Posted by: AtlasMD

June 22, 2014

Atlas MD Podcast 17 — Meet Dr. Michael Palomino

Atlas MD Podcast 17 — Meet Dr. Michael Palomino

STREAM EP. 17 OF THE ATLAS MD PODCAST ON iTUNES

And we’re back. We brought in a special guest for this week’s episode–our own Dr. Michael Palomino!

It’s go, go, go in the world of Direct Care. First off, we’re excited that Dr. Samir Qamar of MedLion was able to start DPC United. The association will organize and promote our cash-only model of healthcare. Remember, Direct Care is competitive but it’s not winner-takes-all. Physicians are in this together. Education and awareness are critical to our movement because insurance has our nation in a subservient position: People are under the impression that coverage is absolutely necessary for ALL healthcare, when we know that’s not the case.

And more exciting news. Atlas.md EMR has been fully funded for 2+ years of ongoing development. Direct Care docs, take note: we’ll be continually iterating on our revolutionary software tool. In fact, we recently rolled out a new update. Check out the list of feature updates here. And please, keep emailing us all of your feedback so we can continue honing Direct Care’s premiere software.

Posted by: AtlasMD

June 6, 2014

Ponytail Cap, Atlas MD Present at This Week’s 1 Million Cups

Thanks to Brian McTavish for covering Atlas MD at 1 Million Cups.

“Healthcare’s broken, and we’re here to fix it,” Umbehr said. Instead of taking insurance, Atlas MD charges patients a monthly membership fee—$10 for children and $50 to $100 for adults based on their age. Patients in return get unlimited visits, no co-pays, a variety of free procedures and wholesale pricing on prescriptions and lab work with discounts of up to 95 percent. In addition, Atlas MD works with employers to provide less expensive health care coverage for their employees.

Complete post first appeared on IThinkBigger.com.

Posted by: AtlasMD

May 14, 2014

The ICD-10 Emperor Has No Clothes

They howled ICD-10 was delayed. And they howled loud and fierce.

Apparently, the life of U.S. healthcare hangs in the throes of 68,000 diagnosis codes.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world has switched to ICD-10. But here’s a secret. The World Health Organization’s version of ICD-10 has about 16,000 codes, equivalent to ICD-9-CM.

Let’s reiterate: The rest of the world is not using ICD-10-Clinical Modification set, which has 68,000 codes.

The Canadian version of ICD-10 has about 16,000 codes, but the physicians do not use those codes for billing and reimbursement. They use a more limited code set of about 600 three-digit codes.

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

May 13, 2014

Spending Someone Else’s Money Is Inefficient. So Why Does Healthcare Insist On Doing It Like That?

Jeffrey Singer, M.D., or Dr. Singer, is a general surgeon in Arizona. He’s also an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute.

He claims that healthcare costs are too damn high—and they’re only getting worse. He’s got every reason to make that claim. Turns out that last week, researchers at Harvard and Dartmouth released a report estimating that healthcare costs will continue to grow faster than the economy for at least the next two decades.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

May 8, 2014

Research Suggests That Preventing Illness Won’t Curb Rising Healthcare Costs. So How About We Just Cut The Red Tape?

Spending on health care has consistently grown faster than the rest of the U.S. economy. What’s behind this trend is less certain, though. Economists point to two causes: the prevalence of diseases and conditions afflicting the U.S. population, or the rising costs of treating diseases.

New research from American University Associate Professor Martha Starr and Virginia Tech Research Professor Ana Aizcorbe shows it is the latter, with higher prices for treatment accounting for 70 percent of growth in health care spending.

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Posted by: Josh Umbehr, M.D.

May 1, 2014

Straight From A DPC Physician’s Mouth: “I’m A Happy Doctor Again!”

Mary Wulfers raised a serious question after reading about ObamaCare Exchange enrollees who can’t find doctors.

She asks, Who wants to see a doctor who is being forced to treat them?

Her husband is a primary care physician and, together, they opened a cash-only practice this year. It took two years of planning, but the couple decided to cut the red tape, and offer affordable, actual care to hundreds of patients.

And, get this, Mary’s husband is 61 years old. He could have easily retired, but the joy and reward of running a cash-only practice has kept him in the practice pool.

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

April 18, 2014

Stream The Next Atlas MD Podcast, Episode 16 >

“Medicine is a business,” says Dr. Doug Nunamaker, “And how our nation’s doing it isn’t working.”

Listen to Drs. Josh and Doug discuss Direct Care in the latest episode of the Atlas MD podcast.

Ditching insurance companies and running a successful business isn’t for the faint of heart, but it’s the only way that family care will keep doctors and patients healthy and happy.

However, one of the biggest challenges for a new Direct Care doctor will be the transition. Which is why we recommend that patients pre-enroll in your Direct Care clinic before you make the switch. Feel out which patients are going to join you, and for those who aren’t ready to follow your lead yet, no worries. With the proper planning and commitment, you can help all your current patients find primary care, and run a profitable business.

If you’re considering a transition into this affordable, powerful alternative to the hurried world of fee-for-service medicine, make sure to visit IWantDirectCare.com. There, you can create a Clinic Account to let potential Direct Care patients know where you plan to offer cash-only medicine.

Posted by: AtlasMD

April 10, 2014

Red Tape By Any Other Name — How Medicare Drives High Healthcare Costs

Yes, Medicare pays the medical bills for millions of people 65 and older. And its benefit is tremendous. But recent studies show it plays another huge role in American healthcare: It helps set prices for everyone in the economy.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

March 27, 2014

That Didn’t Take Long. Congress Delays ICD-10 Legislation.

icd10

Congress is now going to vote to delay the ICD-10 implementation date.

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Posted by: AtlasMD

March 22, 2014

Five MORE Failures of the American Healthcare System

Second part in a series.

Supporting direct care is imperative to American healthcare success. It’s about empowering patient and doctor, and yes, taking back control from healthcare’s crony oligarchs: insurance & government. The fact is, if we use insurance for primary care — things like a physical, blood panels, monthly prescriptions, a splint for a sprained ankle — the only buyer and seller is the insurance company and/or the government. Why? It’s because we’re looking at a subsidized system involving the general public.

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