Posted by: AtlasMD

June 2, 2014

Doctors Are Talking: EHRs Destroy the Patient Encounter

KLAS, a national firm that measures EHR vendor performance, conducts an annual poll of healthcare providers, not only about the quality of their EHRs but also about make-or-break issues such as training, implementation, and support.

The gripes cover three main areas: One, EHRs have made the patient encounter far more annoying and complex than it ever was before.

Two, many physicians feel that EHRs take doctors who were trained to be independent thinkers and constrain their ability to make independent decisions, causing them to feel like data entry clerks, with a computer telling them how to practice medicine.

Last but not least, a large number of physicians feel that EHRs erode the doctor-patient relationship by creating a barrier between the two.

Read more

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.

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

May 25, 2014

Want To Practice Good Medicine? Get Naked And Have Some Fun.

Early on, Dr. Pamela Wible was warned by her doctor family, “Don’t go into medicine.”

Of course, she went into medicine, and was met with grim circumstances — doctor after doctor she knew, killing themselves.

Now, in light of assembly-line medicine killing the souls of doctors, Dr. Wible has opened an ideal clinic that focuses on the patient-doctor relationship.

And she’s having a fun doing it.

Posted by: Josh Umbehr, M.D.

April 23, 2014

Yes, Being A Doctor Became Miserable. That’s Why I Became A Direct Care Doctor Instead.

Originally posted on KevinMD.com

“Nine of 10 doctors discourage others from joining the profession,” writes Daniela Drake on the Daily Beast.

And stats say that by the end of 2014, ~300 physicians commit suicide.

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

March 31, 2014

Welcome To The Broken American Healthcare System. Where Dissatisfied Docs Can’t Provide Quality Care.

According to Afshine Ash Emrani, MD, the worst news in healthcare isn’t antibiotic resistance, drug-drug interactions, hospital-acquired infections, and definitely not the alarming rate of obesity in our youth.

No, the worst news is the increasing number of dissatisfied physicians.

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

March 17, 2014

It’s Hard To Get Burnt Out On Medicine When A Patient Brings You These

donuts

Mmmm, they’re even St. Patty’s Day-themed. See, this is what happens when you cut the red tape — happy patients, happy doctors, and donuts.

Posted by: AtlasMD

March 2, 2014

Healthcare Is Broken. But Throwing Pills At It Won’t Solve The Problem.

Kevin Pho knows how to craft a headline. He says on Kevin MD, that patient satisfaction is all the rage, and that it might actually kill.

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

September 29, 2013

Hands Up — Who’s Bringing Their iPad into the Examination Room?

The Direct Primary Care Journal shared findings recently about the prevalence of iPad usage by physicians. According to the report, the most common activity of physicians who use an electronic health record (EHR) and use a smartphone or tablet is “sending and receiving emails.” The second most frequent activity among tablet users is “accessing EHRs (51% daily).” Compare that with just 7% of physicians using their smartphone to access EHRs.

VIEW THE COMPLETE BREAKDOWN OF RESEARCH FINDINGS ON THE DPCJ’S WEBSITE

We’ve highlighted some of the results here:

Read more

Posted by: AtlasMD

August 12, 2013

Dr. Josh Breaks Down Every Facet Of Direct Care In His Latest Interview

The Objective Standard spoke with Dr. Josh and captured a comprehensive, and digestible, overview of direct care. The conversation was conducted and transcribed by journalist Ari Armstrong and is currently available as a PDF file for private use and distribution. We’re excited to share it personally through this week’s Atlas MD newsletter (will be included as an attachment). If you haven’t signed up for our weekly direct care updates, you can do so here (make sure to check the newsletter box). Or, if you like, email hello[at]atlas.md to request your copy of the interview.

The Objective Standard is a quarterly periodical written from an Objectivist perspective (Objectivism being Ayn Rand’s philosophy of reason, egoism, and laissez-faire capitalism). Josh’s interview is slated for Fall publication.

Posted by: AtlasMD

July 25, 2013

Even Satisfied Patients Think Direct Care Is “Too Good To Be True”

Even Satisfied Patients Think Direct Care Is “Too Good To Be True”

Dave Chase continues his Forbes expose awakening business and industry types to the benefits of direct primary care (DPC). Now having interviewed more and more DPC consumers, the recurring theme to their comments is something like “it’s too good to be true.” That’s a concern we had. You have this straight-forward, commonsense approach that saves everyone time, cuts insurance expenditures, cuts downstream high-cost treatments and can make doctors more money… The people who experience it love it. But how do we convince other people that it’s really happening, when happy patients can’t even believe it?

Read more