Health Care Homes
Patient Information
Redefining Health, Redesigning Care
If you’re looking for a primary care clinic, we hope you’ll consider a Health Care Home certified clinic. What you’ll find at these clinics is high quality care based on your needs and preferences. You’ll be part of a team of people, including your doctor, who will work together to ensure your health and well-being. Health Care Home certified clinics can be found throughout Minnesota and are not tied to any one health system.
A Health Care Home is a patient’s home for health care, the first place you should turn to for your health care needs. Health Care Homes provide a base for health care that helps patients navigate the health care system and coordinates their care. Health Care Homes are NOT health care in your home or a place to live.
There are three progressive levels of certification: Foundational Level, Level 2 and Level 3.
How can I help you?
This is the question that starts the conversation with every patient in a Health Care Home clinic. The idea is for the patient to identify and agree on one thing to work on. It may not be the provider's number one goal for the patient, but it is one the patient is invested in. “What they want is what we want."
- Foundational Level: A Health Care Home is a primary care clinic or clinician certified by the Minnesota Department of Health to coordinate care among the primary care team, specialists, and community partners to ensure patient-centered, whole person care and improve total health and well-being.
- Level 2: A Health Care Home that progresses to Level 2 certification meets the Foundational Level requirements while also expanding patient access to needed services and connecting to community resources that support well-being and quality of life.
- Level 3: A Health Care Home awarded certification at Level 3 by the Minnesota Department of Health meets all the requirements of Foundational Level and Level 2, while expanding focus to include community population health. The emphasis is on participating and sharing responsibility in community-based health improvement efforts.
A patient with diabetes came into his Health Care Home clinic for a routine office visit. When the patient shared that his wife had recently died, the conversation shifted to how he was doing rather than what he was eating. The provider stated, “I may have an idea of what an appointment is about, but I remain 100% open to what my patient needs. That is what our practice and our team is all about.”
- Patient-centered: tailored to your needs, so you can access care when and where you need it, and where you are honored and respected.
- Team based: each patient in a health care home is supported by a team of people working with you to set goals and manage your care. The most important member of the team is YOU! The team strives to meet your needs and preferences and to include you as a full participant in your care.
- Coordinated: patients in a Health Care Home clinic have help coordinating their care so that everybody who is part of their care –including specialists and community services– inside and outside the clinic – is on the same page and working together.
Health Care Homes make managing your healthcare easier. They help you address your health challenges and find resources to help manage your health.
When COVID first arrived in Minnesota, all testing and vaccinations required on-line registration. There were no options for individuals to call and get scheduled. The team's administrator recognized that many patients were elderly, at high risk of COVID complications, and without access to the internet. She contacted each patient and offered to schedule their vaccination for them.
There is no extra cost to choosing a Health Care Home certified clinic.
Health Care Home clinics are located throughout Minnesota and in parts of North Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Access a map or list of Health Care Home clinics.