Posted by: AtlasMD

May 1, 2013

This Week in Concierge Medicine

Here are five thought-provoking posts on concierge medicine circulating the Web this week. Follow the links to read the complete articles.

Concierge Medicine Can Ease Escalating EHR Requirements
Wayne Lipton addresses growing concerns over new EMR guidelines and highlights some advantages of the concierge business model.

New Doctor in Town Offers Alternative to Traditional Fee Model: Concierge Medicine for the Masses
Dr. Samir Qamar see Las Vegas as the perfect market for concierge medicine. His model is slightly different than AtlasMD’s, with a subscription and a $10 fee per visit. However, he’s made it very attractive for employers who typically don’t offer insurance, like the billion-dollar service industry.

Read more

Posted by: Josh Umbehr, M.D.

May 1, 2013

Concierge Medicine Is Too Important To Be Taken Seriously

We’ve all got our favorite websites to laugh at. But I had to share this article about concierge medicine from Business Expansion Partners. It’s not funny enough to be a spoof, but it’s so wrong that I had to address it.

Here’s a list of counter points to their insulting blog post. Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

April 30, 2013

Healthcare And Fashion Collide In This Colorful Infographic

Here’s a well-designed visualization of how we’ll be wearing technology in coming years. You’ll find some healthcare monitors towards the bottom—bras that measure heart rates and wristbands that track sleep cycles.

Take it at face value. Voucher Codes created the infographic but does not guarantee complete information accuracy. Still, it’s fun to look at.

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

April 29, 2013

Tech Win for EMR Demonstrates Concierge Medicine’s Advantages Yet Again

There’s some good news for EMR software. Box, a cloud storage and information-sharing platform used in many different industries, released a statement on Thursday, saying that they acquired an “ecosystem” of app companies and are actively expanding their healthcare offerings.

One of Box’s efforts is to create a downloadable Personal Health Record that aggregates multiple inputs. Basically they want consumers to carry around a digital medical file to take to different specialists. A few of the new companies they acquired focus on text transmission, so its presumed they want to help doctors text information more effectively, too—X-rays, notes, files and the like.

Read more

Posted by: Josh Umbehr, M.D.

April 25, 2013

Just Another Day at the Concierge Medical Office

I feel like you might be tired of hearing another concierge medical success story. But then again, there’s still plenty of opposition to the model. Which brings up a post about how a concierge doctor saved a woman’s life. (Original link no longer available.)

The post from The DO, a blog for osteopathic physicians, features two doctors who successfully transitioned to the model.

One of the men, Dr. Schneiderman, a Monterey, California-based concierge medical doctor, was ready to leave his home state to practice medicine elsewhere. He was frustrated that he didn’t have actual time to spend with his patients. He tried everything. Working for the prison system, working for the Veterans Affairs system, and none of it made a difference.

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

April 23, 2013

Rising Deductibles Make Concierge Medicine Look Even More Desirable

Doctors considering transitioning to a concierge business model, take note: deductibles are on the rise. Here are the grim findings from a study conducted by Athenehealth between 2009 and 2011:

Deductibles as a percentage of contracted rate have risen by 47% in the Northeast and by 20% in the rest of the country.

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

April 19, 2013

Improve Patient-Doctor Relationships With Shorter Emails

Improve Patient-Doctor Relationships With Shorter Emails

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.

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

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.”

Read more

Posted by: Josh Umbehr, M.D.

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

Nicholas Genes // Courtesy of thinkwritepublish.org

Posted by: AtlasMD

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.