Berry and Seltman, authors of the book “Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic” mentioned in the previous post, tell the story of a couple whose wife had an appointment with the head of surgery at a major teaching hospital on the East Coast of the United States. The world famous surgeon was wearing a pin on his lab coat that said “Patients First,” which made the couple even more certain that they had made the right choice. The woman had prepared a list of questions to be sure she covered everything she was concerned about. When she asked her first question, the surgeon responded that if he took the time to answer all her questions, he would never have time to answer the questions of all the other patients who had come from all over the world to see him. The couple finally decided to go to the Mayo Clinic, and noted that there, no one wore pins on their lab coats, but the motto “Patients First” was not just a slogan but a way of life. The Mayo Clinic has drawn up a charter (“the Mayo Clinic Model of Care” PDF available online in English, 21 pages) that sets forth the spirit that has forged the clinic’s culture. Below are some of the core elements of the charter:
- Collegial, cooperative staff with true multi-specialty integration;
- An unhurried examination with time to listen to the patient;
- Physicians taking personal responsibility for directing patient care over time in a partnership with the local physician;
- Highest quality patient care provided with compassion and trust;
- Respect for the patient, family and local physician;
- Comprehensive evaluation with timely, efficient assessment and treatment;
- Availability of the most advanced, innovative diagnostic and therapeutic technology and techniques;
- …
The charter is of course much more detailed, and in my next post I will go into some of the methods the Mayo Clinic uses to ensure that the charter is not just a poster they give to new hires and patients, but the very core of the clinic’s culture, values and ethics that they put into daily practice in providing healthcare.
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