In 2001, the government was getting people together in think tanks to re-imagine American healthcare. Coincidentally, at the same time, Dr. Josh Umbehr was envisioning his own solution to a world of rushed visits, stingy insurance reimbursements, and a potential dissatisfaction of a career in medicine. Then in 2010, Dr. Umbehr opened Atlas MD, a medical practice representing his ideals, a place where docs can shrug off the burdens and restrictions of government and insurance regulation and, instead, focus on what their patients need — actual care.
Bloomberg Businessweek wants to know what’s in store for our nation’s healthcare future. We are facing a staggering shortage of doctors, along with a growing demand for providers precipitated by Obamacare. In spite of thee challenges, there are doctors and entrepreneurs emerging, people searching for better outcomes. Our direct care operation, Atlas MD, was actually the first practice profiled in Bloomberg’s article. They shared one of our harrowing stories — helping a struggling, uninsured woman address her thyroid issues, and regain her vitality, for $147 instead of ~$1,500 a hospital would have potentially charged her.
And we’re back. You can stream the new Atlas MD podcast on iTunes. We’ve had some recent speaking engagements, one of which was with the Wichita Rotary. Little known fact, our local Rotary Club is the seventeenth largest in the world! Who’d have thought?
Also, thanks Dr. Ray Siedel from Ruidoso, New Mexico, who stopped in to discuss his direct care transition that’s happening over the next six weeks. We have multiple doctors scheduled to come in every week for the next month. We’re always glad to talk shop, so let us know if you want to stop in.
In case you missed it, we were invited back as guests on The Sean Hannity Show last Friday. We’re honored to be recognized as a solution to an overwhelming healthcare debacle. Afterwards, we were flooded with emails from people interested in learning more about our model and where they can find a direct care clinic in their own community.
As we mentioned on the program, you can visit IWantDirectCare.com to express your interest in joining a direct care clinic, or, if you’re a direct care doctor, where your clinic is located. And wouldn’t you know, the map’s filling up fast! We think this disproves a direct care criticism, that healthy people subscribing to a direct clinic is like paying for an unused gym membership. We’re wondering, where do these arguments originate? Our patients constantly praise the services we provide and our accessibility. And the question we keep hearing from people who first come across our business is, Where can I find my own direct care doctor? We’re hoping that within the next few years, patients can find direct care almost anywhere. Really, it’s up to the doctors to meet the demand and interest that’s growing as we speak.
As always, thanks to everyone who tuned in to The Sean Hannity Show on Friday, and to those who spread the word on social media. It may not seem like much, but every patient who demands affordable primary care makes direct care more viable for the doctors who want to provide it.
