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Increasing Value and Reducing Waste Means a Lower Cost for Patients

4/24/2016

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When describing how he felt compelled to provide high value/affordable care to patients, Dr. Josh Umbehr sums it up this way, 'I was young and dumb.'

He actually isn't dumb at all but was making a point that he had no interest in getting bogged down with the minutia of heavy paperwork, wasting time dealing with insurance companies that dictate the kind of care a patient receives and how they will pay for such care.

Dr. Umbehr, a family medicine physician, saw right from the start that there is a better way to provide meaningful care that his patients would appreciate. This is how he and his business partner, Doug Nunamaker, MD started Atlas.MD.

Access to Your Doctor...Anytime

Dr. Umbehr believes the best way to be there for his patients is to have a close, direct relationship with them. Atlas.MD provides a membership fee plan that gives patients 24/7 access to go over their health concerns. 

As Dr. Umbehr likes to describe, it's like comparing Netflix to Blockbuster. Whereas a customer had to travel to a Blockbuster to pay about $4 to $7 dollars for a couple of rentals at a time, Netflix forced a paradigm shift by offering 1,000's if not 10,000's of movies and shows instantly for under $8 a month. 

As far as Atlas.MD patients are concerned, they can:
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  • Schedule unlimited office or home visits. (No Copay)
  • Communicate with their doctor via text, phone, email, Facebook, Twitter etc.
  • Receive prescribed medication at wholesale costs. Atlas.md owns their own pharmacy which allows them to pass dramatic savings to their patients.
  • Receive diagnostic and procedural benefits at no extra costs. Including EKG, Holter Monitor, DEXA Scan, Body Fat Analysis, Spirometry, Breathing Treatments, Cryotherapy, Lesion Removal, Laceration Repair, just to name a few.

The above services and benefits are included with the patients monthly membership fee.

The first step in a patient taking control of their healthcare is deciding if the value that Atlas.MD provides is worth the monthly fee that they would agree to pay.

This is an example of how things should be in a free market healthcare system:

  • The patient decides for themselves without interference from a third party.

It is Atlas.MD's responsibility to fulfill the promises stated in their contract agreement with their patients.

Just like a consumer will stop going to a store that doesn't provide a good enough service, a patient is free to stop their membership at anytime if they believe their issues have not been addressed or if they have found better value from a healthcare facility elsewhere.


The patient has control of how they seek the care they need.

  • Direct communication with their Doctor as opposed to waiting in an office where they have to wait in line.

  • Wholesale prescription costs that can save patients more money than their actual Atlas.MD monthly fee.

It appears Atlas.MD has provided great value to their patients. Membership count has gone from 0 to 1500 patients in about 3 years as of 2014. The growth in their practice, to a great degree can be attributed to more patients seeking ways to reduce their overall healthcare costs in the age of the Affordable Care Act.

Patients are attracted to knowing exactly what their money is paying for. Their membership brings more than just financial value.

​Peace of mind and a sense of control brings added comfort as well. Reducing the stress involved in discussing their care as opposed to some Medicaid patients that become frustrated with the delays in getting their health issues resolved.
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It is not Atlas.MD's goal to get rid of health insurance companies however their system can reduce their patients health insurance costs dramatically.

This is because their practice covers more of the day to day issues that their patients can likely handle on their own which leaves just the major, more vital, catastrophic events to be covered by insurance companies. 

Regarding insurance premiums, Dr. Umbehr  states as a matter of fact that Atlas.MD has been able to reduce insurance premiums for families and employers by up to 60% in the first year.

Atlas.MD is located in Kansas. Fortunately all around the country there is a growing trend of the Direct Primary Care model that they have brought to the mainstream and continue to perfect. 

As this kind of concierge service grows. Patients that use this system of healthcare will have more time, energy and money for themselves to use as they see fit.

In other words, people make clear, direct choices with their money and time and they are able to quickly see the results of their decisions.

In Atlas.MD's case, they are busy bringing value that their members chose to have for themselves without any insurance company getting in the way.

Exactly as it should be in the free market model.

Ricky Moore
Independent Asset Management Agent

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The Direct Primary Care Podcast:
Dr Landon Roussel interviews Dr Josh Umbehr

For more of Dr. Roussel's Direct Primary Care Podcasts, visit his link here.
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Health Insurance Companies Cause Patients to Pay More

4/8/2016

 

Definition of Insurance:

Compensation provided to offset the loss caused by a potential event or outcome.
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Examples:
  • Car insurance will provide compensation to repair a car after an accident.

  • Life insurance can provide you with income if you become disabled or it can provide a lump sum cash amount to your family if you die. Giving them the opportunity to not have the extra burden of financial worries when you are gone.

One reason why health insurance is so expensive is because in addition to providing compensation to handle serious medical events in your life (which is what they should do), health insurance companies also involve themselves with things that you can probably handle on your own.  

​In fact, without your insurance company’s involvement your costs might be less expensive.

Prescription Drugs


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From CVS: 

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‘During 2011, 2010 and 2009, our pharmacy gross profit rate continued to benefit from an increase in generic drug revenues, which normally yield a higher gross profit rate than equivalent brand name drug revenues.‘

What CVS is telling us is that there is a lot of profit to be made with their growing generic drug revenues.

Is it because generic drugs are usually more expensive than brand name drugs?

No.  

The reason is because most of these generic drugs are paid for using a combination of a customer’s co-pay and the health insurance company’s negotiated rate. Pharmacies like CVS will not complain about this arrangement because their expected growth rate of generic drug prescriptions in 2011 was $40.5 billion dollars.

When plenty of generic drug pills costing only .30 cents or less there is a huge markup even when the customer only has a monthly copay of just $5 or $10.  


​There are many cases where you can save money by paying a lower cost directly to your pharmacy and avoid the higher costs arranged by your health insurance’s negotiated payment arrangement. 
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In the video below Dr. David Belk covers examples of inflated prescription drug prices caused by insurance companies' intervention.

For information on how you can possibly save your money on prescription drugs,
visit http://truecostofhealthcare.net/



Conclusion

Based on the information provided in Dr. Belk's video above, customers would be better off learning the true cost of prescriptions without their insurance company's involvement and if they can pay a lower price for the same prescription then all the better for the customer, especially the elderly that are on a fixed income. 

When insurance companies interfere and cause the price of prescriptions to rise they are no longer providing true insurance protection. 

Raising the expenses that a customer has to pay is not insurance at all.

While politicians argue back and forth on our health care system. They should all remember or learn what the true definition of insurance actually is.
 

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