This is the Clinic that Will and Charlie Built...

I have officially become a groupie of the quality improvement in health care movement. Books sitting on my nightstand include: Pauline Chen's Final Exam, Super Crunchers by Ian Ayres, and How to Change the World by David Bornstein. I squealed like I had just sighted Brad Pitt when Atul Gawande's latest book, The Checklist Manifesto arrived at my door. Instead of simply saying that I need to clean my apartment, I specifically think that I need to "5S" my kitchen and desk. In order to stay fit and get rid of the belly fat I've grown since starting medical school, I am now in PDSA cycle 3 for a 30 minute exercise routine that I can reliably perform every day. The latest sign that I am a quality improvement junkie is my weekend pilgrimage to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

This past weekend the AMSA Chapter at Mayo Clinic hosted a Patient Safety and Quality Care Conference at Mayo Clinic. The Mayo Clinic has not only been one of President Obama's shining examples of high quality care at low costs since he began his health reform push early last year, but has also consistently popped up during my experience at IHI as a health system that has truly embraced the IOM aim of patient-centeredness. Even though I'm buried underneath the dorsal columns of my central nervous system sequence, this was an opportunity I could not miss!



When I stepped off the plane in Rochester, I was abruptly greeted by a chilling gust of wind. But, that didn't deter me and like any good quality improvement groupie, I pressed on. From the moment my shuttle dropped me off in front of the Gonda Building and the Mayo Clinic greeters helped me out of the van, I knew I had arrived at what many say is the mecca of patient-centered care. It was difficult not to spend the weekend with my mouth agape.

Every aspect of the Mayo Clinic from its architecture and design, to the doctor-patient relationship, to Mayo's treatment of patient safety strongly embodies and reflects its mission: Mayo will provide the best care to every patient every day through integrated clinical practice, education and research. As Dr. Tom Viggiano, Dean of Mayo Medical School explained during his talk about Mayo Clinic's History, Culture and Professionalism Covenant, Mayo Clinic's mission stems from a remarkable story. A story about the work of Dr. William Worrall Mayo and his two sons, Drs. William and Charles Mayo.



Dr. William Worrall Mayo, born in England and a student of physicist John Dalton, arrived in Rochester as the Union army's examining surgeon. As his sons were growing up, William and Charles were intimately involved in their father's practice. They drove their father on patient rounds, attended medical society meetings, and even assisted their father in surgical procedures. This early exposure laid the foundations of medicine and patient care for the two brothers. Both William and Charles through consistent encouragement from their father attended medical school and both returned to Rochester to join their father's practice.

The tornado of 1883 that hit Rochester was a catalyst that led to the creation of Rochester's first hospital built in collaboration with the Sisters of Saint Francis. The Mayo family then became the physicians of the hospital and it was the brotherhood bond between William and Charles that was the first "team" that set the tone for the teamwork we see at Mayo Clinic today. As the hospital expanded and the fame of the brothers grew, it became necessary for William and Charles to pick physician partners to join the practice, expanding the team. In Dr. William Mayo's words, here is how teamwork was defined:

"As we grow in learning, we more justly appreciate our dependence upon each other. The sum-total of medical knowledge is now so great and wide-spreading that it would be futile for one man to attempt to acquire, or for any one man to assume that he has, even a good working knowledge of any large part of the whole. The very necessities of the case are driving practitioners into cooperation. The best interest of the patient is the only interest to be considered, and in order that the sick may have the benefit of advancing knowledge, union of forces is necessary."

One such recruited partner in the team that proved to be influential in shaping Mayo Clinic, was Dr. Henry Plummer. Dr. Henry Plummer's ingenuity led him to design an easy, retrievable medical record system. This system gave each patient an ID number and the mode of transport for these records was a system of pipes. Dr. Plummer's innovation acknowledged the fundamental place that medical records had in research and advancing medical knowledge and the need for shared data between physicians to deliver the best care for patients. Dr. Plummer was also instrumental in bringing the Mayo vision of integrated care into reality with the construction of the first Mayo Clinic building (built in 1914), which housed clinical medicine departments, laboratories, and administration offices all under one roof.



As the years continue, additions and innovations to the Mayo Clinic all align with the traditions that Drs. William and Charles Mayo started. There is a Mother Goose rhyme called, "This is the house that Jack built..." Each successive stanza in the rhyme gets longer and longer as odd characteristics are added to the house that Jack built. The Mayo Clinic Model of Care we know and admire today is a result of a similar layering construction.

Though, from my weekend experience at Mayo Clinic, the foundations that Drs. William and Charles Mayo created are more than just a model of care, it's a tangible culture, or even a life force that allows the Mayo Clinic to thrive. The wholly understood value that the needs of the patient come first allow the Mayo Clinic to continually push the boundaries of improvement. The weekend was primarily focused on medical errors and the developed practices and systems at the Mayo Clinic to address patient safety and quality care. We heard from Dr. Stephen Swensen, Director of Quality at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Thor Sundt who is pioneering improvements in interprofessional teamwork in the surgical setting, Dr. Paula Santrach, Chair of Clinical Practice Quality Oversight Committee, Dr. Douglas Wood, Medical Director of the Quality Academy, Dr. Bob Cima on error analysis in surgery, and many many more who volunteered their time to not only share with us their approaches to medical error management, but true to the Mayo Clinic's culture of putting the patient's needs first were also frank about areas that needed improvement. If President Obama's shining beacon of clinical excellence continues to make improvements upon "the clinic that Will and Charlie built," then the rest of us certainly have lots to learn.



I've certainly learned a lot this weekend both through the stated curriculum in the conference agenda, but also through the hidden curriculum of taking in the culture of the Mayo Clinic. I may not be able to take back to the University of Michigan Mayo's unique electronic physician and patient tracking system or redesign all of the exam rooms at Michigan so that physicians are never talking down to their patients, but I can take a plank of Mayo's culture and lay it down as my foundation so that wherever I am, I can do my best to extend the clinic that Will and Charlie built.



A big thanks to Crystal Pruitt and Crystal Shen of Mayo Medical School who organized this enlightening conference. I look forward to more great opportunities to learn about patient safety and quality improvement from the great leaders at the Mayo Clinic.