The World-Renowned Mayo Clinic

Selected as the second best hospital in the United States by U.S. News & World Report in 2007, Mayo Clinic is a world-famous health-care facility which is headquartered in Rochester in Minnesota. Though the hospital started its operations in Rochester, today it has branched out in a number of other cities like, Jacksonville, Scottsdale, Florida and Arizona. Backed by an impeccable track record of continuously being regarded as one of the best hospitals in the United States by various media, Mayo Clinic also runs quite a few clinics which are smaller in terms of operations. Called the Mayo Health System, these clinics are located in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

In case you are wondering why it is called a 'clinic' which generally would refer to small outlets with outpatient departments only, the truth of the matter is Mayo Clinic started out almost in similar fashion - as a small clinic. Today it has grown in to a multi-facility hospital unit with a wide range of medical and healthcare facilities for both in and outpatients, running successfully across many states in America. It has a research organization which is known world-wide and medical schools and colleges which are under the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Through its physicians' resident training program, Mayo Clinic pioneered the path of what is currently known as Post Graduate education in medicine. Driven by the corporate core value of patient needs superseding all other needs, the mission statement of Mayo Clinic pledges to take best possible care of all patients through a consolidated effort of education, research and clinical practice.

In terms of income, Mayo Clinic is the second biggest and the biggest non-profit organization in the state and Minnesota respectively, with an earning of US$5.6 billion in 2004 and a donation amount going up to US$266 million in 2006. Its research and development activities are financed by income from the clinical practice.

The salaries and incentives paid to medical practitioners in Mayo Clinic is unique in the sense that it is not dependent on the number of operations he does or the number of patients he sees. He is paid one of the best in the industry, which ensures that he can spend more quality time with a patient, instead of breaking his head over the numbers he has seen in a day or the number of operations he has performed.

There are some other unique features about Mayo Clinic, which perhaps have made them what they are. The sharp clinical eyes of practitioners attached to Mayo Clinic are known to detect many hidden ailments, including cancer, which go completely unnoticed by other doctors. Though fees for treatment at Mayo Clinic are usually higher than other places, patients are counseled regarding these prior to being treated. They are well informed about the total cost of therapy including how much they can expect from their medical insurances. But according to the Clinics' explanation as well as patients' post-cure confessions, the high costs are nullified by the reduced future health maintenance costs as well as benefits from being seen by multiple specialties in one visit.