What makes HELPcare Clinic Unique?

Note: This article is taken from the cover story from the latest edition of HELPcare Herald. Get your free printed copy at either HELPcare Clinic location or request a PDF via email at memberships@helpcare.health

Direct primary care (DPC) is an increasingly popular alternative to the hospital-based fee-for-service system. More than 250,000 people nationally get their primary care at one of over 2,000 DPC clinics. 

DPC clinics don’t bill or accept insurance but instead use an affordable membership plan to simplify and reduce administrative costs.

HELPcare Clinic in Austin, which opened in February 2022, was the first DPC clinic in southern Minnesota, and now we’re in Rochester, too.

Our passion is building relationships with our members to HELP them take charge of their health and their health care.

Here's what makes us unique:

#1: You’re a Member. Not a Number.

In the fee-for-service system, which profits by scheduling more and more appointments and specialist referrals, primary care practitioners may have 3,000 or more patients on their “panel,” and they may see 15-20 patients a day.

Because they’re on a treadmill of 15-minute visits, there’s no option but to pull out the prescription pad to deal with whatever seems to be the most important problem. 

They spend more time on paperwork than they do with patients.

That’s “sick care” instead of health care.

In a DPC clinic, the panel sizes are much smaller. 

HELPcare Clinic practitioners’ panels are no more than 600 patients, and they typically schedule no more than seven appointments per day.

That means you can get to know them, and they have enough time to get to know you.

#2: Affordable, Personal Care

Many people avoid going to the doctor because they’re afraid of the cost.

Even people who have health insurance!

They may have a deductible of $5,000 or even more.

They don’t know how much their appointments and blood tests will cost, but they know it’ll be a lot and that they’ll be paying out of pocket, so they don’t get the care they need.

The care that could head off future health problems. 

Instead wondering how much their office visit will cost, HELPcare Clinic members have peace of mind knowing it will be FREE.

With HELPcare Premier membership, more than 100 diagnostic blood tests are also FREE.  If you need to have them repeated, they’re still free.

They’re included in your membership!

If you happen to need a test that’s not included, we’ll discuss the charge in advance.

No surprise bills.

The only surprise will be how reasonable the charge is for non-included tests: typically 70-90% less than hospital-based lab tests!

#3: HELPing You Take Charge of Your Health

HELPcare Clinic practitioners believe their role is to guide and assist you in taking charge of your health.

You’re in the driver’s seat. You set the destination and the pace. 

Their role is to HELP you navigate your health journey in a way that fits with your priorities and goals. And they realize that what you do outside of your visits in your daily life is what matters most for your health.

Medications can be helpful, but they mainly manage symptoms instead of dealing with underlying causes.

And many of the deadliest, most costly and most feared diseases have common roots: problems with using and storing energy from food, also known as metabolic syndrome.

The good news is that metabolic syndrome is reversible. Even type 2 diabetes can be reversed, eliminating the need for diabetic medications.

If you’re willing to put in the effort, your HELPcare Clinic practitioner will guide you toward lifestyle changes that work, and that will enable you to get the results you want.

It’s all about you Taking Charge!

HELPcare exists to work alongside you, to HELP you…

1. Take Charge of Your Health, with our free educational materials or through the HELPcare Challenge.
2. Take Charge of Your Health Care through HELPcare Clinic membership.
3. Take Charge of Your Health Care Career by learning how you can join our team.
4. Take Charge of Your Health Plan through a Health Insurance with HELPcare-based plan.

For more information, call or text our membership line at (507) 418-8465!

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Lee Aase

Lee Aase is the founder of HELPcare LLC, which provides comprehensive membership, marketing and management services for provider-owned HELPcare Clinics, as well as metabolic health education and coaching for people interested in restoring health and reversing disease through lifestyle changes. Lee and his wife Lisa live in Austin, MN and have six married children and 18 grandchildren.