Plum Health Blog
Dr. Raquel Orlich is a Family Medicine Doctor in Detroit Michigan
Dr. Raquel Orlich is a Family Medicine Doctor in Detroit Michigan
Dr. Raquel Orlich is a family medicine doctor and she has been practicing with our clinic, Plum Health DPC, in Corktown Detroit for the past 2 years and 8 months. She provides excellent, compassionate care for our patients at Plum Health and delivers comprehensive care for all of her patients.
Dr. Raquel Orlich is Board Certified in Family Medicine and Board Certified in Obesity Medicine. She loves helping her patients with musculoskeletal issues via the use of Osteopathic Manual Medicine (OMM), she enjoys engaging in women’s health care issues, and she enjoys addressing overweight and obesity issues as she helps her patients lose weight and become healthier.
Further, Dr. Raquel Orlich’s patients love the care that she delivers. This is best captured by a recent Google review from one such patient:
By far the best in health care I've ever dealt with. I was only a patient here under a year, but I gleaned so much info and confidence in my health journey. I moved to another state and am constantly wishing I could just hop in to Plum! I saw Raquel Orlich specifically, and she was a joy as well as being supremely comfortable, knowledgeable and communicative. Every test was returned with detailed results so I was never once confused or doing my own research or guessing at how to correct the issue. She always heard me out and was willing to explore even if I was wrong. I was never brushed off and I usually left feeling confident. Chris was amazing and so welcoming as well and made all the labs a breeze. I'd honestly stand outside with a sandwich board on waiving cars into the parking lot like H&R block in tax season if they wanted me to. 🤣 They are so worth it.
Further, Dr. Orlich has been with us for 2 years and 8 months, so she knows many of the resources available to patients here in Detroit and beyond. This allows her to guide patients to the best care options and reach their optimal health.
Thank you Dr. Orlich for all that you do for our clinic and our patients!
The above photo was taken in March 2019 - Dr. Orlich was completing the last few months of her residency program and she was coming by to pick up a fresh new white coat and her new business cards. This was an exciting moment and it was so great to welcome her as part of our Plum Health team.
How we manage Urinary Tract Infections at Plum Health DPC in Detroit
How we manage Urinary Tract Infections at Plum Health DPC in Detroit
At Plum Health DPC in Detroit Michigan, we help our patients with several different medical problems, from high blood pressure, to diabetes, weight loss, and urinary tract infections and so many more.
At our office, it costs about $3 to run a urinalysis and about $6 for a urine culture. If you’d like to test for chlamydia and gonorrhea, it costs about $23. We usually test for this as there can be overlap in symptoms for a urinary tract infection and a sexually transmitted infection. We also run a pregnancy test for free, to make sure that it’s safe to give antibiotics.
As for treatment of urinary tract infections, we typically use antibiotics like Bactrim (trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole) or Nitrofurantoin. The Bactrim is about $0.86 (86 cents) for a course of therapy and the Nitrofurantoin is about $2 for a course of treatment.
Thanks for reading and watching, and have a wonderful day.
-Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
Plum Health DPC Highlighted in the Detroit Free Press
Plum Health DPC Highlighted in the Detroit Free Press
Today, Plum Health DPC was highlighted in an article by the Detroit Free Press. in 2017, we won $50,000 from the Motor City Match program and we used those funds to build out a beautiful, community-facing office in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. This clinic helps us deliver affordable and accessible healthcare services in Detroit and beyond.
It’s hard to measure the impact that we’ve had in the community beyond patients served, money saved on labs, money saved on medications, COVID test run, and COVID vaccines given. But, this article examines economic data and tries to discern if programs that support businesses like ours are worth it. You can read the full article, here.
Special thanks to Chanel Stitt on Twitter: @ByChanelStitt and photographs by Eric Seals with the Detroit Free Press.
-Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
Dr. Paul Thomas at Plum Health in Detroit on Friday, August 27, 2021. Plum Health was a Motor City Match winner of $50,000 in March of 2017 and the direct primary care office located at the new row of businesses at The Corner where Tiger Stadium was and is rapidly growing with over 1,000 patients.
Photo credit to ERIC SEALS, DETROIT FREE PRESS
Welcome Dr. Leslie Rabaut to Plum Health DPC!
Join us as we WElcome Dr. Leslie Rabaut
Join us as we celebrate Dr. Rabaut, as she is an integral part of our Plum Health team!
She joined us in February 2021, but we couldn't have a proper celebration due to the pandemic.
Come out to The Congregation on Thursday as we welcome her to our practice! Our celebration will start at 5:30 pm and go until 7:30 pm. The Congregation is located at 9321 Rosa Parks Blvd, Detroit, MI 48206. There are plenty of food and beverage options - coffee, water, sodas, tea, wine, beer, cocktails, etc… as well as sandwiches, salads, and snacks. Full menu is here.
No need to RSVP, we’ll see you there!
-Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
More about dr. Leslie Rabaut
Leslie Rabaut, DO, is a board certified family medicine physician in Detroit. She practices high quality care that is individualized to each patient. Her interests include functional medicine, preventative medicine, and integrative therapies that work with a patient’s natural physiology to encourage healing. She enjoys working with patients on lifestyle factors that impact health and disease, such as stress, sleep, physical activity, nutrition, and social relationships. She believes in working together with patients as a team to help them achieve their personal health goals. Dr. Rabaut is fluent in Spanish and English.
Map for The Congregation Detroit for our celebration with Dr. Leslie Rabaut on Thursday June 24th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.
Dr. Paul Thomas Talks Direct Primary Care on the Powers Report Podcast
This week, Dr. Paul Thomas was featured on the Powers Report Podcast. In the podcast Dr. Thomas and Janis Powers talk about the pros and cons of Direct Primary Care.
Janis Powers talks in depth with one of direct primary care’s (DPC) most committed practitioners, Dr. Paul Thomas of Plum Health DPC. In this episode, Dr. Thomas gives some great examples of the benefits of DPC, describing his in-depth relationships with patients. Powers also probes some of the challenges of scaling DPC, given the exclusivity of both insurance and provider networks in America.
In our opinion, Direct Primary Care solves so many challenges in the primary care system. Direct primary care addresses long wait times to see the doctor and the inflated cost of care.
Direct primary care is different than concierge medicine. Direct primary care is a monthly membership for health care and it usually costs about $50 to $89 monthly. With DPC, patients are not required to carry insurance, although most members have some form of insurance coverage. Concierge Medicine is billed annually and usually costs $2,400 per year. Concierge doctors require a premium health insurance coverage to expedite referrals and minimize prior authorization requests. In the past, our blog has covered this in depth, here.
In the podcast, we discuss how we’re able to save our patients 50% to 90% on medications, lab work, and imaging services. We buy medications at wholesale and pass on the cost savings to our patients, we draw blood at cost and pass on the savings to our patients, and we have found local imaging centers with very affordable cash-pay rates for services. This cost savings can make a big impact on folks with a limited income and limited access to high quality health care resources. We were recently featured on Channel 7 Action News about how we save money on prescription meds.
Thanks for reading and listening, and have a great day,
-Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
Three Excellent Family Physicians in Detroit Michigan Accepting New Patients
Detroit Primary Care Doctors Accepting New Patients
Paul Thomas MD, Raquel Orlich DO, and Leslie Rabaut DO are family medicine doctors accepting new patients in Detroit, Michigan. Their practice is called Plum Health and they see patients using a membership model for health care. Patients pay a low monthly fee to be a part of Plum Health, and with that membership, receive excellent primary care services.
Patients can come into the office whenever they want to be seen - we guarantee a same-day or next-day appointment for our Plum Health members. We also offer easy communication, with phone calls, text message, and email access to the doctors.
To see what all the buzz is about, you can enroll yourself, your family, or your small business into the Plum Health service via this link.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful week!
The Doctors at Plum Health DPC are Raquel Orlich DO, Paul Thomas MD, and Leslie Rabaut DO. They are all board certified family medicine physicians and they are all accepting new patients.
Connect with Dr. Paul Thomas on LinkedIn
If you’d like to connect with Dr. Paul Thomas on LinkedIn, follow this link:
Reaching out to Young People with the Coronavirus Vaccine
How to Reach Young People with the Coronavirus Vaccine
Presently, young adults have a wait-and-see mentality when it comes to the coronavirus vaccination. According to Kaiser Health News, young adults, ages 18-29, were most likely to be in this “wait and see” group, at 25% of respondents.
One young adult trying to change this wait-and-see attitude among her peers is Christina Zerka, an undergraduate/pre-medical student at the University of Michigan.
She started a campaign called Save Summer 2021, through which she advocates for vaccine acceptance among young people, with the goal of returning to fun and engaging public events, like concerts, once herd immunity is reached.
The Save Summer 2021 campaign can be found on Instagram, YouTube, and their own website.
In this interview, we talk about the Save Summer 2021 campaign and how we can make sure that all groups within our country have access to the best information around coronavirus and the vaccine.
Thanks for reading and have a great day,
- Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
Plum Health DPC Ribbon Cutting - One Year Later
On December 12th, 2019, we had a fabulous event at our Plum Health DPC office in Corktown - we officially cut the ribbon and opened our space on Michigan Avenue to the surrounding community.
Our patients, friends, families, neighboring businesses, community leaders, members of the news media, and Mayor Mike Duggan were on hand to make it a very special occasion.
This space serves us so well - it holds all of the medications that we need for our patients, it holds all of the equipment like EKGs that we need for patient care, it houses all of the laboratory equipment and blood draw supplies that we need to lower the cost of lab work for our patients.
One year later, our only regret is that we didn’t build a larger office! The only thing we’re missing is a little more space to accommodate more doctors and therefore serve more patients.
That aside, we look back on December 2019 with a big smile for the fond memories, as it marked the beginning of something great, and that is to serve our patients and the broader community with affordable and accessible healthcare services.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day,
-Dr. Paul Thomas, Dr. Raquel Orlich, Dr. Jamie Qualls, and Medical Assistant Chris Lake with Plum Health DPC in Detroit Michigan
Dr. Raquel Orlich and Dr. Paul Thomas of Plum Health DPC gather with members of the community to celebrate the ribbon cutting of Plum Health DPC in Detroit, Michigan. The office is at 1620 Michigan Ave, Suite 125, Detroit, Michigan 48216.
Bis Das Si Cito Das
Bis das si cito das is one of my favorite phrases that I learned while studying Latin in high school. It literally translates to “twice you give if quickly you give” and it more or less means “you give twice if you give quickly.”
This idea has stuck with me more than a decade later and it is part of the ethos of our work at Plum Health and as a direct primary care doctor.
When a patient has a problem, the best time to address it is now. If one of our patients calls our office, we do our best to answer the phone right away. When one of our patients texts us or emails us, we do our best to respond with in a few minutes or a few hours. We guarantee a response within 24 hours for these sort of digital communications.
When we give information and guidance to our patients quickly, it’s worth more to them than having to wait hours and hours or maybe even days and days for the appropriate care and guidance. That’s one of the big reasons why our patients stay with us long term - we offer unrivaled speediness when it comes to responding to their health concerns.
Therefore, bis das si cito das.
Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day,
-Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
Bis das si cito das or you give twice if you give quickly is a guiding principal of our practice at Plum Health DPC.
Conversations about Direct Primary Care with a Senior Undergraduate Student at Michigan State
Conversations about Direct Primary Care with a Senior Undergraduate Student at Michigan State
Pre-medical students have a ton of questions about their future and their careers in medicine. As an undergraduate, this can often be a black box - you can see doctors on the other side, but it's hard to look closely at the medical school and residency training processes.
Often times, I'll chat with pre-medical students, medical students, and residents who have insightful questions about medicine and the future of health care in our country. Karan, a Senior Undergraduate student or a pre-medical student at Michigan State University, allowed me to record our conversation and to share it with other pre-medical students like him.
We had a wide ranging conversation as we discuss Direct Primary Care, Plum Health DPC, what inspired me to be a doctor, how to prepare for medical school interviews, and more. Here’s a list of what we touched on during this conversation:
How to scale a direct primary care practice
What does a direct primary care doctor do with their time each day
How a diverse group of doctors can best serve the needs of our communities
Building a team that reflects the needs of our population
Physician burnout and what may be causing physician burnout among doctors
Patient panel sizes in primary care and how they are different between direct primary care and fee-for-service medicine
Price points for direct primary care practices
How direct primary care bridges the gap between Medicaid and private insurance plans
How direct primary care practices can help people across the income spectrum
How direct primary care practices can lower the cost of medical care by preventing emergency room care and urgent care visits
How the Affordable Care Act codified perverse incentives in the health care ecosystem
How the limited free market in the health care space drives up prices in health care
The downsides of having health insurance provided via employment and employment contracts
How we can push towards transparent pricing at a grassroots movement
How has the Coronavirus Pandemic affected Direct Primary Care practices
How can pre-medical students improve their chances of getting into medical school and what kind of activities can help them considering the limited opportunities of shadowing during the Coronavirus pandemic
What inspired Dr. Paul Thomas to go into primary care medicine
How will the health care system change over time, especially in the context of the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic
The three factors that make a career in medicine fulfilling
The real reason why you should pursue a career in medicine
This conversation was a little bit different than the typical videos that populate my YouTube channel and associated blog, but I think you'll find this information valuable and enjoyable. My goal with this is to uplift the doctor and patient relationship, and help to doctors and patients to find greater understanding of each other, and I think this video helps with this process.
After our conversation, the undergraduate student sent me this note:
"As someone who is extremely excited about going into medicine, the constant messaging to us about how the healthcare system is broken, how as doctors we aren't set up to serve our community, but rather to line the pockets of insurance companies, was very discouraging. It was a breath of fresh air to meet with you to see that there are still doctors who love what they do and are working to help fix a broken system and provide the best care to individuals. " - Karan, Undergraduate Student at Michigan State University
Thanks for reading and watching, and a big thanks to Karan for engaging in this sort of discourse,
- Dr. Paul Thomas, MD of Plum Health DPC
Healthy Food, Nutrients, Cognition, and Emotions in Detroit
Healthy Foods and Nutrients that can help with Cognition and Emotion
Today I’m talking about health food and nutrients and how they can impact your emotions and cognition. I love gardening and pulling tomatoes, peas, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, and squash fresh from the vine. We have a relatively small garden, three raised beds, but they churn out a good amount of food each year. Tomatoes usually do the best, but we had a surprisingly robust batch of peppers this year.
We use the tomatoes in dishes like salads and ratatouille and the peppers can season many different dishes. Here’s some photos:
Without further ado, let’s get into some healthy foods that can help with your brain health and emotional health.
Omega 3 Fatty Acids
Omega 3 fatty acids help to delay cognitive decline in the elderly and can help with mood disorders. Found in wild caught salmon, flax seeds, krill, kiwi, butternut, walnut
Vitamin D
Vitamin D can help preserve cognition in the elderly. Vitamin D can be found in fish liver, fatty fish, mushrooms, milk, soy milk, and some fortified foods like cereal grains. AND you can get more vitamin D by hanging out in the sunshine.
B Vitamins
B Vitamins like B6 and B12 has positive effects on memory performance in women of various ages. Vitamin B6 is found in a wide variety of foods, including: pork poultry, such as chicken or turkey, some fish, peanuts, soy beans, wheatgerm, oats, and bananas.
Vitamin C and E
Combinatoin of Vitamin C and E can help to delay cognitive decline in the elderly. Sources of Vitamin C include Citrus fruits, tomatoes and tomato juice, potatoes, red and green peppers, kiwifruit, broccoli, strawberries, Brussels sprouts, and cantaloupe.
Want to learn more and read some relevant research? Check out this article:
Dr. Paul Thomas Interviewed on the Talk2MeDoc Podcast
Dr. Paul Thomas Interviewed on the Talk2MeDoc Podcast
This month, I had a great interview with Andrew Tisser of the Talk2MeDoc podcast. We discussed the direct primary care model and why it’s beneficial for patients and why it’s beneficial for doctors. We talk about primary care, access to care, health disparities, physician burnout, and so much more. Here’s what they had to say:
Join Andrew Tisser with Dr. Paul Thomas as they talk about an exciting new model of primary care. In this episode, you’ll learn:
What is Direct Primary Care?
Benefits of DPC to patients and physicians alike
How to negotiate wholesale prices on labs and imaging
Much more!
Here’s that full episode and below I take a deeper dive into some of these topics.
The Private Medical Practice is Not Dead
During medical school, medical students are told that the only way to have a career in medicine is via an employed model. That simply isn’t true. The private medical practice is not dead. In fact, once you get outside of the health insurance model, the private medical practice is thriving.
When I first started our direct primary care practice back in November of 2016, there were only about 400 practices across the country. Now, there’s over 1,300 direct primary care practices, and the movement continues to grow.
Why? Because patients are looking for kind, caring, and thoughtful physicians who have enough time to fully address all of their concerns. And guess what? The Direct Primary Care model allows doctors to have the time and space to take care of their patients in a comprehensive manner with enough time to fully listen.
Doctor, Heal Thy Self
For too long, primary care physicians have been battling burnout and moral injury by practicing in the fee-for-service model. This has lead to many doctors experiencing burnout and compassion fatigue. As many of 54% of physicians are affected by burnout.
In this podcast episode I make the analogy of half of your lights in your house burning out. If this were to happen, you wouldn’t change each individual lightbulb. Instead, you’d call the big energy company and inquire about the electrical grid in your city, or you’d call up an electrician and have them evaluate the electrical panel in your home.
Yet, when 54% of doctors face burnout, the hospital systems and insurance companies tell them to engage in meditation exercises, retreats, or self-care activities. Sometimes they just tell the doctors to “be more resilient.”
This approach is a slap in the face for hard working and compassionate doctors across our country.
What needs to happen is a comprehensive, systems-based reform of our health insurance and medical care payment systems that uplift the doctor patient relationship rather than forcing doctors into a one-size-fits-all model of high-volume, low-quality patient visits.
About Paul Thomas, MD:
Dr. Paul Thomas is a board-certified family medicine physician practicing in Corktown Detroit. His practice is Plum Health DPC, a Direct Primary Care service that is the first of its kind in Detroit and Wayne County. His mission is to deliver affordable, accessible health care services in Detroit and beyond. He has been featured on WDIV-TV Channel 4, WXYZ Channel 7, Crain's Detroit Business and CBS Radio. He has been a speaker at TEDxDetroit. He is a graduate of Wayne State University School of Medicine and now a Clinical Assistant Professor. Finally, he is an author of two books Direct Primary Care: The Cure for Our Broken Healthcare System and Startup DPC: How to Start and Grow Your Direct Primary Care Practice
You can find Dr. Thomas.
Website: https://www.plumhealthdpc.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlumHealthDPC/
Dr. Paul Thomas Speaks with Wayne State Medical Students About Lowering the Cost of Health Care
This week, I was invited to speak with Wayne State University School of Medicine students who are interested in the Direct Primary Care model and who are interested in how the model makes health care more affordable and accessible.
During this session, I talked with the students about the current problems in the United States Health Care System, the challenges that doctors face when taking care of patients, and the solutions that the Direct Primary Care model offers.
The students asked some excellent questions during the question and answer session.
Thanks for watching,
- Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC in Detroit, Michigan
Dr. Paul Thomas Interviewed on Leading the Rounds Podcast
Recently, I was interviewed on Leading the Rounds Podcast. In this episode, two medical students from Wayne State University School of Medicine, Peter Dimitrion and Caleb Sokolowski, interviewed me to talk about direct primary care and leadership in medicine.
We discuss the difference between fee for service medicine and direct primary care. In the fee-for-service model, patients need to have an insurance plan to access health care. This leaves the roughly 27 million Americans who do not have health insurance vulnerable and without access to health care. I started my direct primary care practice because I believe that healthcare should be affordable and accessible for everyone.
During my residency when I was employed by a large hospital system, I hated to see the front desk staff turn away uninsured patients. I knew that there had to be a better, more compassionate way to deliver health care. When I discovered direct primary care, I knew it was the best option for me to start my own practice and deliver health care services on my own terms, for the good of my patients and for the good of my community.
We discuss the difference between direct primary care and concierge medicine. In short, concierge medicine costs $2,400 annually and requires a health insurance plan to participate. In direct primary care, patients pay about $65 monthly and they do not have to have an additional insurance coverage, although it’s highly recommended. I talk about this topic in depth in this blog post and YouTube video.
We also talk about why patients would want to choose direct primary care and why doctors are choosing to practice in the direct primary care model. Patients choose direct primary care practices like Plum Health in Detroit because they can have a genuine relationship with their physician - our patients know that they can call, text, or email their doctor any time they need to. This accessibility gives our patients peace of mind. Patients choose direct primary care because they know the cost of their care, and there are no surprise bills - patients often save 50 to 90% on their medications, lab work, and imaging services.
Doctors are choosing direct primary care because they can spend more time with their patients and less time with their computers.
“I went into medicine to spend time with my patients, not to spend time with my computer.” - Dr. Paul Thomas of Plum Health DPC on Leading the Rounds Podcast
Doctors can also liberate themselves from insurance company mandates, and practice medicine on their own terms, maximizing the benefits for their patients. Hear about all this and more in the episode, here:
From Wayne State University School of Medicine:
Wayne State University School of Medicine students Peter Dimitrion and Caleb Sokolowski have jumped into the popular world of podcasting as the creators and hosts of “Leading the Rounds: A Medical Leadership Podcast.”
“We began this podcast because we are both passionate about leadership development, which is its own field and needs to be studied like pathology, biology and more,” said Dimitrion, a second-year M.D./Ph.D. student. “There are few resources for medical trainees that are accessible and affordable. Leadership development is overlooked in contemporary medical education, yet medical students and physicians find themselves in leadership roles from the beginning of their training. Other industries, such as the military and business, have formal leadership development courses, but physicians receive no formal leadership training as a part of their medical curriculum. We want to meet this need and improve our comprehension and understanding of leadership principles.”
His co-host is also in his second year of the M.D. program. Dimitrion and Sokolowski published seven episodes so far, with guests including Army Maj. Cal Walters and Paul Thomas, M.D., a Class of 2013 alumnus and founder of the direct primary care clinic Plum Health in Detroit.
The show will focus on three facets they believe are critical to their development as future medical leaders: leadership development, personal development and health systems literacy.
“Leading the Rounds” is available on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
“We also have a website, www.leadingtherounds.com, which we are constantly updating with links to our episodes and resources for anyone who is interested in following up on the ideas that we talk about in our podcast. People can also connect with us on Instagram @Leadingtherounds,” Dimitrion added.
Plum Health Takes Care of Patients of All Ages and Stages
Doctors at Plum Health DPC take care of Patients of All Ages and Stages
This week we welcomed the newest member of the Plum Pack, Zaya! 👶 We saw this bundle of joy for her newborn appointment and she was healthy and had a great cry (a sign of vitality).
At Plum Health, we take care of patients of all ages and stages. Our youngest member is now 4 days old and our oldest member is 93 years young 😊
We’re family medicine doctors 🥼 and we’re trained to take care of people as they age and transition through life’s many challenges
Happy birthday Zaya 🎁 🎈 🎂 and here’s to your health!
Thanks for letting us share this moment, and 📸 photo cred to @goodlifedetroit
Patient Ages at Plum Health DPC
At Plum Health, the vast majority of our patients are ages 18 to 39 (55% of our panel) or ages 40 to 64 (32% of our panel). However, we take care of children or pediatric patients ages 0 to 17 (9% of our panel) as well as geriatric patients ages 65 and above (4% of our panel). See below:
At Plum Health, the vast majority of our patients are ages 18 to 39 (55% of our panel) or ages 40 to 64 (32% of our panel). However, we take care of children or pediatric patients ages 0 to 17 (9% of our panel) as well as geriatric patients ages 65 and above (4% of our panel).
If you’d like to sign up to be one of our patients, you can enroll here - all ages welcome!
- Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
Primary Care Doctor Delivers Medication by Bike in Corktown Detroit
Sometimes we’re able to go above and beyond for our patients at Plum Health. This week, one of our patients was having an allergy flare up and needed a refill of some allergy meds, but couldn’t make it into the office because of a scheduling conflict. So, I rode my bike over to their home and delivered the medications. It’s a little thing, but it makes a big difference!
Here’s the LinkedIn post I made about the medication delivery in Corktown:
If you’re looking for compassionate family medicine or primary care doctors in Detroit, you can sign up for our service, here.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day,
-Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
Plum Health Office Vandalized, but we will continue to serve
Plum Health Office Vandalized
Saturday, our medical office was vandalized by a man with a can of spray paint.
This is an unfortunate event, but it doesn’t define who we are. We are a family medicine practice and we believe that health care should be affordable and accessible. We exist to actively lower the cost of healthcare for our neighbors in Detroit and beyond. We are successful because we’ve met an unmet need in the community and we’ve been embraced by people in the community.
In response to seeing the vandalism on Twitter, I replied in a tweet: “While we respect your right to protest, and we agree with the reasons why you’re protesting, please don’t vandalize the office where we lower the cost of healthcare for Detroit residents #PlumHealth.”
On Sunday, we’ll wash off the graffiti and on Monday we’ll continue to see our patients and continue to serve our community. Paint washes off easily, but the journey to justice in our country and the healing of racial injustices will take more intentionality and sustained effort.
Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day.
-Paul Thomas, MD
P.S. Some people have reached out and asked how they can help. Here’s a few ways:
work towards making our community better, safer, and kinder. There are so many Detroit-based non-profits and groups that you can volunteer with or donate to, and many of them have been devastated by the Coronavirus. Here’s a few of my favorites:
Grace in Action - a network of youth-run collectives and worker-owned cooperatives rooted in Southwest Detroit
the Downtown Boxing Gym - providing Detroit youth with educational and physical activities (I volunteered with them as a ring-side Doctor)
the Detroit Historical Society (they did a fantastic exhibition on Detriot ‘67)
Eii (equitable Internet Initiaitve of Southwest Detroit address digital justice), a smaller initiative, is working hyper locally to address the gap in access to information
join the protests and ensure that they remain non-violent and non-destructive.
If you’ve used our service in the past, or believe in our mission of delivering affordable, accessible healthcare, you can leave us a review, here.
If you want to be a part of our service or if you want to sponsor a family member or a friend who needs this type of medical service, you can sign up, here.
Dr. Paul Thomas' Statement on George Floyd
This week has been a tumultuous week for our communities and our country. I’m proud to be an ally to those who face racial injustice and race-based discrimination and violence.
The vast majority of people were supportive of the post, but there were some negative comments. One person on Facebook said: “This was a terrible event. Likewise, Dr Thomas, there is no professional reason for you to comment on this.”
In response, I said “I respectfully disagree. I serve a diverse group of patients, some of whom have been exposed to trauma that can negatively affect their health outcomes. By communicating my understanding of these realities, I aim to help others and support those who've been affected by traumatic events like this. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29019632/”
Thanks for reading,
-Dr. Paul Thomas
Doctors Embracing Startup DPC Book on Social Media
Startup DPC Book Gets Great Feedback on Social Media
This week, we’ve been getting a lot of love for the Startup DPC Book on Social Media.
Let me preface this post by stating a few things. First, I’m a physician on a mission to delivery affordable and accessible healthcare here in Detroit and beyond. Second, I’m an educator. Not only am I a clinical assistant professor at Wayne State University School of Medicine, but I also teach in other ways. One of those ways is by teaching other doctors how to successfully start and grow their own direct primary care practices.
I truly believe that direct primary care is a better way of serving our patients - we have more time to listen to our patients, we have more tools to deliver compassionate care, and we can actively lower the cost of medical care for our patients. Therefore, I want to reach as many doctors as possible with this information.
My physician colleagues have responded and they’ve sent me some tremendous feedback via social media. Below are a few of those posts!
Direct Primary Care Doctor Inspired by Startup DPC Book
Recently, Rebecca Berens, MD of Vida Family Medicine in Houston Texas sent out very kind post on Instagram. She recently read the Startup DPC book, Startup DPC: How to Start and Grow Your Direct Primary Care Practice and she posted a quote on her Instagram that I used in the book from John C Maxwell, “Growth is the great separator between those who succeed and those who do not. When I see a person beginning to separate themselves from the pack, it's almost always due to personal growth.”
This is the quote that I used at the beginning of Chapter 6 on How to Prepare for Direct Primary Care While in Residency. I used the quote here because I believe that new doctors and residents have the greatest opportunity to learn a new system of care, and they have a unique opportunity to adopt the DPC model and the DPC mindset before getting enmeshed in the dysfunctional fee-for-service system as an employed physician.
Here’s what Dr. Berens had to say:
I love this quote that Dr. Paul Thomas from @plumhealthdpc added to his new book, #startupdpc Direct Primary Care is a new concept to many patients (and even doctors), but it was truly personal growth that led me to take this path. I was so tired of churning patients through the system in 10 minute increments, never having enough time to really help them in the way I knew I could. Meanwhile, I was arriving home to my family emotionally drained and physically exhausted. Becoming a mother made me realise that I needed to do better, for my patients and my family. Starting your own business is a huge risk (even without a pandemic throwing a wrench in the mix!) but in the end all of the stress and uncertainty it will be worth it.
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Does spending more time at home during pandemic have you reflecting too? How have you grown over the last few months?
TESTIMONIAL FOR STARTUP DPC BOOK AND COURSES
Post from Dr. Prisiliano Salas about the Startup DPC Book and Startup DPC Courses:
Just finished a course by Paul Thomas, M.D. from Plum Health DPC and #startupdpc. Let me just say that Paul knows his stuff. I met him in 2018 at the Family Medicine DPC Summit. He gave a lecture about his experience starting a #DirectPrimaryCare practice and using social media marketing strategies. I've been following him on/off during this time but had not fully made the jump onto social platforms the way he describes it. Now two years later his practice growth is testament to this method. He's full and added a new doc! On top of that he remains faithful to his mission, to empower the #DPC community with his knowledge and reproducible success. I'm now ready to embrace social media to share my knowledge and experience with my patients (though still working up to youtube to get more camera ready 😎 ). Take one of his courses or read one of his 2 books, he won't disappoint. Keep the momentum going!
Thank you so much for the shout out Dr. Salas! and best of luck with your direct primary care practice. I know that you’ll have every advantage on attracting new patients after taking our Sales Funnel course.
Regina Allen Hardin, MD of Modern Medicine made this post on LinkedIn:
Medical Student gives a shout out to the Startup DPC book
This week, Startup DPC got a nice shout out from Pretty Girl Practice on Instagram. If you’re a direct primary care doctor, social media applications like Facebook and Instagram can be great platforms to reach new audiences and also to improve your branding. If you don’t have a Facebook Page or an Instagram page for your direct primary care practice, consider making one to improve how people in your community perceive your brand and your business. I teach doctors how to do this, step-by-step, in the Sales Funnel course on our website, here.
Here’s what Pretty Girl Practice on Instagram had to say about direct primary care:
You pay a monthly membership fee (like Netflix) to your Doctor
You can schedule as many visits as you like with your DOCTOR and text your doctor medical questions when needed (no more Dr. Google 🤓)
Hour long visits and you receive higher quality care (currently insurance companies often have quick 20 minute visits to see more patients and therefore make more money)
great for fields like Family Medicine, Pediatrics, even some Dermatologists use this model
allows Doctors to be entrepreneurs again! and brings back the treasured physician-patient relationship. Also, decreases burnout for physicians. Plus patients are more satisfied, win-win!
I really think DPC will be the practice of the future. It’s the practice a lot of us dreamt of when we first became doctors.
The following image is a screenshot from her story about Direct Primary Care:
Startup DPC gets a nice shout out from PrettyGirlPractice on Instagram.
Sincerely thank you to all of the doctors who’ve picked up a copy of the book and who’ve used their social media platforms to share about the book. I appreciate all of you!
-Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
Startup DPC Book Reaches Number 1 on Amazon in the Physicians Category
This is Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC here in Detroit Michigan. We believe that healthcare should be affordable and accessible for everyone, and we are doing our part to make that happen here in Corktown, and Detroit, and beyond.
However, several doctors have reached out to me and asked how we made Plum Health such a successful direct primary care practice. How are we attracting new patients? How are we lowering the cost of healthcare? How are we lowering the cost of medications, labs, and imaging services? How are we cutting all of the bureaucratic red tape?
I answered all those questions individually for my physician colleagues, but I also saved those answers in a word document, which eventually became this book.
This book is intended to help family physicians and internal medicine physicians start and grow their direct primary care practices. We want to see more doctors adopt this model that lowers healthcare costs and puts patients first.
The response to the book has been tremendous, and we’ve received many great reviews and a ton of great feedback about the content of the book. Thank you so much to everyone who has purchased the book, thank you for everyone who has left a review on Amazon, and thank you for making us number one on Amazon in the physicians category. We sincerely appreciate all of you!
- Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
PS if you're a doctor looking to start a direct primary care practice, check out Startup DPC
Startup DPC: How to Start and Grow Your Direct Primary Care Practice is the number 1 new release on Amazon in the Physicians category!