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Feds Approve $44K Doctor Reimbursement for Using Drchrono (YC W11) iPad App

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Re: Feds Approve $44K Doctor Reimbursement for Using Drchrono (YC W11) iPad App

#31

Post by kyro »

absconditus wrote: post #21
kyro wrote: post #4

Nice going, guys. As a med student, this sort of stuff really excites me. It seems like the government is willing to incentivize the adoption of electronic mobile technologies in clinical practice. To all who are making quips about the $44k incentive: the amount of money that is spent on resolving logistical, administrative, and medical errors because of disorganized, incomplete health records, yearly, is astronomica…

Unfortunately most institutions choose to simply automate their bad processes. The studies that were originally done to justify this incentive were based on hospitals such as Mayo that are simply better hospitals. Their use of electronic systems is not the reason why they are better.

Interesting. I'll take a look at the links you just posted. Thanks.

Re: Feds Approve $44K Doctor Reimbursement for Using Drchrono (YC W11) iPad App

#32

Post by nkassis »

cma wrote: post #11
theclay wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't tell if this is serious or not. Either way, it seems like we all benefit from devices that make doctors more effective.

> Either way, it seems like we all benefit from devices that make doctors more effective. The problem with your statement and approval is in no way justifies the magic $44K number. Why not a $2 billion incentive for each doctor that switches?

I'm assuming it's based on the perceived cost of the software in question(not just Dr Chrono but all EMR system). I was surprised that Dr Chrono doesn't charge around that for it's software. A lot of those packages have so few clients that it needs to be priced ridiculously to make it viable. This is mostly due to over kill design by committee that makes it's expensive to develop. Dr Chrono as a small shop probably has the advantage here.

Re: Feds Approve $44K Doctor Reimbursement for Using Drchrono (YC W11) iPad App

#33

Post by [deleted] »

jamesteow wrote: post #29
danilocampos wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, that's how you sell SaaS, right? Why reinvent the wheel? Good artists copy, great artists steal, etc. If you're selling SaaS, you've probably got more pressing concerns than coming up with a unique way to present your pricing tiers. Agree that the corner badge is a bit much, though.

I don't think there's anything wrong with taking a layout/framework... but at the very least, change the colors, button styling... make it yours instead of copying every single detail.

[deleted]

Re: Feds Approve $44K Doctor Reimbursement for Using Drchrono (YC W11) iPad App

#34

Post by jbenz »

jdietrich wrote: post #25
xal wrote: post #16

At this point it's downright comical. It seems like a significant percentage of startups these days go to market on a design that is directly copied from Shopify.com pricing page: http://www.shopify.com/signup https://drchrono.com/pricing/ Or worse, look at that little badge in the top right and compare it to the one at www.shopify.com frontpage.

That style substantially pre-dates Shopify. It's a fairly inevitable consequence of the tools available and A/B testing. Everyone is working from the same basic starting point and testing everything for conversion. Convergent evolution is remarkably powerful when you can iterate quickly. Whether people work it out for themselves or just copy it wholesale, that layout is used for a reason - because it drives conversio…

Copying the layout is one thing. Copying very specific details is another. Look at the tops of each pricing tab in both sites. The tabs with rounded corners. The subtle fades behind the pricing numbers. The 1-pixel-line-highlight above the price. The colors. (I know I'm basically describing the popular "letterpress" effect, but these examples are remarkably similar, even considering that they are both using a popular graphic style.) And clearly the corner badges are almost identical.

Re: Feds Approve $44K Doctor Reimbursement for Using Drchrono (YC W11) iPad App

#35

Post by harold »

tzs wrote: post #13
jemfinch wrote: post #7

Why is my tax money subsidizing software that should have to fight in the free market like the software most other developers write?

I think you might have misunderstood the article. Doctor's aren't being paid to use this particular software. Doctor's are being paid to convert to electronic records. To be eligible for that payment, they have to use systems that have been certified. Drchrono has been certified. Anyone else is free to write a competing application, get it certified, and compete in the same market.

Certification isn't cheap though. It's a definite barrier to entry at the outset. CCHIT seems to be structured to favor monolithic companies with deep pockets, and startups with lots of funding. The certification process also dictates to a degree the functionality of the app, which to my way of thinking may inhibit innovation.

Re: Feds Approve $44K Doctor Reimbursement for Using Drchrono (YC W11) iPad App

#36

Post by patja »

xal wrote: post #16

At this point it's downright comical. It seems like a significant percentage of startups these days go to market on a design that is directly copied from Shopify.com pricing page: http://www.shopify.com/signup https://drchrono.com/pricing/ Or worse, look at that little badge in the top right and compare it to the one at www.shopify.com frontpage.

If they were like shopify they would take a % of the doc's gross revenue. And fail to support basic features like having a customer/patient account on launch.

Re: Feds Approve $44K Doctor Reimbursement for Using Drchrono (YC W11) iPad App

#37

Post by pragone »

thesis wrote: post #2

Wow... incentives for making the doctors life easier? What a deal. Just what the medical industry needs... more breaks.

theclay is right - the benefit is to make physicians more efficient and to allow them access to tools that benefit the public as a whole. They shouldn't have to spend the majority of their time trying to negotiate insurances and medicare/medicaid (which, by the way, rarely pay the amount it can cost the physician) - they should be focusing on practicing medicine. Using EMRs/EHRs allows physicians to automate part of that process, as well as giving them more analysis of patients.

Re: Feds Approve $44K Doctor Reimbursement for Using Drchrono (YC W11) iPad App

#38

Post by rdl »

jemfinch wrote: post #7

Why is my tax money subsidizing software that should have to fight in the free market like the software most other developers write?

Medical records being computerized imposes short term costs on the providers (who are small offices -- the big guys moved to EHR years ago), bur provides private and public goods.

I'm basically a libertarian, but this is one of the least wasteful government programs. As a plus, it was built around open standards vs. trying to have a government standard ehr.

I'd like to see insurers match the meaningful use payments.

Re: Feds Approve $44K Doctor Reimbursement for Using Drchrono (YC W11) iPad App

#39

Post by iends »

To clarify, these subsidies come in the form of medicare/medicaid reimbursements. The reimbursements are also PER DOCTOR. For the doctors to receive the full amount, they'd have to be seeing medicare/medicaid patients and to start using the EHR system in the next year. After 2018 these incentives turn into penalties, in the form of less medicare/medicaid money received per patient.

Re: Feds Approve $44K Doctor Reimbursement for Using Drchrono (YC W11) iPad App

#40

Post by iends »

It's interesting that they decided to go with InfraGuard for certification rather than CCHIT. My graduate research involves healthcare certification standards (and computer security) but when I asked InfraGuard details about their certification process, they asked me to sign an NDA first (which I wouldn't/couldn't do).

CCHIT is more open, but unfortunately, it's controlled by large vendors in the the healthcare space.

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