Posted by: AtlasMD

October 2, 2014

Recommended Reading: Atlas Shrugged

We often get asked for recommended reading lists. Well, we’re delivering! These weekly posts feature one book we highly recommend to learn more about business, philosophy, and different perspectives to help you run your business. Do you have a recommendation that’s not on the list yet? Mention it in the comments!

This Week’s Recommendation: Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. 

In our opinion, Atlas Shrugged should have a home on every bookshelf ever made.

With adoring fans, rabid critics and very few in between, why does Atlas Shrugged evoke such impassioned responses? Because it grapples with the fundamental problems of human existence — and presents radically new answers.

Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand’s last novel, is a dramatization of her unique vision of existence and of man’s highest potential. Twelve years in the writing, it is her masterwork.

Is the pursuit of profit a noble enterprise or the root of all evil? Is sexual passion an exalted spiritual virtue or a dirty, animalistic vice? Is reason an absolute or is faith an alternative source of truth? Is self-esteem possible or are we consigned to a life of self-doubt and guilt? In what kind of society can an individual prosper, and in what kind of society is he doomed to the opposite fate?

Rand’s worldview emerges in the compelling plot turns of a mystery story, centered on the question “Who is John Galt?”

READ MORE ABOUT ATLAS SHRUGGED >

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Posted by: AtlasMD

September 4, 2014

Ayn Rand’s Lost Novel Is Coming in 2015

Penguin Random House is going to release Ayn Rand’s unpublished work from 1934. And Rand’s heir, Dr. Leonard Peikoff, even discussed the book at the 2014 Objectivist Summer Conference.

Of course, The Ayn Rand Institute is excited about the announcement. In their Press Release they say that Ideal, written in 1934, is scheduled for release and will be paired with Rand’s play of the same name. It will be available as a single volume with an introduction written by Rand’s designated heir, Leonard Peikoff.

“We are delighted to share this wonderful news,” said ARI executive director Yaron Brook. “How often does one get to announce the new publication of a novel by such an influential author eighty years after the book was written? It’s incredible to see that several decades after Rand’s death, her work and ideas are still fresh and alive in the culture.”

The Ayn Rand Institute’s Objectivist Summer Conference 2014 featured a Q&A event on Ideal. Dr. Leonard Peikoff, in a rare public appearance, fielded questions about the book, its ideas and the history of this important new publication. Want to know more about Objectivism and a major influence on Atlas MD’s core values? Check out ARI’s website. The Ayn Rand Institute promotes the philosophy of Ayn Rand, author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.

Posted by: AtlasMD

May 13, 2014

Spending Someone Else’s Money Is Inefficient. So Why Does Healthcare Insist On Doing It Like That?

Jeffrey Singer, M.D., or Dr. Singer, is a general surgeon in Arizona. He’s also an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute.

He claims that healthcare costs are too damn high—and they’re only getting worse. He’s got every reason to make that claim. Turns out that last week, researchers at Harvard and Dartmouth released a report estimating that healthcare costs will continue to grow faster than the economy for at least the next two decades.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

May 9, 2014

The Free Market Feeds On Red Tape. Garden State Entrepreneurs Launch Startup To Help Docs Transition To “Cash-Only.”

The federal government may believe that the future of healthcare is the Affordable Care Act.

However, a New Jersey entrepreneur has a different vision — one where patients pay out of pocket for just about everything. And they pay a group of doctors and medical practices that are so fed up with the insurance-based system that they are opting to go it alone.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

December 6, 2013

Everybody Laissez Faire Tonight; New Book Reveals Intimate Details About Ayn Rand’s Life

Doug French curates and reviews books for Laissez Faire Books and also blogs at Libertarian Standard. He mentioned us recently in a review of Nathaniel Branden’s book Judgment Day: My Years With Ayn Rand. He came right out with a reference to the age of Obamacare, saying, “… The writings of Ayn Rand are inspiring some doctors to push back. A small, but growing group of doctors want their patients to pay cash. That’s right, cash. Their own cash.” Then he went on to mention our practice. We’re flattered to have Atlas MD’s name beside an inspirational figure like Rand. Her philosophy guided us to where we are today, practicing medicine, changing people’s lives, and changing the way other doctor’s can change their patients’ lives.

French even says that our practice “sounds like Rand’s free-market Shangri-La — Galt’s Gulch.” Gulp. That’s a sweeping vision to live up to. Although we’re in good company. French reminds us in his review that Ayn Rand has had tremendous influence on the likes of other innovative entrepreneurs and business leaders: BB&T’s John Allison, Whole Foods’ John Mackey, and Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales to name a few. And we did release direct care’s first EMR, so we’ll admit that we’re ambitious. But our battle for common sense is ongoing.

ORDER JUDGEMENT DAY: MY LIFE WITH AYN RAND ON LAISSEZ FAIRE BOOKS

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Posted by: AtlasMD

October 7, 2013

Hold On To Your Highbrow Hats: Rand, Rock, Greek Gods and Direct Care…

We came across an academic paper highlighting attention paid to Rand in the works of contemporary scholars and intellectuals. Prog Rock (especially Rush songs penned by Neil Peart, drummer extraordinaire), Greek Gods (Dionysus and Apollo specifically), and Randian libertarianism intersect in this curious research from NYU.

It might seem off topic, but this paper stirred up thought on our end — how do we rectify a healthcare system comprised of people? Yes, people — doctors, patients, providers, pharmacists, politicians, insurance agents, the whole lot of parties all wrapped up in one complex machination. Given that we know most problems are people oriented, and that our industry ensures the health and longevity of people, it seems like we’re in for a perpetual rollercoaster ride. On one hand, we consistently talk data and numbers, especially money, and how bureaucracy misallocates it. This is a more Apollonian argument, one based in reason and logic. We support direct care because we want services to be rendered more efficiently. It’s easier to pay us $600 for a year’s worth of unlimited service than it is for people to pay an insurance agent for a premium with copays and deductibles so that they can find a doctor within their network who will hand their insurance information over to a third party biller who will go back to the original insurance company to request a payment in part that will then go back to the provider who also has to bill the patient for a copay that varies depending on their deductible…

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