Posted by: AtlasMD

October 30, 2013

LISTEN: Atlas MD Podcast, Ep. 10

LISTEN: Atlas MD Podcast, Ep. 10

Apologies for the delay, everyone. We’ve had a bit of construction in the office here, and we’ve been on the road, too. That said, the next installment of our podcast is live on iTunes.

Obamacare was unrolled and docs are wondering what that means for direct care. For the most part, we are safe. Patients’ insurance plans, not necessarily. If you want to get a better understanding of the direct care landscape, there’s a great source, though. Just visit dpcare.org and have a look. There are tons of informative articles about the law.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 10 OF THE ATLAS MD PODCAST HERE

In this episode, the team went to San Diego for an AAFP conference where they were bombarded with questions (arrived an hour early and stayed two hours late)! Then Dr. Doug shares a story of how the system prevents docs from practicing good medicine (and how he saw a patient immediately when her doc offered her an appointment 6 days later). Dr. Josh goes over more direct care math, and that’s just the beginning…

Oh, we’re heading out to a few different conferences where we’ll be talking to more docs about our model, including the Physicians Summit on Nov. 1. Maybe we’ll see you there, or elsewhere. As always, thanks for tuning in, and if you have any questions, please, send us an email: hello[at]atlas.md

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 30, 2013

Your Patients Want To Hear From You

Finally, some good news in the healthcare realm — this report from Mobi Health News outlines the extensive results of a survey related to digital communications. This section is most telling:

“Asked to list ‘most welcomed messages,’ respondents named three health-related messages. Sixty-nine percent welcomed a reminder about an upcoming appointment or vaccination, 57 percent mentioned a notice to reorder or pick up a prescription, and 39 percent would be happy with a message reminding them to schedule an appointment.”

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Posted by: AtlasMD

October 26, 2013

Prepare Yourself for the Fork in the Road

Prepare Yourself for the Fork in the Road

We found a great blog post from The Happy MD that clarifies a schism that’s likely to develop here in the American healthcare system. With an influx of patients gaining insurance through Obamacare (assuming those exchange websites finally work), primary care docs have essentially two directions they will be pushed in:

  • One group of docs will be part of the patient mill, who due to the inherent volume of patients coming through a clinic will only see the very sick; here the doctor will spend a majority of time in a management position, overseeing nurses and physician assistants who actually interact with patients.
  • Another group of docs will be part of the concierge medicine/direct care movement, and will see all of their patients for longer durations; here the doctor will free up this time by removing the red tape and operating their practice with limited assistance.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

October 26, 2013

STREAM: Atlas MD on The Sean Hannity Show

In case you missed it, we were invited back as guests on The Sean Hannity Show last Friday. We’re honored to be recognized as a solution to an overwhelming healthcare debacle. Afterwards, we were flooded with emails from people interested in learning more about our model and where they can find a direct care clinic in their own community.

As we mentioned on the program, you can visit IWantDirectCare.com to express your interest in joining a direct care clinic, or, if you’re a direct care doctor, where your clinic is located. And wouldn’t you know, the map’s filling up fast! We think this disproves a direct care criticism, that healthy people subscribing to a direct clinic is like paying for an unused gym membership. We’re wondering, where do these arguments originate? Our patients constantly praise the services we provide and our accessibility. And the question we keep hearing from people who first come across our business is, Where can I find my own direct care doctor? We’re hoping that within the next few years, patients can find direct care almost anywhere. Really, it’s up to the doctors to meet the demand and interest that’s growing as we speak.

As always, thanks to everyone who tuned in to The Sean Hannity Show on Friday, and to those who spread the word on social media. It may not seem like much, but every patient who demands affordable primary care makes direct care more viable for the doctors who want to provide it.

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 24, 2013

Atlas.md EMR — Tutorial Video — Clinic Features / Sidebar

Drs. Josh and Doug walk you through the themes of Atlas.md EMR. On the left you’ll first see icons that let you quickly access common features like dashboard, inbox, tasks and more. The sidebar’s icons change, though, as you move through different themes: Accounts, Patients, Prescriptions, etc.

VIEW NEXT ATLAS.MD EMR TUTORIAL VIDEO > SEARCH

Have more questions about Atlas.md? Send them to hello[at]atlas.md …

Want to try Atlas.md EMR? Sign up for free at Atlas.md/signup.

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 22, 2013

EMRs Still Not Very Loved

David Carr is on the beat to find doctors who actually like their EMR. We’re in the process of reaching out to him since we’re excited about the new updates to our Atlas.md EMR. However, we also kind of proved his point. He interviewed a Doctor Denton, who said:

“In contrast, commercial EHR software has to be generic enough to work in many hospitals and all specialties. The result is a compromised design that doesn’t serve anyone’s needs really well.”

As a medical student interning at Intermountain Healthcare in the 1990s, Dr. Denton worked with an early electronic medical records system that was custom built for the hospital. He said it didn’t have everything you wanted, but “it worked in a way that allowed you to really do your job better.” However, he clarified, “But… they spent years and years developing it.”

It seems that the big fight in health care, in IT, in primary care, almost everywhere, is for time to make good stuff and to make stuff good. We’re fighting that fight, and here to assist any doctors who want time to practice medicine again. And we’re working on digital software that succeeds by MAKING MEDICINE MORE POSSIBLE, not by rushing to the market to collect Meaningful Use incentives.

Oh the irony, for being rewarded for mediocrity. Ayn Rand must be rolling in her grave.

READ ABOUT DAVID CARR’S SEARCH FOR SATISFACTORY EMR

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 22, 2013

Imagine a World Where Docs Blog, “I LOVE MY EMR!”

Unfortunately, that world is imaginary, for the time being. We’re still in our beta launch of Atlas.md EMR, although we’ve already rolled out some helpful updates. For everyone who has signed up for our EMR, here’s what’s available in the newest version of the app.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

October 21, 2013

The Direct Care Doctor Will See You Now

Thanks to @jsgoldmd20 who linked us to a relevant Huff Post story. Ann Brenoff’s “The Doctor Will See You … When Her Boss Says She Can” documents her experience with an overly commodified fee-for-service doctor. It’s not the same old story, of long waiting rooms, harried visits, obscene fees, and dodgy insurance claims… Well, it does have the long waiting room, but for a different reason: Brenoff’s doctor refuses to spend less than 30 minutes with her patients, even when the company she works for demands she book appointments every 10-15 minutes.

The problem, though, is that patients back up in the waiting room. Even when her appointments are booked four weeks in advance, Ann Brenoff is forced to wait over an hour to see her doctor. Recently she got fed up and tried to take her business elsewhere. Her time was too valuable. She couldn’t be made to wait.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

October 20, 2013

Even The New York Times Is Suggesting Catastrophic Insurance Plans

In his new New York Times healthcare piece, “Driving a New Bargain on Health Care,” Tyler Cowen spells out the hard truth of Obamacare failings. Based on his prognosis, a lack of states extending Medicaid coverage will leave millions uninsured. This isn’t something that should excite anyone. However, it’s leading to wake up calls from top journalists. In his assessment Cowen offers a reaction to this shortcoming:

“At the same time, I’d recommend narrowing the scope of required insurance to focus on catastrophic expenses. If insurance picks up too many small expenses, it encourages abuse and overuse of scarce resources.”

As you know, we’ve been suggesting this for years now. When we as a nation can’t provide care for our own, that’s failing. But when we know something isn’t working (health insurance as health maintenance, for one) and we keep doing it, that’s even worse. So yes, while we’re nowhere near a solution, we’re moving towards a society that recognizes one thing: coverage is not care. It’s a point worth mentioning, because to many people, the idea that EVERYONE is insured sounds like utopia. For now, we’ll be the squeaky wheel reminding you that this isn’t really the case.

READ THE FULL NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE HERE

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 20, 2013

WATCH: Dr. Lee Gross Explains His Direct Care Success In Florida

Check out this YouTube video of Dr. Lee Gross, MD, a family physician practicing in Florida. He presents Epiphany Health, his direct primary care plan, to medical students attending the AMSA national conference on October 12, 2013 at Rowan School of Osteopathic Medicine. His talk was sponsored by the Benjamin Rush Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the doctor-patient relationship and preserving freedom of choice in medicine.

Just a heads up, it’s a long video, clocking in around 35 minutes. To help you out, we highlighted a few key segments.

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