Mayo Clinic opens new center to deliver optimal health care solutions

Mayo Clinic announced the launch of a new initiative focused on creating new and improved approaches to delivering health care. The Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery will design, implement, measure and disseminate high-value health care best practices with initial focus areas that include wellness and the prediction, prevention, and management of chronic diseases.

"By focusing on how health care is delivered, we will define new models of care that increase quality, fulfill the needs of the patients and reduce costs," says Veronique Roger, M.D., M.P.H., director of the center. "We will examine precisely what determines high-value health care and then explore how to best apply these high-value health care principles, systems and practices in different settings."

Mayo Clinic drew attention during the national health care reform debate for its high-quality, low-cost care, but many policy experts believed that this type of health care was not replicable elsewhere in the country.

"This new center will allow Mayo Clinic to identify and disseminate the type of high-value health care delivery that patients deserve," says Mark Hayward, administrator of the center. "The center will harness Mayo Clinic's century-long history of applying engineering principles to patient-centered health care."

The Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery will be a multimillion dollar initiative with activities at Mayo Clinic's Minnesota, Florida and Arizona campuses, as well as Mayo Health System, a network of hospitals and clinics serving more than 70 communities in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Through these diverse settings, clinicians and researchers can evaluate best practices for a variety of health care services such as primary care, diabetes care, hip replacements and ICU care.

"Health care in this country is at a crossroads and the next big step is to increase quality while lowering costs at the same time," says Dr. Roger. "By focusing on new care delivery models, we can help ensure that patient-centered health care continues to thrive."