Sunday, July 10, 2011

Mayo Clinic: Competition does not serve patients’ interests.

Competition does not serve patients’ interests.


The Mayos also made it clear that patients’ interests were not well served if doctors competed with each other. Late in life William emphasized that in addition to making a commitment to the patient, doctors must make a commitment to each other:  “Continuing interest by every member of the staff in the professional progress of every other member,” would be essential to sustaining the organization’s future.


More than one hundred years later, building a health care system that adheres to such a collective vision of its mission may be difficult. Perhaps it can only be done in Minnesota.


In the end, Mayo offers proof that when a like-minded group of doctors practice medicine to the very best of their ability—without worrying about the revenues they are bringing in for the hospital, the fees they are accumulating for themselves, or even whether the patient can pay—patients satisfaction is higher, physicians are happier, and the medical bills are lower. Isn’t this what we want?





From: Leadership Lessons from Mayo Clinic



T e a c h i n g  f o r  T  o m o r r o w ’ s  P a t i e n t


Mayo’s combination of culture and technology is potent. The culture makes it okay for highly-trained providers to ask for help; the technology makes it easy to provide the help.
A Mayo Rochester internist speaks to the cultural influence: ‘‘The strong collegial attitude at Mayo allows me to call any Mayo  physician at any time and discuss a patient in a tactful and pleasant manner. I do not feel afraid or stupid when I call a world renowned Mayo surgeon. We respect each other. We help each other. We learn from each other.’’

A Mayo surgeon recalled an incident that occurred shortly after he had  joined the Mayo    surgical staff as the most junior member. He was seeing patients in the Clinic one afternoon when he received a page from one of the most experienced and renowned surgeons on the Mayo Clinic staff. The senior surgeon stated over the phone that he was in the operating room performing a complex procedure on a patient with a difficult problem. He explained the findings and asked his junior colleague whether or not what he, the senior surgeon, was planning seemed appropriate. The junior surgeon was dumb-founded at first that he would receive a call like this from a surgeon whom he greatly admired and assumed had all the answers to even the most difficult problems. Nonetheless, a few minutes of discussion ensued, a decision was made, and the senior surgeon proceeded with the operation. The patient’s problem was deftly managed, and the patient made an excellent postoperative recovery. A major consequence was that the junior surgeon learned the importance of intra-operative consultation for the patient’s benefit even among surgeons with many years of surgical experience.

No Internal Market, no silly cross charging.






Dr. Charles H. Mayo and Dr. William J. Mayo

“…….Mayo offers proof that when a like-minded group of doctors practice medicine to the very best of their ability—without worrying about the revenues they are bringing in for the hospital, the fees they are accumulating for themselves, or even whether the patient can pay—patients satisfaction is higher, physicians are happier, and the medical bills are lower.”

                                                                                   NHS & The Mayo Model: What if!


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