Plum Health Blog
Dr. Paul Thomas on the Soul of Enterprise
Dr. Paul Thomas on the Soul of Enterprise
In February 2022, Dr. Paul Thomas was featured in an episode of The Soul of Enterprise with Ron Baker and Ed Kless. In the episode we discuss all things Direct Primary Care! and they plug my book, Startup DPC:
Dr. Paul WROTE THE BOOK on Direct Primary Care. It’s called Startup DPC. Ron recommends this book because you can learn a lot from Dr. Paul’s experience. Here’s the Amazon link.
Dr. Paul Thomas is a family medicine physician who started Plum Health DPC in 2016, right out of residency. He is a board-certified Family Medicine Physician.
Direct Primary Care (DPC) is a model of primary care that is growing in popularity as an alternative to the traditional fee-for-service model. In a DPC practice, patients pay a monthly or annual membership fee for access to comprehensive primary care services. This fee typically covers all office visits and DPC practices offer at-cost medications, lab work, and imaging services to lower the cost of care for patients.
One of the benefits of DPC is that it allows for more time for the physician to spend with each patient. This is because DPC practices typically have fewer patients than traditional practices, which allows for more personalized care. Additionally, DPC patients often have direct access to their physician through phone or email, which can lead to quicker resolution of health concerns.
Another benefit of DPC is that it can help to lower healthcare costs for patients. By eliminating the need for insurance and reducing the number of unnecessary tests and procedures, DPC can save patients money in the long run.
Dr. Paul Thomas has been offering DPC services for the last 6 years and has seen positive results in the health of his patients. He believes that the DPC model allows for better continuity of care and a stronger physician-patient relationship, which leads to better health outcomes.
A big thanks to Ed Kless and Ron Baker for highlighting the work of Dr. Thomas and Plum Health DPC on The Soul of Enterprise!
-Paul Thomas MD with Startup DPC
Plum Health DPC is a Best of MichBusiness Award Winner
This month, Plum Health was named the Best Startup in Michigan by CORP! Magazine during their Best of MichBusiness Awards event. Here’s what they said about us:
Start-Up Businesses
One of the biggest issues during the ongoing pandemic has been access to affordable health care, something the folks at Plum Health Detroit know a little something about.
In 2021, Plum Health adapted by focusing on supporting physicians and making sure they had the tools, training, and time they needed to "deliver excellent care and service for our patients."
"Delivering excellent, comprehensive primary care services is challenging in a typical environment, but with the pandemic ongoing, we've increased our support of our doctors to ensure long-term sustainability of our practice," said Dr. Paul Thomas, Plum Health's founder. "At our clinic, we prioritize meeting the needs of our patients, while balancing family and home obligations for happy and healthy physicians. When doctors are happy and satisfied with a flexible work environment and schedule, they'll be able to help their patients to the best of their ability."
That attitude helped lead Plum Health to becoming the overall winner in the Start-Up Business category in the 2021 Best of MichBusiness Awards.
In 2021, Plum Health rolled out curb-side COVID testing and vaccination, helping thousands of Detroiters get vaccinated, either through the clinic or by educating them on nearby resources that they could utilize for vaccination and testing.
To read the full article, head to this link and navigate to pages 52/53 of the January/February issue of CORP! Magazine.
More from Best of MichBusiness Awards:
Thank you for making last week’s Best of MichBusiness Awards a wonderful experience. The community is buzzing around the phenomenal honorees and awards from the week. It was an honor to work with you and celebrate your success.
Here are a few follow up items regarding your honor:
Awards Presentation Link: https://vimeo.com/668363594/c0f05a81f1
Best of MichBusiness Program Book: CLICK HERE
The featured article in Corp! Magazine with the overall winners: January/February issue
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.
Barriers to Starting a Direct Primary Care Practice and How to Overcome Them
I am so excited for this weekend! I'll be speaking at the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians annual conference on Saturday morning. The title of my presentation is "Direct Primary Care: Barriers to Adoption and How to Overcome Them." The lecture will be held at Western Michigan University and will start at 8:10 am.
Here's what the MAFP has to say about the presentation:
Direct Primary Care (DPC) is a dynamic and exciting practice model well-suited for Family Physicians. Its adoption in Michigan, however, has lagged behind other states, such as Florida, Colorado, and Kansas. This engaging session will begin by defining DPC and identifying successful practices in Michigan, as well as regionally and nationally. We will then identify barriers to starting a DPC practice and how to overcome them. Paul Thomas, MD, Plum Health Direct Primary Care (Detroit)
I am speaking because I believe that we have a unique opportunity to remake our healthcare system into one that is truly compassionate, and one that benefits all parties involved - namely patients, their families, their physicians and allied health professionals.
I am so enthusiastic about Direct Primary Care because it removes the middle men and barriers between patients and their doctors, and allows for a restoration of the doctor patient relationship. It also lowers costs on everything from office visits, to lab work, medications, and imaging studies.
If you're available, please join me for this lecture, Saturday July 14th at 8:10 am in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Sincerely,
Dr. Paul Thomas with Plum Health DPC
Below is a PDF from the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians quarterly magazine about the upcoming presentation, and beneath that is a short video from the conference:
Finally, if you’re a Primary Care Doctor or Allied Health Professional that is looking to Start and Grow a Direct Primary Care practice, check out our sister site www.StartUpDPC.com.
Starting a Direct Primary Care Practice in Detroit: What Inspired Me
I initially discovered direct primary care while on a road trip in November 2012. I was driving back to Detroit from a residency position interview at the University of Minnesota. I believe it was a libertarian-minded podcast featuring an interview with Dr. Josh Umbehr, discussing his startup in Wichita, Kansas, called Atlas MD.
It was refreshing to hear a Family Medicine doctor speaking so passionately about saving people money, delivering better care, and practicing in a unique way. The message resonated with me, but at that time I was pursuing a faculty position at a residency program because I enjoyed teaching so much. Suffice it to say that I filed this “Direct Primary Care” concept in the back of my mind.
Between my second and third years of residency, I went to the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP) annual meeting in Traverse City. It was July 2015. There I met Dr. Clint Flanagan of Nextera Healthcare in Denver, Colorado. He spoke unequivocally about the value of being a primary care doctor and the tremendous value that we provide for our patients. His passion for the profession also came through in a way that I hadn’t experienced before.
These two leaders in the field served as a contrast to the typically burnt out and grumbling physician that I had met thus far in training. Even the best doctors grumbled about paperwork, prior authorizations, late patients, packed schedules, and all of the other difficult parts of being a primary care doctor.
At that point, I knew that I would pursue an alternative practice model. It only made sense – less-than-fulfilled physicians practicing in a less-than-ideal system surrounded me and I knew that life could be better on the other side. Additionally, I always had this inner drive to deliver medicine in a more equitable and just system. Direct primary care seemed to align with my values as an individual and as a doctor, but I needed to dive deeper.
So, as an elective rotation, I drove out to Wichita and Denver, and spent a week learning from both Drs. Umbehr and Flanagan. I kicked the tires, took copious notes, and tried to bring the best of their practices to my community in Detroit, Wayne County, and Southeast Michigan.
Now it's September 2017 - almost 5 years after I had initially heard of "Direct Primary Care". Now, I'm living DPC every day, taking care of people of all ages and stages in my clinic in Southwest Detroit. I'm even caring for people while on vacation - I helped about 10 of my patients while I was traveling abroad over the last week.
I am able to do this - to be the doctor that I was meant to be - because I am a Direct Primary Care doctor. This post is about inspiration, and what inspired me, and what continues to inspire me.
I am inspired by the fact that I can help people with real health care needs either in my office or over the phone, or via video chat or email. I am inspired by the fact that I am able to serve people who haven't seen a doctor in years, because we've lowered the cost barriers and therefore have made our service more accessible. I'm inspired by the fact that we can do so much good in such a small space.
I'm also inspired by the potential for Plum Health to grow, and to serve more people in our immediate community and across the region. I'm inspired by the happy patients that I get to work with everyday.
I've had great mentors along the way, specifically from the pioneers in the Direct Primary Care world, and I'm grateful for their help in getting me to a successful and sustainable DPC practice.
Thanks for reading this reflection, and have a wonderful day,
-Dr. Paul with Plum Health DPC
Dr. Paul Thomas of Plum Health DPC, in the Plum Health office!