Direct Primary Care Practice, Plum Health, Featured on PBS
Earlier this month, Plum Health DPC was featured on PBS. The show details the staff and operations of Plum Health DPC. Here’s what PBS said about Plum Health DPC:
Dr. Paul Thomas knew what he wanted to do with his life since the age of 17. After completing medical school, residency and a short stint at an Urgent Care facility, he founded Plum Health. Plum Health offers direct primary care services based on a subscription model. Rather than charge patients for each visit, patients pay a set fee each month, gaining direct access to doctors as needed.
Why Traditional Media Engagement Matters
If you’re a direct primary care doctor and starting your own DPC practice, traditional media engagement can be like jet fuel for growing your practice. Traditional media is any form of mass communication available before the advent of digital media. This includes television, radio, newspapers, books, and magazines. The audiences for these platforms are vast, but not well targeted. Yet, engagement here can still be very powerful.
In my book, Startup DPC: How to Start and Grow Your Direct Primary Care Practice, I how to get on TV, and I’ve included those passages below:
If you want to be interviewed on Television, you’ve got a bit of work to do. First, by being interviewed on podcasts frequently, you’ll have the same speaking skills that will be transferrable from the radio or podcast medium to the television medium.
Second, you can practice speaking into a camera by filming yourself each week. Yes, you can film yourself weekly doing a show on your YouTube channel about any topic that you desire. Try to look into the camera and tell a story about an interesting patient, an interesting new development in medicine, or the progress you’ve made in your clinic, like a new hire or a new piece of equipment or even a new test or treatment that you’re offering.
Again, you’re working out your own rough spots, so that when you appear on camera you look polished and professional. In this regard, you will want to look your best each day, so keep up with your personal grooming. Some doctors get last-minute calls to appear on Television or the Local News as a credible authority, so make sure you have a clean white coat handy.
Action steps: If your goal is to be featured on the news in your town or city, get camera ready. Start creating content on your YouTube channel on a weekly basis. You can interview interesting people in your town on health-related topics or you can talk about topics you’re passionate about. Make sure you have professional attire on hand at your office, perhaps a clean white coat and a freshly pressed top or blazer on a hanger at your office.
From there, I go on to describe how doctors can engage with the media by building relationships, interacting on social media, and sending press releases. Of course you can pick up a copy of the book, or check out our course that delves into this topic for more information.
STARTUP DPC - DIRECT PRIMARY CARE MASTER CLASS
Because there are no in-person conferences this year, we are hosting an intimate gathering of Direct Primary Care doctors who are looking to start and grow their DPC practices. We did this last year, and it was a rousing success! Join our Direct Primary Care Master Class on May 14th through May 15th, 2021 at our Plum Health DPC office in Detroit, Michigan and accelerate your growth as a DPC doctor.
Thanks for reading and watching, and best of luck in your direct primary care journey!
-Dr. Paul Thomas with Startup DPC