Plum Health Blog
Plum Health DPC Welcomes Dr. Leslie Rabaut to the Detroit Office
Plum Health in Detroit adds a Spanish-speaking primary care physician
Detroit, Michigan, March 8th, 2021 - Plum Health DPC is pleased to announce that they have expanded access to primary care resources in Metro Detroit by hiring a fourth physician who is fluent in Spanish and English, Dr. Leslie Rabaut, DO.
We are excited to announce that Dr. Leslie Rabaut has joined our service at Plum Health DPC. She is a family medicine physician and she is accepting new patients.
Plum Health hired a fourth doctor because of the increasing demand for Plum Health’s services and the desire to be more easily accessible to patients of diverse backgrounds throughout Metro Detroit.
As we grow our practice, we aim to work with intention to serve our local community better. Adding a bilingual doctor is one of those steps.
Dr. Leslie Rabaut is passionate about forming strong relationships with her patients and is fluent in medical Spanish. Her clinical interests include functional medicine, preventative medicine, and integrative therapies that work with a patient’s natural physiology to encourage healing.
Dr. Rabaut is a graduate of the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her residency training at Aurora St. Luke’s Family Medicine Residency in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is excited about expanding access to primary care in Metro Detroit.
“I chose direct primary care so that I could have the time to get to know each of my patients as a unique individual which allows me to tailor my treatment to provide truly patient-centered care,” said Dr. Rabaut.
"We believe that healthcare should be affordable and accessible for everyone, that’s why we’re hiring another excellent physician who is bilingual – to expand access to care," says Dr. Paul Thomas, who for the last four-and-a-half years, has been serving residents in Detroit and beyond from Plum Health's Corktown office.
There are currently 960 members in the practice who are cared for by Drs. Paul Thomas, Raquel Orlich, and Jamie Qualls. Dr. Leslie Rabaut’s arrival will allow Plum Health to care for an additional 500 patients.
Direct primary care (DPC) physicians do not bill or use insurance. They provide their patients with steeply discounted medications, labs, imaging services, and procedures. The DPC model allows patients to have a direct relationship with their primary care physician by enrolling in an affordable subscription-based service, costing between $10 and $89 per month.
Plum Health doctors are available to patients not just in our offices, but by phone, text message, or video call. This connectivity makes getting care even more convenient for their patients.
Plum Health DPC currently operates two thriving locations in Corktown Detroit and Farmington Hills with doctors Paul Thomas, MD, Raquel Orlich, DO, and Jamie Qualls DO, MPH.
Dr. Leslie Rabaut will be practicing out of Plum Health’s Corktown Detroit office located at 1620 Michigan Avenue, Suite 125, Detroit, MI 48216.
Media Contact
Dr. Paul Thomas, MD
Founder & Physician
Plum Health DPC
(313) 444 - 5630
More about Plum Health DPC
At Plum Health, we believe that health care should be affordable and accessible for everyone. Members of the practice can call, text, or email the doctor anytime they need health care services. We guarantee same-day/next-day appointments. Additionally, patients have access to wholesale medications, at-cost imaging services, and at-cost lab work. Plum Health began in November 2016 with 8 patients, and now has 960 active patients, spanning in age from 4 months to 101 years of age. Our vision is to provide the best healthcare experience in Detroit and beyond.
Paul Thomas MD, Jamie Qualls DO, Chris Lake, Raquel Orlich DO, and Leslie Rabaut DO at Plum Health DPC in Detroit, Michigan.
More about Paul Thomas, MD and Leslie Rabaut, DO
Dr. Paul Thomas is a board-certified family medicine physician practicing in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. 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 is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Wayne State University School of Medicine. He served as Chief Resident at Oakwood Family Medicine Residency Program. 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 and is an author of the book Direct Primary Care: The Cure for Our Broken Healthcare System.
Dr. Leslie Rabaut 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.
More about Direct Primary Care
The direct primary care (DPC) model gives family physicians a meaningful alternative to fee-for-service insurance billing, typically by charging patients a monthly, quarterly, or annual fee (i.e., a retainer) that covers all or most primary care services including clinical, laboratory, and consultative services, and care coordination and comprehensive care management. Because some services are not covered by a retainer, DPC practices often suggest that patients acquire a high-deductible wraparound policy to cover emergencies.
Direct primary care benefits patients by providing substantial savings and a greater degree of access to, and time with, physicians.
Taken from the American Academy of Family Physicians website:
Dr. Paul Thomas Talks Health and Wellness with Strategic Community Partners
The Coronavirus Pandemic has been a trying time for our personal health and wellness. It has disrupted our typical routines, strained our relationships, and limited our ability to volunteer. The Coronavirus pandemic has also been a burden for our personal finances, as we’ve put off taking care of important projects at our homes and for our families.
This week, I was able to sit on a wonderful panel with three other people in the health and wellness space to discuss these challenges and see how we can address them going forward.
Thanks for reading and watching, and have a wonderful day,
-Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
Plum Health Featured in The Jewish News
Plum Health DPC Featured in The Jewish News
This week, Plum Health DPC was featured in The Jewish News by writer Ben Falik. My favorite excerpts are as follows:
It’s simpler to describe how direct primary care works than how — let me count the ways — traditional fee-for-service, even with “good” insurance, does not:
I am a member of Plum Health Direct Primary Care. Membership costs $49 a month. Raquel Orlich is my doctor.
I guess she’s other people’s doctor too. But I can call, email or text (from my $50/month phone) Dr. Orlich anytime I’m having an issue and, if she can’t solve it remotely, she can always see me that day or the following.
At one point, there were some balloons celebrating Dr. Orlich’s 300th patient. Ultimately, she’ll have around 500. That seems like a lot, I thought, especially compared to my prior impression that I was her only patient.
The writer, Ben Falik, discusses when his daughter got a splinter in her finger and she was brought to our Plum Health DPC office for care:
Phoebe got a splinter in her finger recently. We texted “Dr. Raquel.” She wrote me right back with her availability. I brought Phoebe to the office at Michigan and Trumbull. Free street parking. Splinter gone. Respectable Band-Aid selection. No charge. And now Phoebe wants to be either a doctor or Great Dane when she grows up.
Dr. Raquel Orlich removes a splinter within 24 hours of being notified of said splinter.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day,
-Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
What is Osteopathic Medicine?
What is a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine or “DO”?
The best way to define an Osteopathic Physician is by what they believe. They follow the four tenets or principles of Osteopathic Medicine. They are as follows:
The body is a unit; the person is a unit of body, mind, and spirit.
The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing, and health maintenance.
Structure and function are reciprocally interrelated.
Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation, and the interrelationship of structure and function.
In short, an osteopathic physician is trained to treat the person as a whole as every body system can relate to one another. Because of this holistic approach, not surprisingly many DOs have a strong interest in preventative health and primary care.
Osteopathic physicians complete four years of medical school and at least three years of residency, just like their Allopathic or MD counterparts. However, in addition to their stethoscopes and medical exam equipment, DOs have special training to use their hands as diagnostic and therapeutic tools with a treatment called Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine.
Dr. Raquel Orlich uses her hands to treat a patient at the Plum Health DPC; this is known as Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine.
What is Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine?
A DO or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine is trained in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine also known as “OMM or OMT” during medical school and residency. It is a hands-on technique used to help diagnose, treat, and prevent illness or injury.
During an osteopathic exam, a head to toe assessment will be performed to evaluate for abnormalities that the Doctor can feel with their hands called somatic dysfunctions. These abnormalities may have an effect on your activities of daily living, like dressing, eating, and bathing. They may also disrupt the way you walk and the way you move because they may be painful, and this can impact your overall quality of life.
Somatic dysfunctions can be defined as impaired or altered function of the somatic (body framework) system: skeleton, joints, and myofascial structures (muscles, ligaments, tendons) and their relation to the blood vessels, lymphatic system, and nerves.
A Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine or DO employs treatments that restore and improve range of motion, by focusing on realigning trouble spots. Treatment modalities are patient specific and can include myofascial release (soft tissue work), muscle energy, high velocity low amplitude (traditional chiropractic work), counterstrain, and Still technique. During the visit, time will be set aside to discuss home stretches, exercises, and injury prevention.
What conditions can an Osteopathic Physician Treat with Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine?
Dr. Raquel Orlich uses the Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine technique to diagnose and treat a patient with a musculoskeletal health problem at the Plum Health DPC clinic in Detroit, Michigan.
Here is a list of common issues that can be treated and improved with OMM
Pain related to improper alignment in the back, hips, shoulders, and neck (chronic and acute)
Musculoskeletal pain of the arm and leg
Nerve impingement (sciatica, radiculopathy)
Range of motion of tissues and joints
Headache (tension, migraine, and sinus)
Constipation
If you are dealing with some of the issues listed above, you may be a good candidate for OMM as a safe and effective form of therapy. Getting an appointment is easy, just click this link.
-Dr. Raquel
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
Trashtag Challenge at Plum Health DPC
On Monday, April 22nd, it was Earth Day, and last month we contributed by completing the Trashtag Challenge! The Trashtag Challenge is where you get a bunch of your friends, neighbors, colleagues, or classmates and get outside and pick up as much trash as possible, taking before and after pictures to document the process.
When the snow melted in March, it revealed a ton of trash in our parking lot, which was not appreciated. I went out with my friend and colleague, Rob, and we absolutely destroyed a patch of refuse and debris.
But, there was still more work to be done, and we went out with a group of about 12 more people and cleared out more trash from the parking lot and surrounding areas. This is really important because trash and what we do with it has a big impact on our community and our health. Trash and its presence, or absence, impacts the way that we feel about our community.
Paul Thomas MD with a group of students from the Detroit School of Digital Technology, cleaning up trash from our parking lot at 1759 21st Street, Detroit, MI 48216.
There was a bunch of trash beforehand, but we got it done - many hands make light work! This is the Plum Health DPC and DSDT crew cleaning up our shared parking lot and completing the Trashtag Challenge.
I’ll close this with a challenge - can you get a group of people together and clean up a small patch of your community?
Thanks for reading and have a great week! - Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC