Take Charge with HELPcare is your guide to taking charge of your health and your health care. If you're an employer paying for health insurance, it will help you Take Charge of Your Health Plan. And if you're a physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant, it will show you how you can Take Charge of Your Health Care Career.
HELPcare LLC provides management services to HELP practitioners escape the hamster wheel to become owners of a HELPcare Clinic direct primary care (DPC) practice, and metabolic health coaching to help patients prevent or even reverse disease.
What if you could see a cardiologist in days instead of waiting months?
Lee Aase and Dan Hinmon talk with Dr. Christina Kang and Dr. Vikas Sharotri, co-founders of CardioVerseMD, a nationwide virtual cardiology practice offering faster access, transparent prices and convenient appointments outside traditional office hours.
Dr. Kang and Dr. Sharotri explain how CardioVerseMD helps patients address high blood pressure, cholesterol concerns, heart palpitations, cardiovascular risk and follow-up care after a heart attack or stent. They also discuss how their practice arranges diagnostic testing—often at a fraction of traditional hospital-based prices—and works alongside direct primary care practitioners to create a more connected care team.
It’s a practical look at how telemedicine and direct specialty care can give patients faster answers, better communication and fewer barriers.
Learn more at CardioVerseMD.com.
30 Jul 2026
PT First Saves
Musculoskeletal conditions—back pain, shoulder injuries, knee problems and similar issues—are among the largest drivers of employer health plan spending. But they may also represent one of the best opportunities to improve care while reducing costs.
In this episode of Take Charge with HELPcare, Lee Aase talks with Brian McQuilkin and Jake Hoeppner of ActivePT in Rochester, Minnesota, about why physical therapy should often be the first stop for musculoskeletal problems.
Brian and Jake explain how early access to physical therapy can help patients reduce pain, regain strength and return to normal activities—sometimes avoiding unnecessary imaging, injections, specialist visits or surgery.
They also introduce ActivePT Direct, a direct-contracting model that enables employers to provide employees with timely, in-person physical therapy at $0 out of pocket. Employers pay when the service is used, while gaining an opportunity to reduce much larger downstream medical claims.
The conversation covers:
• Why physical therapy can produce outcomes comparable to surgery for some conditions
• How faster access can prevent manageable problems from becoming expensive ones
• Why Minnesota patients can often see a physical therapist without a referral
• How ActivePT measures utilization, outcomes and potential return on investment
• Why direct contracting can align the interests of employees, employers and providers
Brian and Jake will also be among the presenters at the Building a Better Employer Health Plan workshop on August 5 in Rochester.
Learn more and register:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/building-a-better-employer-health-plan-tickets-1988348798782?aff=oddtdtcreator (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/building-a-better-employer-health-plan-tickets-1988348798782?aff=oddtdtcreator)
Get in touch with Brian and Jake at:
https://activeptandsports.com
18 Jul 2026
Stop Buying Insurance. Start Buying Health Care.
Most employers don’t really want to buy health insurance. They want to buy health care.
In this episode of Take Charge with HELPcare, Lee Aase and Dan Hinmon talk with Matt Ohrt, Executive Director of the Free Market Medical Association and author of Save Your Company, Don’t Feed the Beast.
Matt spent about 25 years in HR leadership, and he understands the frustration employers feel when health plan costs keep rising even after they’ve moved to self-funding. He shares how his work at Merrill Steel led him to realize that self-funding alone isn’t a strategy. Employers need to become active buyers of health care.
The conversation focuses on Direct Primary Care as the foundation of a better health plan, the importance of transparent pricing, the problem with networks that limit buyer choice, and how employers can use direct relationships for services like imaging, physical therapy, chiropractic care and surgery.
Matt also previews the Minnesota Chapter of the Free Market Medical Association event, Building a Better Employer Health Pla (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/building-a-better-employer-health-plan-tickets-1988348798782?aff=oddtdtcreator)n, where he will be the keynote speaker on August 5 in Rochester.
This episode is especially relevant for HR leaders, CFOs, CEOs, business owners, public-sector leaders and brokers who are tired of the same old renewal cycle and want practical alternatives.
Learn more about HELPcare Clinic at https://helpcare.health (https://helpcare.health/).
Who has been a guest on Take Charge with HELPcare
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Dr Dawn Jacobson
Kelly Connaughty
Chris Deacon
Christy Haag
Matt Ohrt
Reach and audience
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 20 / 100
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Quality
26
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
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