What HELPcare Clinic is NOT

By Lee Aase • January 12, 2023

Last week I wrote an introductory post describing the essence of HELPcare Clinic, and Dr. Dave Strobel and I discussed it our our weekly radio program, Restoring the Soul of Health Care.

At HELPcare Clinic you get consistent, unhurried, personal primary care through an affordable membership that provides most of the health care you're likely to need for most of your life.

But to understand what HELPcare Clinic is, it's also helpful to to clarify what it is not.

  • HELPcare Clinic is NOT health insurance or a substitute for health insurance. It offers most of the care you need through an affordable membership, but you should have something in place to cover medical and surgical specialty care and hospitalization expenses that could be financially devastating. That may be a health insurance product with the highest deductible you can get, or it could be one of the medical expense sharing programs that cost much less per month. HELPcare Clinic has an affiliate relationship with Zion Healthshare, which offers additional monthly savings for members of direct primary care clinics.
  • HELPcare Clinic is not a substitute for a hospital emergency department. It doesn't have radiology imaging, for example, and for life-threatening 911-type emergencies we're blessed to have fully-staffed emergency departments at area hospitals. HELPcare Clinic providers have helped members with timely care for many of their needs, but also have directed them to the emergency department when necessary.
  • HELPcare Clinic is not a walk-in clinic like those you may find in a grocery store. Several of our members have started with a one-month membership because of a timely need such as those addressed by walk-in clinics, but they've continued because of the consistent care and ongoing relationship with a provider that they can get through HELPcare Clinic.
  • HELPcare Clinic is not a weight loss clinic. At HELPcare Clinic we make coaching available, and weight loss is a goal for many, but it's completely up to you. Many members are interested in restoring their health through diet and lifestyle, but the essence of HELPcare Clinic is consistent, unhurried, personal primary care that's focused on your priorities.
  • While HELPcare Clinic dispenses certain generic prescription medications to members, it is not a pharmacy. HELPcare Clinic's dispensary carries a few dozen of the most commonly needed medications, the first two of which for each member are included at no extra charge. But HELPcare Clinic providers also prescribe electronically to any pharmacy when necessary.
  • HELPcare Clinic is not only for Austin-area residents. Most members have come from within a 40-mile radius of Austin, but because of telephone and video visits many who live much farther away are able to get timely ongoing care from HELPcare Clinic, typically after an initial in-person visit. And with HELPcare Clinic Rochester opening this week, access to this model of consistent, unhurried primary care is expanding.

For a more in-depth understanding of what HELPcare Clinic is and isn't, request your free copy of our informational booklet, Saving Through Membership.

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Update (1/12/2023 - 11:30 a.m.) Lee Aase and Dr. Dave Strobel joined John Wright to discuss this on KAUS 1480 this morning.

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.
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