Plum Health Blog
Detroit Demo Day - Plum Health DPC Two Years Later
Back in 2021, we won Detroit Demo Day - we competed with several other businesses and we won $50,000 to help us get to the next level.
Since then, we've:
Tripled the number of patients served
Built out a brand new office in Detroit's Corktown Neighborhood
Opened up a second office in Farmington Hills
Created a more sustainable business
If you want to accelerate the growth of your business, apply for Demo Day pitch competition as it can be rocket fuel for your next big move! More details, here.
House Call Doctor in Detroit
I make house calls because I believe that healthcare should be affordable and accessible. 🥼
That accessibility piece can be out of reach for some elderly and disabled patients who cannot leave their home. This is especially true in Detroit, where nearly one third of Detroiters lack access to reliable transportation. 🚗
Studies on the effects of house calls on healthcare outcomes show fewer hospitalizations 🏥, fewer emergency room visits, decrease in re-admissions (going back to the hospital shortly after discharge), and these house 🏠 calls save patients money 💵.
That’s why it’s important for me to offer this vital service. This pic was taken last week in the Five Points neighborhood. I’m proud of this work and of how we’re able to lower the cost of care and make excellent health care available to more people.
The vast majority of our visits take place in our offices - we have two locations where we take care of people face to face and by using virtual visits. But, house calls can be used at any time to help our patients who are shut in, who have mobility issues, or who have concerns where they’d prefer not to leave their homes.
From the American Academy of Family Physicians:
House calls, also referred to as home visits, are increasing in the United States. Approximately 40% of patient visits in the 1930s were house calls. By 1996, this decreased to 0.5% because insurance reimbursements for house calls decreased. The pendulum in the United States is swinging again to house calls because of the need to develop care models for the growing aging population.
More information from the American Academy of Family Physicians on the benefits of house calls:
The Independence at Home program demonstrated a 23% reduction in hospitalizations, a 27% decrease in 30-day readmissions, and a cost savings of $111 per beneficiary per month, which is a $70 million savings over three years. Similarly, a large systematic review (N = 46,154; nine studies) evaluating home-based primary care outcomes for homebound older adults reported fewer hospitalizations, hospital bed days of care, emergency department visits, long-term care admissions, and long-term bed days of care.
If you’d like this type of care and service for yourself or your family, you can sign up here.
Dr. Paul Thomas makes a house call on the West Side of Detroit in the Five Points neighborhood. House calls can make health care more affordable and more accessible.
Paul Thomas MD Speaking at Michigan State University
This week, I was invited to speak at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine regarding Direct Primary Care. It was a neat experience because the school has three campuses and my lecture was simulcast to the other two campuses. I spoke at the Detroit location (did you know that Michigan State University has a medical school campus in Detroit?) and the talk was broadcast to the East Lansing and Macomb campuses.
The lecture was an hour, and in the first 45 minutes I discuss the current crisis in primary care, I define Direct Primary Care, and then I give real-world examples of how Direct Primary Care is working in our clinic in Southwest Detroit. During the last 20 minutes, I answered as many questions as I possibly can.
I love speaking with students about our healthcare system and about Direct Primary Care because I see the lightbulb go off - I see them ‘get it’ and understand the model and why it works well. I love witnessing that moment - the “aha” moment.
A few students bought my book about Direct Primary Care after the event and the pictures below are of me signing the book. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day.
-Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
Get your copy of the book, Direct Primary Care: The Cure for Our Broken Healthcare System
Signing a book for one of the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine Students.
Dr. Paul Thomas MD of Plum Health DPC signing the book, Direct Primary Care: The Cure for Our Broken Healthcare System after a speaking engagement at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Detroit, Michigan.
Plum Health at Crain's Detroit Homecoming
Last week we attended Detroit homecoming at the Lexus velodrome sponsored by Crain’s Detroit. It was an event that brought together small business owners in Detroit and members of the Detroit expat community.
First of all, the Lexus velodrome is a really cool and exciting venue! It is a four lane track and there were cyclists racing at certain points of the event which was cool to see. In the middle of the track was a spectator spot with a bar and meeting areas for the small business owners, journalists, and members of the expat community to enjoy. Around the track there was booths for small businesses to set up and that is where we has the opportunity to interact with each other and the expats.
For me it was great to see the Detroit expats getting excited about small business and the growing entrepreneurial community in the city and it was nice to have some of them lend their expertise, knowledge, and insights during the event
The evening programming/after party was held at the Corner where they had a live band and an opportunity to get onto the historic Tiger’s stadium surface and hit some dingers!
In closing this was another fantastic event and a sign of the momentum in the Detroit entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful day,
-Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
Dr. Paul Thomas, MD of Plum Health DPC at the Crain’s Detroit Homecoming Event at the Lexus Velodrome in Detroit, Michigan.
I had a blast speaking at the AAFP Direct Primary Care Conference
I cannot tell you how much fun I had speaking at the AAFP DPC Conference, I loved it this much:
Dr. Paul Thomas speaking about Branding and Marketing your Direct Primary Care practice at the American Academy of Family Physicians Direct Primary Care Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Seriously, I had an amazing opportunity to speak directly with my Direct Primary Care colleagues about Branding and Marketing your Direct Primary Care practice at the American Academy of Family Physicians Direct Primary Care Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.
I believe that our family physicians are the backbone of the health care system in America, and I am encouraged and enthused by their willingness to step into their own power and create ideal practices that optimally serve their individual patients and their greater communities.
I'm all in on helping my colleagues create their best practices and to become the doctors they were meant to be. One of the biggest challenges that doctors face is in the realms of branding and marketing as most family physicians have little or no training in these areas.
What I conveyed in my lecture was how to create a brand, engage in branding your practice, and actively market your practice. I'm posting about this again because I'm that amped up and because the lecture is now live on the AAFP website, here.
Thanks for reading and for watching! Below are some bonus screenshots from the talk. If you're an individual looking for this type of care for yourself, your family, or your employees, please call me at 313.444.5630 or send me an email at paul@plumhealthdpc.org. If you're a DPC doctor and you need help branding and marketing your practice, reach out to me because I'm happy to help.
Sincerely,
- Dr. Paul Thomas, MD, physician with Plum Health DPC in Southwest Detroit
