• Minnesota

    Billings Clinic Joins Mayo Clinic Care Network

BILLINGS, Mont. — Mayo Clinic today announced Billings Clinic as the newest member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network. Billings Clinic is the first health system in Montana to have passed Mayo's rigorous review process and been selected as a member of the network. Billings Clinic's group practice structure is a team-oriented community of physicians who work together in a collaborative manner to provide primary and specialty regional medical care for the entire population of Montana, the western Dakotas and northern Wyoming, with a regional population of more than half a million.

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"We are extremely excited to welcome Billings Clinic to the Mayo Clinic Care Network. We have a long-standing relationship with this excellent organization and its dedicated staff, working together over the years to improve patient care," says David Hayes, M.D., medical director, Mayo Clinic Care Network. "Collaborating with other medical providers to provide the best possible care for patients has always been part of Mayo's culture, and through the Mayo Clinic Care Network we can work in new ways with community care organizations to enhance the lives of patients."

"This new relationship creates an even closer connection between Billings Clinic and Mayo Clinic, giving patients with very complex health issues more efficient access to some of the world's most highly specialized clinical care at Mayo Clinic," says Nicholas Wolter, M.D., CEO, Billings Clinic. "Culturally, our two organizations have many similarities, including a commitment to an integrated care delivery model and physician leadership. Mayo Clinic was one of the organizations that inspired Billings Clinic's organizational structure, so being part of the Mayo Clinic Care Network is an excellent fit. This collaboration means that we can bring the expertise and knowledge of Mayo Clinic to Billings Clinic so that fewer patients have to travel out of our region for certain specialized care."

The Mayo Clinic Care Network extends Mayo Clinic's knowledge and expertise to physicians and providers interested in working together in the best interest of their patients. Billings Clinic physicians will now be able to connect directly with Mayo Clinic specialists on questions of patient care using an electronic consulting technique called eConsults. Billings Clinic physicians also will have access to Mayo-vetted medical information through the AskMayoExpert database. These tools, in addition to health care consulting, will help Billings Clinic continue to provide the best care for its patients as well as improve its systems and the health of the community and region.

Billings Clinic is a community-governed, physician-led health care organization consisting of a multispecialty physician group practice with 3,600 full- and part-time employees, more than 320 physicians and nonphysician providers, a 272-bed hospital, a research center and a 90-bed rehabilitation and assisted living facility. Billings Clinic is Montana's largest health care organization.

By becoming a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, Billings Clinic builds on a long relationship with Mayo that includes 20 years of collaborative work with Mayo Medical Laboratories.

The Mayo Clinic Care Network represents nonownership relationships. With Mayo Clinic, members of the network share a commitment to improve the quality and delivery of health care. The primary goal of the Mayo Clinic Care Network is to help people gain the benefits of Mayo Clinic knowledge and expertise close to home, ensuring that patients need to travel for care only when necessary. The network launched in 2011, and now has member organizations based in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, and North Dakota. Billings Clinic will be Mayo Clinic's exclusive Care Network member for all of Montana and northern Wyoming.

About Billings Clinic

Billings Clinic is a nationally recognized, physician-led multispecialty clinic and hospital serving the people of its region with the highest standards of care for quality, safety and value.

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