The healthcare system can be tricky to navigate, especially when dealing with a corporate entity. You may have long wait times to get an appointment with a physician and even longer if you need to see a specialist afterward.
The doctor may only have 10 or so minutes to evaluate you and try to answer a few of your many questions. There may be only limited follow-up because their patient load is too heavy to do more.
It can be a headache for all involved.
At Advanced Surgical Associates of Northern Minnesota, board-certified general surgeon Dr. John Bollins and our team established this private group practice in 2021 to better meet our patients’ needs. When you come in with a medical problem, we treat you like a patient, not a number. Here’s what you can expect.
The private group practice model
Private practice applies to an individual-owned company or a group-owned one. Advanced Surgical Associates of Northern Minnesota is a single-surgeon practice led by Dr. John Bollins. Our team also includes a certified surgical first assistant and a medical assistant—both transitioned from the corporate healthcare system to provide more patient-centered care.
Because we aren’t beholden to any corporate entity, we can spend more time with our patients, getting to know them personally and medically, and we can follow up on their care even when they’re no longer physically in the office.
Our patients know, too, that they can get timely appointments and that we’ll answer all of their questions about their condition or an upcoming procedure, from what’s required beforehand to the nitty gritty of the recovery process. If you have a question, ask, and we’ll do our best to explain the answer.
Surgical procedures
When it comes to surgical procedures, we also make the effort to pair the patient with the right facility, one that routinely handles their particular condition and has a proven success record. This is a place where they’ll feel comfortable and have their needs addressed.
A corporate model pushes physicians to refer patients to their own hospital, even if it isn’t the best fit for any of the parties involved—it’s a bottom-line decision that is not necessarily good for the patient.
From your initial consultation to your procedure to your recovery period, you can count on the doctors at Advanced Surgical Associates of Northern Minnesota to do what’s medically right for you. To schedule a consultation with our office, call us in Hibbing, Duluth, or Ely, Minnesota, or book your appointment online.
