In an era marked by an abundance of options in the health IT marketplace, Mayo Clinic Platform aims to get proven tools to healthcare providers.
Mayo Clinic Platform, Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic's ecosystem for innovators, partners with institutions globally to validate and facilitate the deployment of proven tools into electronic medical records and workflows.
Becker's spoke to Mark Larson, MD, medical director for the Mayo Clinic Care Network, to discuss how Mayo Clinic Platform aims to facilitate the broader distribution of proven solutions.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity.
Question: What distinguishes the platform model in healthcare, and how do programs like Mayo Clinic Platform intend to revolutionize healthcare delivery?
Dr. Mark Larson: In a traditional pipeline model of healthcare, a patient who needs health guidance works with a single provider or organization who provides the needed information or services.
A platform model of healthcare creates an ecosystem that enables all participants to benefit from each other's involvement. As the ecosystem grows, community is built and more matches are made between producers and consumers. Information is exchanged and network effects begin to develop, enhancing the value achieved by each participant or organization in the ecosystem. This type of interaction sets the stage for potentially far-reaching effects, including to organizations not in geographic proximity, such as those in rural, underserved and low-income parts of the country and world.
Q: How does Mayo Clinic Platform aim to facilitate the broader distribution of proven solutions to healthcare providers and patients, and what obstacles exist in achieving this goal?
ML: Mayo Clinic Platform aims to work with large, medium and small institutions around the country and globally, first validating the solutions, then demonstrating the value of these solutions and finally, helping to facilitate the deployment of the solutions into their electronic medical records and workflow.
The challenges of working with other institutions' IT infrastructure, such as EMRs, are significant, but our IT engineer teams have developed what appears to be a successful on-ramp process for deployment into external EMRs.
Q: How does Mayo Clinic Platform support healthcare providers in implementing these solutions into their existing workflows and practices?
ML: Mayo Clinic Platform supports healthcare providers with tools, services and solutions developed at Mayo Clinic. The providers we work with can incorporate these into their current practices. Moving forward, we are expanding our offerings to include solutions developed outside of Mayo Clinic as well.
Our goal, by outsourcing solution developers from around the globe, is that we can more quickly get validated solutions into the workflow of providers, ultimately helping them take better care of their patients.
Q: How do initiatives within Mayo Clinic Platform impact healthcare providers in the marketplace? Could you share specific instances of providers benefiting from participation?
ML: Providers in the marketplace who currently work with Mayo Clinic Platform already have access to a variety of tools and consultative services that enhance the care they deliver.
Two such examples are e-consultation, an asynchronous second opinion consultation from Mayo Clinic experts, and participation in e-boards, where Mayo Clinic consultants review and discuss complex case management.
Being able to expand these services, as well as incorporate many more tools, services and solutions into the practices of providers across the globe, will ultimately impact the care they provide for their patients. That is an ecosystem, and the overarching aim of the Mayo Clinic Platform.
Q: With the abundance of options in the health IT marketplace, how does Mayo Clinic Platform enhance the value proposition for both solution developers and healthcare providers seeking reliable solutions?
ML: Solution developers will have access to an extremely large, longitudinal database of diverse patient populations from around the globe, allowing them to test their algorithms and hypotheses on this database, to see if they can develop new insights into diseases, their earliest detection and their management.
The solutions, when implemented into the workflow of providers, can impact their patients, hopefully resulting in early detection of diseases and improved algorithms that result in new care process models.
Q: To what extent are pharmaceutical and biotech companies involved in Mayo Clinic Platform, and in what capacity do they contribute to its programs and initiatives?
ML: Pharmaceutical companies and biotech companies aim to improve healthcare by earlier detection of diseases, new medications and interventions, and better decision-making.
Being able to access a very large, longitudinal database of diverse patients from around the world allows them to not only develop but also "test drive" ideas and algorithms. If successful, then they are positioned to accelerate their incorporation into the daily practices of providers and healthcare institutions.