Posted by: AtlasMD

November 20, 2014

Medium.com: Sharing is the Future of Healthcare

Susannah Fox sheds light on something so many people take for granted in her recent article for Medium.com. Sharing.

Time is of the Essence.

Fox shares a story of a patient with a very rare condition who took it upon herself to track her medications’ interactions. It’s because of this she was able to refuse a certain prescribed medications that could have been lethal to her. When met with resistance from the prescribing doctor, she had to defend herself against the argument that, “for 20 years he has been telling all his patients to take it and no one else has ever complained.”

The particularly frightening portion of this story is that the physician prescribed without checking how the medications would interact with each other. Equally disturbing is that he then challenged the patient, attempting to coerce her into submission.

Maybe he had a reason for doing what he did. Maybe he didn’t have the time to do his research. Maybe he was in a rush to get to his next patient. Who knows.

But that sigh of relief you just heard? That came from all the Direct Primary Care physicians out there who don’t have to worry about such things as rushing from one patient to the next, or not having time to do research. Because the DPC model is not reliant upon meeting quotas, making a certain amount of money, or owing anything to big pharma. Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

November 19, 2014

What Really Happens When You Cut the Red Tape?

Dr. Michael D. Shaw takes us to the heart of what Direct Primary Care is all about in his recent contribution to HealthNewsDigest.com.

“The doctor/patient relationship has deteriorated precisely because the patient is no longer the client.”

The moment physicians are forced to turn their attention from a patient, hold up one finger as if to say, “Hold on.” and become engaged elsewhere is the very moment the doctor patient relationship begins to break down. It’s all traced back to the fact that physicians must see so many patients in such a short amount of time… and are therefore forced to spend on average a mere 7 minutes with them during the appointment.

Third parties. Insurance. Bureaucracy. Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

October 1, 2014

HEALTH MEDIA: Explaining Your Job IS Marketing.

According to Alex Lubarsky of Health Media, there’s more to great marketing than just doing great work. You have to teach, too.

“Understanding marketing is crucial. If educating the public about your service is not incorporated into the cost of doing business, if it is something that comes as an afterthought rather then top-of-mind, true success will always be just around the corner French-kissing your competition. You will either learn to embrace marketing or you will always be at the mercy of those who do.”

READ THE ARTICLE ONLINE >

Lubarsky says healthcare is suffering most from this too-often overlooked marketing technique. And that’s why docs are so out of touch when it comes to how healthcare actually works.  Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 24, 2014

FORBES: Healthcare is at a Tipping Point.

Cisco CEO John Chambers fears the US economy is being threatened by bankruptcy. That is, unless we evolve our healthcare system. He equates the current state of healthcare to the prehistoric state of computers – disconnected and inefficient.

Chambers hopes for better, not only for himself, but for his family and employees. He has an idea of how it could all come together, too, in an “Internet of Everything.”

“The first thing that will happen is all devices on our bodies, in hospitals and in our homes will be connected,” he said. “The second technological advance is video, which is the way people will prefer to communicate in the future. Video can connect any health care professional to any patient and to any specialist, all at tremendous speeds. You’ll be able to receive medical expertise 24/7. Health care applications will combine the technologies of cloud and big data, whether in the hospital or in your home. Video allows a different level of collaboration, and it offers security and privacy from your home. This is the Internet of Everything.”

READ THE FORBES ARTICLE >

We can’t help but think Chambers would look upon the Direct Care healthcare model with a smile, knowing that those in its care are receiving individualized, personalized treatment. Treatment that stems from being able to reach your doc anytime, through seemingly unconventional methods like Skype, Twitter, email and text. Factor in 24/7 physician availability, house calls and office visits that last at least 30 minutes, we don’t think we’re far off from Chambers’ vision.

Maybe this is a good time to mention how the Atlas.md EMR specifically accounts for better connectivity between doctors and patients by integrating all those communication methods directly into the patient’s chart. No, more than accounts for, encourages it. Enables it. Demands it.

Because Direct Care is gearing up to be the thing that tips the point toward better healthcare.

Posted by: AtlasMD

August 27, 2014

Time Begets Quality, DPC is the Key to Utilizing FitBit Data.

Venture Beat recently released an article expounding on all the reasons doctors don’t want data from health wearables like Fitbit. Among those reasons? Not enough time to analyze, and no proven system to analyze it in.

One higher-up explains: “Doctors would love to be excited about wearables — they’re gadget guys at heart — but their day-to-day is spent battling 30 year old fax machines to get your last lab report.” says Jeff Tangney, CEO of Doximity, which makes a social communication platform for clinicians. “For a busy doctor, the ability to use email would save more lives than a Fitbit.”

Atlas MD’s Dr. Josh told his side of the story in an interview with The Daily Beast. His view looks completely different from that of docs who shudder at the thought of more data. He not only cares about his patient’s FitBit data, but welcomes it. He finds this information so useful, he’s integrated fitness app tracking into his EMR software (that also handles emails, in case you were wondering) to better communicate with his patients about the one thing that matters most – their health.  Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 23, 2014

When Health Insurance and Breakfast Collide.

Sorry, your decaf was denied.

Pamela Wible, MD recently mentioned a couple analogies we happen to have articulated a few times ourselves. She breaks down what it would be like using health insurance to cover breakfast, and the result is less than ideal…

“If you hired a third party to pay your restaurant bill, you’d pay twice as much, wait 2 weeks for a table, and have 7 minutes to eat.”

We’re glad she’s using real world analogies to get the point across; you can’t deny that using health insurance as a catastrophic net makes more sense than a convenience plan for daily maintenance.

READ DR. WIBLE’S ARTICLE >

Posted by: AtlasMD

June 16, 2014

When Will Technology Actually Transform Healthcare?

“Health care is overwhelmed by “fast, cheap, and out of control” technologies,” writes Joe Flower.

Every new device will revolutionize healthcare, right? We hear this all the time. And, to be fair, we’re tech nerds here in the Atlas MD office.

However, we have a major caveat to our passion for healthcare tech.

In our case, we are excited about iterating on our EMR that eliminates the waste in your direct care practice.

And by eliminating the waste in your practice, we’re helping you to re-imagine how you get paid in your practice.

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

May 26, 2014

The Medical Establishment Took The Treasury’s Keys

According to Uwe E. Reinhardt, an economics professor at Princeton, about half a century ago, organized medicine and the hospital industry in this country struck a deal with Congress.

In retrospect, it was as audacious as it was incredible: Congress was asked to surrender to these industries the keys to the United States Treasury.

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

May 19, 2014

Futurist Forecasts More Rain Before Things Clear Up In Healthcare

Author, consultant and futurist Ian Morrison served up the opening keynote at the National Healthcare Innovation Summit on May 14 in Boston with a large dose of wit. But he delivered a somber message concerning the urgent need for innovation in healthcare.

“We have to innovate,” he told the audience. “We don’t have a choice. We have hit the wall.”

Read more

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.

Read more