Posted by: AtlasMD

June 4, 2014

Prescription Prices Are Too Damn High

Our nation loves prescriptions.

According to researchers at the Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center, “Nearly 70% of Americans take one prescription drug and more than half take two.”

It gets better. Approximately 20% of Americans use at least five prescription medications. Imagine the cost savings if Direct Care doctors directly prescribed a majority of these at wholesale prices.

Prescription drug use has been increasing steadily in the U.S. for the last ten years.

So what drugs are being prescribed, and why?

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Posted by: Josh Umbehr, M.D.

June 1, 2014

Insurance-Based Primary Care Won’t Prevent Obesity

Recently, someone asked me on Twitter, “Has the change in classification of obesity as a disease affected how you treat patients presenting w/ the disease?”

The classification change in question is regarding the American Medical Association’s declaration that obesity is a disease rather than a comorbidity factor.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

May 26, 2014

Yep, You Can Yelp Us

Some of the country’s best doctors have the worst patient satisfaction scores.

Want to know why?

Part of training to become a fee-for-service doctor is learning how to suppress your feelings. You get good at being who people want you to be, not who they need you to be.

You’re slowly transformed into something you didn’t foresee–a Stepford doctor out to please everyone with a sycophantic grin and forcibly appealing demeanor, hoping that your patient satisfaction survey will be favorable, no matter the cost.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

May 21, 2014

Direct Care Subscription Savings — Wholesale Prescriptions

We keep telling them, but some critics still doubt that Direct Care can save patients a tremendous amount of money each month.

Venlafaxine tablets  (generic for Effexor) is a prime example.

Assuming you know about the coupon option, you can buy the generic for $17. However, if not, you’ll pay ~$150 cash.

Keep in mind that we can sell a monthly script of Venlafaxine tablets for $5.70.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

May 21, 2014

Atlas.md EMR Security Update — Patient Opt-In

Atlas.md EMR operates free from HIPAA regulation, and free from government scrutiny.

Instead patients are in the power seat to communicate as THEY see fit with their physicians.

When patients enroll, they can opt in to receive communications over non-HIPAA-compliant methods.

These non-HIPAA-compliant methods include confidential communications via SMS, email and Twitter DMs, and also general billing conducted via email.

Unless users check to allow these features, no private information will be communicated in any of these manners.

However, Atlas.md EMR will send emails to patients regarding billing, e.g. invoices, confirmation of payments, confirmation of refunds, and more.

Invoices, to the best of Atlas.md EMR’s abilities, will never contain any sensitive or compromising information.

Posted by: AtlasMD

May 20, 2014

More Support For Subscription-Based Practices

Qliance and Atlas MD made an appearance on MainStreet, a financial blogging network. It’s worth noting that by cutting the red tape, we’ve made the “perks” of concierge medicine (24/7 access, same-day appointments, unlimited visits) affordable for a majority of Americans.

We’re glad to know they’re opining a rise in subscription-based primary care, too.

Posted by: AtlasMD

May 19, 2014

Stephen Schimpff Wants To Spend More Than 10 Minutes With His Patients

You call for an appointment and are told it will be about 20 days.

You arrive on time only to sit in the apt named waiting room for 40 minutes.

You see your primary care doctor (PCP).

You start to explain why you came in.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

May 18, 2014

When Direct Care Works It WORKS.

Transitioning from insurance-based care into Direct Care isn’t a walk in the park. Cutting the red tape is not necessarily about EASE.

It’s about AFFECT. Affecting patients lives, affecting our own lives as doctors and business owners. It’s about having a stake in the work we do, and being rewarded for doing it well.

Here’s an earnest email from Mary Wulfers. She’s helping her husband run his newly opened Direct Care practice.

We’re really busy. Mike has about 130 new patients and they all seem to want a physical right away, so he’s really really busy. Around 170-180 patients transferred from his old practice, and we’ve obtained and built all those charts as well. I continue to work full time at the office and then some out of necessity, which is just fine. Younger families are really starting to sign up; it’s almost like the word has just gotten out. Last Monday was quite a day, had 17 new patients sign up and our nurse was out sick that day, too.This has been a very rewarding experience in so many ways but a lot of work, too. Out [sic] new website should be online soon, can’t wait to see it. Mike is really happy about some of the new patients he’s getting, some with poor insurance who are so excited to have a good doctor for the first time. How can you beat that?

Seriously, how CAN you beat that?

Posted by: AtlasMD

May 18, 2014

Stop Losing Primary Care Physicians To Burnout

Here’s a central difficulty of the Affordable Care Act: If everyone has access to health insurance, then everyone has access to all the medical care they need. But curing sickness and preventing death is costly, so why not save money and lives by making primary care doctors more affordable?

After all, it’s our business to KEEP you healthy. And keeping you healthy cuts costs in the long-run.

However, we don’t and won’t have enough primary care providers in the United States unless things change.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

May 18, 2014

Healthcare Executives Need Big Compensation, And Big Results

“It’s stressful, dirty, hard work, and the burnout rate is high,” said Tom McNulty, a 19-year-old college student who volunteers for an ambulance corps outside Rochester. He told the New York Times that he finds it fulfilling, but that he would not make it a career: “Financially, it’s not feasible.”

Turns out the healthcare industry is staffed by some of the lowest as well as highest paid professionals in any business. The average staff nurse is paid about $61,000 a year, and an emergency medical technician earns just about minimum wage, for a yearly income of $27,000, according to the Compdata analysis.

Did you know that many medics work two or three jobs just to get by?

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