Posted by: AtlasMD

September 17, 2013

Who’d Have Thought Colonoscopies Could Explain it All

We’re glad that John Green directed us to this New York Times article from June. A story of Deirdre Yapalater’s colonoscopy illustrates many of the market failures driving up healthcare costs in America. The publication was kind enough to create an interactive map that lets you compare the average cost of a colonoscopy across the country, too. Very cool.

“… Ms. Yapalater recalled, she did not ask her doctors about the cost of her colonoscopy because it was covered by insurance and because ‘if a doctor says you need it, you don’t ask.’ In many other countries, price lists of common procedures are publicly available in every clinic and office. Here, it can be nearly impossible to find out.”

Yet again, we see the rebellious nature of our direct care model. Given, we aren’t performing colonoscopies here at Atlas MD, we ARE ADVOCATES FOR OUR PATIENTS, and will get in the trenches and negotiate fair prices. It’s in patients’ interest, and our interest, part of the beauty of the free market. But there’s more the article considers…

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 17, 2013

John Green Breaks Down The Inefficiency Of American Healthcare Spending

UPWORTHY linked us to a fantastic video from John Green, astronomically prolific writer and thinker, who explains why healthcare is SO EXPENSIVE IN AMERICA. It’s seven-minutes long but he covers EVERYTHING. Did he mention the red tape? Of course he did. And he also mentioned a fundamental reason for Americans overpaying for EVERYTHING healthcare-related. It’s rooted our inability to negotiate the prices we pay. One thing he didn’t mention? Direct care. And to his point, we are a David up against a Goliath system. But before we turn to the government to negotiate for us, let’s consider the alternatives, doctors like us who can use our power to help patients get the care they need at a price they can afford.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Who is Hank? Hank is John’s brother. They have amassed over 300 million views on their vlog brothers YouTube channel where they take turns explaining things to each other.

Click through for some helpful links John Green provided along with the original video… Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 16, 2013

Quality Trumps Quantity in Healthcare

tobyWe came across an article on LinkedIn discussing a new breakthrough. It’s not “scientifically” proven, more of a hypothesis really. Toby Cosgrove, CEO and President at Cleveland Clinic, says, “It’s the dawning realization that healthcare is not about how many patients you can see, how many tests and procedures you can order, or how much you can charge for these things.” Sounds like Atlas MD.

READ HIS BLOG POST ON LINKEDIN

SIDE NOTE: He ends with a strange promotion of Obamacare, which we do have our own questions about. And we’re equally surprised he didn’t mention direct care in his post. We’re earning profits offering unlimited doctors appointments and free telemedicine of sorts (Tweeting personal advice, making simple diagnoses via texting, Skyping with patients, etc.), and we’re doing it at prices far lower than insurance-based services. Couple that with our work to negotiate prescriptions for pennies on the dollar and steep discounts on MRIs and other procedures and it’s clear we are a quality-focused operation.

Photo of Toby Cosgrove courtesy of my.clevelandclinic.org

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 16, 2013

Telemedicine Bill Would Allow Docs To Practice Across State Lines

Medicare providers would be able to treat patients electronically across state lines without having to obtain multiple state medical licenses, according to new legislation proposed in the House this week. Cheers to ANY POLITICIAN WORKING TOWARDS LIMITING BUREAUCRACY.

Okay, so we’ve said red tape is never the way to go with primary care. But we do have to consider rural residents and people who might not have reasonable access to a direct care physician. In certain cases, especially with older patients on Medicare it might make more sense for them to see a physician across a state line, and do so using telemedicine.

For now, this seems like a promising development. Although, again so ironic, that NEW legislation is needed to correct a system bogged down by multiple state licensing. Again, we’re skeptical of a looming federal government controlling our entire healthcare insurance system. But, on the other hand, requiring doctors to get different licenses to see patients in different states gets silly, too. And, as is the case now, can prevent people from getting the quality care they deserve.

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE ON FIERCE HEALTH IT

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 15, 2013

LISTEN: Atlas MD Podcast, Ep. 8

LISTEN: Atlas MD Podcast, Ep. 8

Tune in to the next installment of our podcast. We’re excited to announce the beta launch of our Atlas.md EMR. New users have signed up this week and we’re already receiving positive feedback. Thank you, everyone who’s adopting it.

A question we’re frequently asked is, how long does it take to transition to Atlas.md EMR? Well, no time at all really. It’s as easy as signing up for a Gmail or Facebook account. If you’ve done the former then you know it’s a matter of filling in a few fields, agreeing to the terms of service, and then jumping right in and clicking around.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 8 OF THE ATLAS MD PODCAST HERE

Drs. Josh and Doug answer more questions and concerns that have been brought up — How does Atlas.md simplify patient record keeping? Will I ever really use my EMR away from the office? Am I at risk for HIPAA violations? Is this EMR a smart investment? Is it safe to tweet a doctor? (Hint: Yes. If the NSA is concerned about a sore throat, that’s just sad.) Give it a listen. And keep those emails coming. We’re here to help.

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 10, 2013

BBC Reports “Doctor Slang” is a Dying Art

Well, the cat’s out of the bag. Doctors have been keeping their sanity amidst the pressures of a considerably serious line of work — by creating a secret language of funny acronyms. However, with the advent of EMR, acronym usage has waned. We’re going to plead the Fifth as to whether or not Atlas MD uses cryptic codes to label our patients, and whether or not Atlas.md, our direct care EMR, will render them obsolete.

That said, a panel of “PhDs” (pretentious hardly doctors) — wait, excuse us, that was a slip — a panel of “ethicists” worked to compile existing abbreviations. Yes, some were particularly offensive, like GROLIES (Guardian Reader Of Low Intelligence in Ethnic Skirt). For the most part, doctor slang was more offensive to colleagues, though. The report indicates that in general, doctors’ notes have been kinder to patients in recent years. Also of note were variations, in England specifically, indicative of regional dialect.

READ ALL ABOUT DOCTOR SLANG ON THE BBC

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 9, 2013

EMRs Are Doing More Harm Than Good

EMRs Are Doing More Harm Than Good

If you read anything about EMRs today, make it this post from Val Jones, founder and CEO of Better Health. She depicts an EMR world that you can imagine like this: “Spend your days as a copy editor for an Indian transcription service, try to prevent patients from being labeled as syphilitics while worrying about whether or not the medicine they’re taking is classified as a tablet or a capsule in a system where you may not be able to enter any orders at all if the central tech command is fixing software instability in the Star Trek room.” Does this sound a bit absurd? Well then maybe you should read Jones’ entire post and let her explain how a technology that promised so much, wound up making things so much worse.

READ VAL JONES’ POST ON KEVIN MD

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 6, 2013

Dr. Rob Lamberts Knows What Direct Care Docs Need In Their EMR

One primary care physician has spelled out EXACTLY what he’s looking for in an EMR. He made a comparison between what current EMRs offer versus what he actually needs in his practice. We’re excited to hear his frustrations, because it proves once more what we’ve been saying for months–Atlas MD is the FIRST EMR built specifically for direct primary care physicians. And there’s nothing on the market like it.

READ THE COMPLETE BLOG POST HERE

Atlas MD is an EMR made to tell your patients story, so that you can find what you need, when you need it. It’s focused on work-flow, not billing codes (although they are included for reference if need be). It functions on ANY device you’d use in the office, not a clunky machine you paid thousands of bucks for. Atlas MD is like the innovative apps you see across other industries; it lets the user curate the experience so that what’s useful is immediately accessible.

The benefits of Atlas MD go on and on. And we’re looking forward to hearing what direct primary care docs have to say. Which, speaking of, raises an important question — do YOU want a sneak peak into our new EMR software? Would you be interested in writing about it? If so, send us an email. We can make that happen.

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 5, 2013

LISTEN: Atlas MD Podcast, Ep. 7

LISTEN: Atlas MD Podcast, Ep. 7

Tune in to the next installment of our podcast. Our direct care ship is sailing smoothly, patients coming in and out, some patients even tweeting about the great care they received.

We appreciate the kind words! Looks like there’s more publicity for Atlas MD, too – the direct care duo, Drs. Josh and Doug, will be speaking at the American Academy of Family Practice Docs on September 26th; the next day they will head to Colorado to speak to the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

LISTEN TO EPISODE 7 OF THE ATLAS MD PODCAST HERE

Oh, and some huge news — Atlas.md EMR has launched its beta trial! Please email hello[at]atlas.md if you want to be among the first users. It’s free for the first 90 days. Click through to review some highlights from the taping.

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