SEARCY — Unity Health is the first health system in Arkansas to join the Mayo Clinic Care Network, Unity Health announced May 12 at a press conference in Searcy.
The partnership will allow Mayo Clinic specialists to advise Unity Health physicians through electronic consultations using a program called AskMayoExpert.
“If you have a particular problem that [Unity Health physicians] need a little help with, they can send all the pathology, the X-rays, MRIs, gather all the data and send it to a specialist with Mayo, and they will give a consult on that promptly,” said Keith Feather, vice chairman of the Unity Health Board of Directors.
The Mayo Clinic Care Network sought Unity Health for the partnership, and Feather said that is a compliment to Unity’s staff.
The Mayo Clinic, a nonprofit, has been impressed with Unity Health’s care of patients over the two-year journey it took to finalize the partnership, said Ryan Uitti, medical director for the Mayo Clinic Care Network’s Southeast Region.
Uitti said the Mayo Clinic was founded with teamwork in mind. Today, the Mayo Clinic serves more than 1 million patients a year at its campuses in Arizona, Minnesota and Florida.
“We wanted to figure out how we could share some of the experience that we have accumulated at Mayo more widely,” Uitti said. “To do this, we’ve taken advantage of technology and the ability to communicate and collaborate with other teams.”
Ryan Koch, Unity Health chief of staff, said that six months ago, a patient was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder, giving Koch a chance to utilize an electronic consultation with the Mayo Clinic and allowing the patient to save the money it would have cost to travel to Arizona.
“The patient said, ‘Where would you go for this?’ And I said, ‘Well, if you’re talking about a second opinion, I would go to Mayo,’” Koch said.
The membership-based collaboration with the Mayo Clinic is maintained through a yearly subscription fee.
“Technically, we’re bringing 4,200 physicians, 50,000 to 60,000 employees or associates into our ability to serve our patients without any additional costs [to the patient],” said Ray Montgomery, Unity Health CEO.
AskMayoExpert serves as a database of reference information, treatment recommendations and disease management. AskMayoExpert will be available to all nurses and doctors on their computers at the hospital and at home, along with being available on their smartphones. The computer program is updated at least annually, Feather said.
“This is not a replacement at all for any of the physicians or the usual consultative practices in Searcy and in this region,” Uitti said. “In fact, it is a supplement, and it’s a supplement that is guided by the interest of the patient.”
Former Gov. Mike Beebe said the collaboration with the Mayo Clinic Care Network will allow Unity Health to continue to make strides in health care. Thirty-seven other hospital systems across America, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Singapore are members of the network.
“We were too far behind,” Beebe said. “But that just gives you the opportunity — and that’s what it is, an opportunity — to be able to accelerate your progress in a fashion that allows delivery of quality care to your people.”
Unity Health has locations in Beebe, Bradford, Heber Springs, Newport and Searcy. Uitti said the Mayo Clinic Care Network will help patients and physicians have answers to common and uncommon medical questions.
“We feel very strongly that this is the best way that Mayo Clinic can touch more individuals in the country and throughout the world,” he said.
Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or shayman@arkansasonline.com.