Fifteen years ago, Mayo Clinic Care Network began with a simple yet powerful idea: Healthcare organizations can do more for patients when they have meaningful ways to learn from and support one another.
Altru Health System in North Dakota became the first Care Network member in 2011, creating a new way for independent healthcare organizations to tap into Mayo Clinic’s clinical knowledge and expertise while continuing to serve patients in the communities they call home.
A network built on connection
What began with that vision has grown into a global community of more than 50 member organizations, representing 80 hospitals and nearly 20,000 physicians.
But the story of Mayo Clinic Care Network is about much more than numbers.
It is about a physician reaching out to a Mayo Clinic specialist for another perspective on a complex case. A team discovering that colleagues halfway around the world are working through a challenge much like their own. Leaders exchanging ideas, specialists learning from one another, and relationships growing stronger with every conversation.
Ultimately, it’s about making sure patients receive the best possible care, everywhere.
"For the past 15 years, the Mayo Clinic Care Network has brought together like-minded organizations to solve complex medical challenges and advance patient care," says Christine Johnson, associate vice president, Mayo Clinic Care Network. "By sharing knowledge and expertise, we can strengthen what each organization delivers locally and help more patients benefit from high-quality care, wherever they are."
Expertise when and where it matters
The Care Network began as a new way for member organizations to access Mayo Clinic knowledge and specialists. Over time, that relationship expanded to support needs across clinical care, education, operations, leadership, and innovation.
With the launch of Mayo Clinic Platform in 2019, Care Network members gained new opportunities to elevate care quality, adopt new technologies with confidence, and meet the evolving needs of their communities.
Members can apply tools and resources locally to support their teams, solve complex challenges, and find new ways to improve care for the patients and communities they serve.
Over 15 years, those connections have added up:
- 63,545 eConsults on complex diagnoses, treatment plans, and other clinical questions.
- 1,283 inpatient telephone consultations supporting care at the bedside.
- 1,720 eBoards bringing experts together for live, interactive conferences on complex cases.
- 292 affinity group meetings, both virtual and in-person, connecting colleagues across specialties, roles, and geographies.
- 121,520 Health Care Consulting hours supporting local organizational priorities.
Yet some of the most meaningful measures of the Care Network’s impact can’t be captured in a number.
Stronger together, independent by design
Members can connect with peers facing similar challenges. They can learn what is working at other organizations. And they can bring those ideas home, adapting them to the needs of their own patients, teams, and communities.
Over time, those exchanges can become something bigger: new capabilities, stronger teams, and boundless possibilities for patient care.
Care Network members remain independent while gaining connections to Mayo Clinic knowledge, specialists, and a network of peers. Those resources complement the skills that already exist within member organizations, while helping them continue to grow.
“Being the first member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network was an important milestone for Altru and the patients and communities we serve," said Josh Deere, M.D., president of Altru. "For 15 years, this relationship has allowed us to remain rooted in our community while connecting our physicians and teams with Mayo Clinic expertise and colleagues around the world. That combination of local care and shared expertise is incredibly valuable, and we are proud of the difference this longstanding relationship has made for our patients and our region.”
Making a difference, one community at a time
Across the Care Network, that model has helped members turn collaboration into action. The results look different in every community:
- At Augusta Health, an eConsult helped uncover systemic mastocytosis, a rare disease, as the cause of a patient's debilitating symptoms. The diagnosis helped connect the patient with specialized treatment.
- At The Baton Rouge Clinic, a visit and shared learning helped inspire an employee development program rooted in the organization's values. The program now reaches its 800 employees and has contributed to improved employee retention.
- At Mosaic Life Care, collaboration with Mayo Clinic supported the development of an interventional neurology and neuroendovascular program, expanding access to advanced stroke treatment in northwest Missouri.
- At Wellstar Health System, shared learning and healthcare consulting supported the launch of an advanced left ventricular assist device program. According to Wellstar, the program has helped save more than 150 lives.
After 15 years, the idea at the heart of Mayo Clinic Care Network remains the same: Better care doesn’t always mean sending a patient farther away. Sometimes, it means bringing more knowledge, more perspectives, and more possibilities closer to home.
Reach out to our team to see how your organization can become part of our next 15 years.
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