With Social Media, Carefully
Concierge medicine opens up new opportunities to enhance patient-doctor relationships through social media. But doctors need to know how to use the tools to make the most of them. And they need to know how to do so responsibly. This first post will go over the basics. Keep this link handy, though, since links to more specific best practices will be added below over time.
Please be advised, do not start connecting with patients right away. At least not yet. First things first, get your head around social media. Then determine how you can use these tools to positively reinforce your relationship with the Web at large, as well as colleagues and patients.
If you’re already feeling comfortable with using Facebook and Twitter as a personal user, check out the growing list of topics covering Social Media Best Practices For Medical Professionals. Otherwise keep going for a breakdown of what Facebook and Twitter are useful for.
April 9, 2013
Simplify Healthcare With Two Simple Actions
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law in March of 2010. Fortunately, Section 1301(a)(3) allows direct primary care medical homes to operate in the state-based insurance exchanges beginning in 2014. Now more Americans will be able to elect direct primary care!
What Can I Do To Support This Type of Care?
If you are a provider or a concerned citizen you can join the Direct Primary Care Coalition. Signing up is as easy as providing an email address. Then you can stay on top of everything important happening in Congress that pertains to direct primary care.
April 9, 2013
Kansas Direct Medicine Gets an Obamacare Bypass
There’s nothing like waking up to some seriously good news! Last Friday, the Topeka Capital Journal said the Kansas House of Representatives “eventually passed a bill” that will permit the state’s health insurance market to sell stripped-down policies.
So what’s that mean? It means Kansas residents can purchase an insurance plan covering only high-cost events like emergency, trauma and unexpected operations. This will free up the ability to pay for general care out of pocket. And it motivates doctors to stay within and join the direct care business model. Happy patients and doctors can keep up their successful relationships without the government getting in the way. And more doctors can partake in direct care’s more enjoyable professional environment.
April 9, 2013
A Word on Bipartisanship
Your mother may have told you something like, Never talk about politics or religion at the dinner table. I know mine did and she was assuredly right. These topics are notoriously divisive.
AtlasMD is proud to be an industry leader in the thriving concierge medicine industry. We offer benefits such as more one-on-one time with patients and 24/7 house calls, all for the less than the cost of a cup of coffee per day. It’s easy to see why our business model has garnered support.
However, as Obamacare approaches, a wholesome conversation at the dinner table can quickly escalate into a political debate. Politics are part of life, of course, but I encourage my patients to remember what’s most important — our health and longevity.