Plum Health Blog
Coronavirus Update For Detroit Michigan: What Happens Next?
Current Number of Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in Michigan
Covid 19 has been with us for well over 2 months now, and here’s where we stand:
45,045 Cases in Michigan
4250 Deaths in Michigan
657 new cases today
71 new deaths today
Despite the high numbers of total cases (cumulative cases) and cumulative deaths, there is a distinct downward trend in new cases each day. This is great, and it demonstrates the effectiveness of increased testing, social distancing parameters, government interventions like shutting down bars and movie theaters, as well as limiting the capacity of restaurants.
Percentage of People Testing Positive for Covid-19 in Michigan
In Michigan, about 23% of those who have been tested have tested positive for Covid-19. From April 6 to April 27th, the average percentage of positive tests has declined from almost 40% to just over 16%, which is well above the World Health Organization's 3% to 12% recommendation, but moving in the right direction.
Comparing Coronavirus in Finland, Sweden, and Norway
Some groups in the United States have demanded a re-opening of the country, and some of those have pointed to Sweden as a model country. However, Sweden has had worse outcomes with Coronavirus than its neighboring Scandinavian countries.
Finland has 5,573 cases and 252 total deaths
Norway has 7,915 cases and 215 total deaths
Sweden has 23,918 cases and 2,941 total deaths
It’s important to understand what’s working and what’s not working globally so that we can inform our own public policy at the National, State, County, and City level.
When will the Coronavirus Vaccine Be Available?
The Coronavirus vaccine will likely be ready in late 2021. There are multiple phases and stages that the vaccine has to go through, and we’re near the beginning of that process.
What is Direct Primary Care?
Some of you have asked more about Plum Health and Direct Primary Care - we provide a membership model for health care and we believe that health care should be affordable and accessible for everyone. We take care of patients of all ages and stages, from across the metro region, and of varying insurance coverages (including uninsured and underinsured folks). We love saving people money on healthcare services and delivering excellent care and service for our members.
A Few Thank You Notes!
Thank you to Max and his team at Commonwealth Sewing Company for the work they’re doing around making masks in Detroit. Thank you to Tyson Gersh at the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative for delivering 100 KN95 masks to our office - we appreciate you! And thank you to the team at MI FACE SHIELDS for providing us with 60 face shields - this is just another way we can protect ourselves and our patients during this time.
Thanks for reading and watching - Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
Daily Detroit Covers the Plum Health Move to Corktown
Daily Detroit, shares what to know and where to go in Southeast Michigan in a 15-20 minute, local podcast. They recently covered our move from Southwest Detroit to our new location in Corktown Detroit. Here’s what we discuss:
The move into our new 1,700 Square Foot office in Corktown, at the Corner, which is the historic former site of Tiger Stadium. This is the corner of Michigan and Trumbull, and our address is 1600 Michigan Ave, Suite 125, Detroit MI 48216
We’re a Direct Primary Care practice in Detroit, and we provide Family Medicine services through a membership model for health care. Our members pay $10 each month for children, and our adult memberships start at $49 per month. With the membership, our patients can see us anytime they need to without a copay.
Dr. Raquel Orlich started with our practice in July 2019. She’s an Osteopathic Physician who studied at Michigan State University and was the Chief Resident in Family Medicine at Ascension Macomb.
Why did we move? We moved because we outgrew our original space in Southwest Detroit. We had also won some grant money through the Motor City Match program and the Detroit Demo Day that we needed to use towards our build out of a new office.
Why this specific location? We moved to the Corner because it’s very close to our original location. Our new spot in Corktown is only 1.1 miles away from our old spot in Southwest Detroit. Importantly, this allows us to continue serving all of our original members.
What have we learned since starting this business? If you’ve ever started a business, you know that it’s not the decisions, it’s the decisiveness. This was something that was difficult to learn as a Physician because Doctors are trained to over-analyze problems and leave no stone unturned. I still use that part of my brain when taking care of patients, but I have to turn that part of my brain off when I think about challenges in our business.
How can people get involved? You can enroll on our website, here. Or you can give us a call at 313.444.5630. Finally, you can stop by at our new office - 1620 Michigan Ave Ste 125, Detroit MI 48216.
Listen to the episode on Daily Detroit’s YouTube Channel (below). Our segment starts at the 4:28 mark.
If you like Plum Health, and if you like YouTube, you’ll love our Plum Health YouTube Channel!
Thanks for reading and watching and have a marvelous day - Dr. Paul Thomas and Dr. Raquel Orlich
What is a Plum Health Membership?
What does it mean to be a member of Plum Health dpc?
What’s involved in being a member of Plum Health DPC? We hear this question often. So, it’s worth taking some time to address it head on. Plum Health is a family medicine service run by Dr. Paul Thomas. Our mission is to deliver affordable, accessible healthcare. We are unlike other offices in several ways. We highly value the doctor-patient relationship and we routinely spend thirty minutes to one hour with each of our patients per visit.
This time together is essential because it allows us to build a trusting relationship. When you’re a member of our practice, when you’re a member of Plum Health DPC, you have the opportunity to build this trusting and healing relationship with Dr. Paul Thomas over time.
In contrast, at a typical family medicine office in the fee-for-service or insurance-based system, doctors prioritize seeing as many patients as possible to increase their payments from insurance companies. This is why you may only have five to twelve minutes with a primary care doctor in the insurance-based system.
Committed to a long-term relationship between doctor and patient
Being a member of Plum Health means that you’re committed to being a part of the membership model. If you’re looking for a one-off visit or one-time services, Plum Health probably is not the right fit for you. However, if you’re looking for a dependable physician who is responsive to your calls, texts, and emails at anytime of day, who cares about you as an individual and not as another number, then Plum Health DPC will be a great fit for you.
Furthermore, we love taking care of people who believe what we believe - that health care should be individualized, that the doctor-patient relationship should be strong and seamless, that health care should be affordable and accessible. If you value these tenets like we do, then we’d love to have you as a part of the Plum Health DPC membership.
How much does a plum Health DPC membership cost?
A membership with Plum Health DPC costs $10/month for children, and starts at $49/month for adults. We have our full pricing structure here. With that membership, you can visit the office anytime without a copay. You also can call, text, or email the doctor anytime. Additionally, members of Plum Health DPC are able to get wholesale medications, at-cost labs, and at-cost imaging services at a fraction of the typical cost.
How do I sign up for a Plum Health DPC membership?
The signup process for Plum Health DPC is an easy one. Our online form takes about 5 minutes to complete. The form will ask for a credit card to complete the registration. Your card will not be billed until your account is confirmed by our staff and an appointment is made. We want to make sure you’re a good fit for our practice before we start billing you for the service.
Thanks for reading and for watching, and have a wonderful day.
Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC