Plum Health pivots to telemedicine, continues to provide excellent health care in Corktown
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Plum Health physicians Dr. Paul Thomas, MD (owner) and Dr. Raquel Orlich, DO.
Plum Health has always provided excellent direct primary health care services focusing on prevention and wellness. That has not changed in response to the COVID19 pandemic. Instead, they’ve developed a comprehensive telemedicine system to safely treat their existing and new patients. They also use their blog and media coverage to share important health information with the public regarding COVID19. Owner Dr. Paul Thomas recently released a book, the Startup DPC Book, to support other direct primary care physicians as they set up their practice.
An interview with Plum Health owner Dr. Paul Thomas, MD
How has COVID-19 impacted you/your business?
We are able to text and email our patients, and conduct some visits by phone and video chat. I never thought I'd have to completely rely on digital communication to take care of my patients, but COVID-19 changed all of that. I'm used to seeing patients in my office face-to-face and developing genuine relationships with the people I take care of during that process, but due to COVID-19 we've been limiting our face-to-face visits as much as possible to limit the potential spread of the Coronavirus. The health and safety of our patients is paramount and by limiting our contact with patients in the office, we're doing our part to limit the spread of the virus.
How have you seen it impact your community? How have you seen your Corktown community respond?
I've been really impressed with the response in the Corktown community. Business have been responsible in that they've done their part to shut down or change their operations to limit the spread of the virus. The efforts of restaurants in Corktown and in the greater Detroit community to feed the frontlines has been commendable as well. I've also witnessed Corktown residents observe the social distancing recommendations and wearing masks when on the streets and sidewalks.
What services are you offering? What can I promote for you?
We are open and we are continuing to offer telemedicine appointments for all of our existing patients and new members. We are also offering in-person appointments to our patients when necessary. For example, we recently sutured a dog bite for one of our patients to prevent an emergency room visit. Where we can, we will treat patients in the office to save them money and decrease their risk of Coronavirus at hospital and urgent care settings. We are also open for medication pick ups and lab draws for patients who need medication refills or their necessary lab work completed, like hemoglobin a1c testing for our diabetic patients. We are coordinating testing for COVID-19 and we will soon have antibody testing in our office.