No matter your current health or age, at some point you will find yourself in need of medical care. Jon Hallberg, MD, medical director at the University of Minnesota Physicians (M Physicians) Mill City Clinic and professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, explains the importance of having a healthcare home as a place you trust to seek medical care.
If you need to go to urgent care or the emergency room, you’ll be asked who your primary care provider is and directed to follow up with them after you leave. But if you don’t have a primary care provider to follow up with and you aren’t getting better, what do you do?
Navigating healthcare by yourself can be difficult, especially when a large part of it exists outside of the emergency room, operating room or hospital. “That’s where we come in,” Dr. Hallberg says, “A healthcare home is this place, this anchor that knows you, that you're established with, that you can come to and you can trust the people that are there for good sound advice.”
Dr. Hallberg explains that when you have a healthcare home, your primary care provider becomes your natural advocate. Many of his patients have faced a confounding situation, where they might need an important medication refilled, but the specialist they see is unavailable and making an appointment to see a different specialist involves a waiting list. When things like this happen, primary care providers like Dr. Hallberg are the ones that step in to help their patients get the care they need, when they need it.
According to Dr. Hallberg, it’s important that everyone, regardless of age or current health, has a healthcare home.
“I know that it's hard for a young person who's really healthy, no health issues, no chronic conditions. Why would they need a healthcare home, right? Until they do,” says Dr. Hallberg.
While it can be scary when something does happen, having a place you can go, with a trusted provider to guide you, can make all the difference.
“I am such a firm believer in the art of medicine as much as the science of medicine. I think that's what we are allowed to practice more in a healthcare home setting, is that relationship-based, nuanced, deeply connected form of medicine and not just cookbook medicine, or not just pure evidence-based medicine,” Dr. Hallberg explains.
When you’re looking for a healthcare home, Dr. Hallberg’s advice is simple: look to trusted friends and family, and see where they’re going.
For young people who are older than 18, who’ve had a pediatrician, he also suggests asking for recommendations from that physician. Additionally, pay attention to any providers or clinics that might come up more than once as you ask around. “Then it’s like, okay, this is a positive sign,” he says.
Dr. Hallberg has been caring for patients at the M Physicians Mill City Clinic for 16 years, but some patients have been with him for 30 years, following him from clinic to clinic. “Every time I think about doing something differently, I can't actually get there,” he says, “I can’t imagine not taking care of patients the way that I do.”
Now, his loved ones also call the Mill City Clinic their healthcare home. “Someday, I want this to be my clinic too,” says Dr. Hallberg.
Learn more about the Mill City Clinic, or find a primary care provider through M Physicians.