Posted on 07/06/2009 6:04:22 PM PDT by Kaslin
President Obama often points to the famed Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., as one model for repairing the nation's health care.
In interviews he has cited statistics showing that the Mayo Clinic spends 20% to 30% less on health care than other hospitals yet produces better patient outcomes.
Some industry watchers point to Mayo's staffing model — primarily its practice of hiring doctors as salaried staff rather than independent, fee-for-service contractors.
Hiring its own staff gives Mayo more control over its doctors, says Jason Gurda, a hospital analyst at Leerink Swann.
"Most hospitals don't tell doctors what to do — they try to please the doctors," he said.
But others say staff physicians have less incentive to increase the patient count because they're paid the same no matter how much business the hospitals do. That could be a problem in an industry that depends on patient volume to meet its sales and profit goals.
A Model Or An Exception?
Other skeptics note that Mayo boasts top-quality health professionals that have embraced the clinic's culture. That may not be easy to replicate across the country.
In any case, the idea of using a not-for-profit hospital organization as a model for health care reform will no doubt draw plenty of attention as the debate intensifies over the next few months.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
But Minnesota just gave us Al Franken. That’s enough for now.
After reading the article, maybe we should be looking at Cleveland Clinic, instead.
I have spoken as a guest at Mayo, Rochester. They are a hospital to be emulated. There are some honest questions about the care however. Not the quality which is unsurpassed but the demographics of their patient population. They serve the population of Olmsted County which is primarily white middle class who usually have better outcomes than minorities. Many (most) of their out of town population is well enough to take a plane to Mayo indicating their performance scores are probably a lot higher than the typical hospital. I want to stress, this is to take nothing away from The Clinic as it is truly one of America’s finest.
I am not going to trash Mayo, but the are not god-like by a far stretch.
I live in St Augustine and was going to a Mayo Primary Care facility here. There is a large Mayo facility 1 hour north in Jacksonville, Fl.
The problem with my right arm was completely mis-diagnosed..chalked off to being a tennis elbow problem and the best cure was 6 months inactivity and then weight strengthening. As it turned out, I had a severely torn rotator cuff and made it accutely worse with the weight training and eventually suffered like a dog for 4-5 months after the correct diagnosis and extensive surgery to repair it....bone grinding, cutting off tattered muscle, sewing two rips, six screws, etc etc.
I do not think it is quite honest to state that UCLA Medical Center spends twice that of Mayo. Housing in CA is four times that of Minnesota. Everything is more expensive in CA. Health care costs cannot be compared evenly when everything else has a higher cost in CA than the national average. Just to pay for the land and expansion projects in CA requires higher costs attached to services.
Re: “the CARE, which is unsurpassed.” I know a gentleman who would disagree!
After exhausting local medicos with his wife’s downward spiral he took her to Mayo. They did an exploratory and basicaly told her it was all in her head.
She continued to get worse and some time later she was x-rayed and it was discovered that she not only had cancer (I forget which kind) but had a clamp and sponge left in her from the surgery at Mayo.
What you won't hear is that high-cost-of-care regions of the country are, mostly, in democrat stronghold areas like Mass... With a few exceptions, it is blue states that have lower total healthcare costs... No brainer what is going on...
My physician now also worked there for 10 years or so until she went out on her own - mainly because of stress. The low pay and volume she was forced to see finally got to her. In fact, we jokingly call ourselves "Mayo refugees!"
Mrs. Prince of Space
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