Mayo Clinic Care Network

October 31, 2014

Altru Health System in Grand Forks, North Dakota, was the first member of Mayo Clinic Care Network and Brad Wehe, chief operating officer and graduate of the Mayo School of Health Sciences’ (MSHS) Physical Therapy Program, couldn’t be prouder of this more formal relationship with Mayo Clinic.

Altru provides care in 24 locations in eastern North Dakota and northern Minnesota. The practice includes 45 physician specialists. About 492,000 outpatients and 13,000 inpatients were treated last year.

“Altru Health System and our region have had a long-standing relationship with Mayo,” says Wehe. “When patients have needed a higher level of care, we’ve recommended Mayo.”

Now, some of those patients can easily benefit from Mayo Clinic expertise without the 400-mile drive.

Started in 2011, the Mayo Clinic Care Network is a collaboration between Mayo Clinic and independent, like-minded health care organizations that are interested in working together to improve the delivery of health care. Members of the Mayo Clinic Care Network use technology to access Mayo knowledge and connect with Mayo specialists. Now, some patients who may otherwise have traveled to Mayo Clinic can benefit from its expertise at no extra cost to them, while receiving care from trusted local physicians.

Tools that help network members include:

AskMayoExpert. This online resource offers the latest Mayo-vetted information at the point of care. Care providers can access Mayo’s significant breadth and depth of clinical expertise on disease management, care guidelines, treatment recommendations and reference materials for a wide variety of conditions.

eConsults. Member physicians ask Mayo Clinic specialists a focused question about a patient’s diagnosis, therapy or care management plan through a secure online portal. The Mayo specialist reviews the patient’s medical record, imaging studies and laboratory tests and responds to the question within two to three business days. Care and treatment remain local.

Health care consulting. Member organizations have access to Mayo staff and expertise related to quality, safety, scheduling, patient flow, patient satisfaction and professionalism.

eTumor Boards. Through advanced videoconferencing technology, physicians from across the network can present and discuss the care and management of complex cancer cases with a Mayo Clinic multidisciplinary panel.

Wehe, who still treats physical therapy patients once a week, says the information and benefits of the care network influence many aspects of a patient’s care plan. “For example, a neurologist treating a patient with a movement disorder will tap into an eConsult,” says Wehe. “Those results will affect the physical therapy treatment plan that we put in place.”

Twenty-eight other health care organizations have followed Altru’s lead in joining the network.

“Anytime you figure out a way to share information and come together for the benefit of the patient, that’s very powerful,” says Wehe. “That’s what we see in the care network.”

Learn more at mayoclinic.org.