Mayo Clinic, Dartmouth-Hitchcock announce collaboration
On Friday, the Mayo Clinic and Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) in New Hampshire announced a formal collaboration with the goal of improving health and healthcare quality at both institutions while lowering overall costs.
Under the new agreement, D-H will become a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network based in Rochester, Minn. In addition to their collaboration, Mayo and D-H are discussing a number of future joint projects, including advancing population health using large data systems, expanded clinical and basic research, joint educational initiatives and advancement of the science of healthcare delivery.
[See also: Collaboration targets community, employer benefits of preventive health]
“We started [the Mayo Clinic Care Network] about a year ago with the goal of forming a structured network of institutions that share a similar culture and are philosophically aligned with patients as the main concern,” said David Hayes, medical director of the Mayo Clinic Care Network. “[Mayo Clinic and D-H] have had a lot of communications over the years. This collaboration extends our reach into a new geography and brings a very well-known organization into our network.”
The Mayo Clinic Care Network represents non-ownership relationships. According to Hayes, members are like-minded organizations that share a goal of improving the delivery of healthcare in their communities through high-quality, collaborative medical care. Launched last year, Mayo Clinic Care Network has membership that extends to Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota and now New Hampshire.
This collaboration gives Mayo Clinic a unique relationship in the Northeast corridor of the United States and strengthens long-standing ties between the two organizations that date back to the founding of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic in 1927. More recently, D-H and Mayo have been frequent collaborators on research, grants, clinical care, health policy and health reform.
"From creating the High Value Healthcare Collaborative with other partners, to advancing the patient's voice in healthcare decisions, Mayo and D-H have pursued a common vision, mission and commitment to a healthy population,” said James Weinstein, CEO and president of D-H, in a press release.
[See also: Collaboration cuts costs]
Dartmouth-Hitchcock remains an independent entity under the agreement. As a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, D-H physicians and providers will have access to Mayo Clinic resources, including tools to promote physician-to-physician consultations and a point-of-care database of best-practice information on disease management, care guidelines, treatment recommendations and reference materials.
“We do the sharing of best practices," said Hayes. "As for the Mayo Clinic, we know that healthcare is changing but we don’t know how exactly it will change. We have a national network, but we still think in a world that is more and more virtual, we would like to expand our areas of expertise beyond our campuses and we want to provide patients with the best remote care they can get.”
[See also: Mayo Clinic launches Mayo Clinic Care Network]
