Mayo Clinic 'Model' at Center of Health Care Debate

Dr. Mike Wilson's favorite way to calm his nerves is to play the piano. And on the eve of a new job at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Wilson found himself eager to play.

The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., encourages cooperation among doctors. Physicians with different specialties work closely together on a patient's case in a process they call "integrated coordinated care."(ABC News)
"So tomorrow night is my first long call, that's where you get to stay all night at the hospital," Wilson, who was part of a group of incoming internists, told ABC News in a recent interview. "I've done it a couple of times in medical school. I guess the difference is that this is first time you are responsible for the decision you make, you write the orders and you have the final say."
Wilson was preparing for his new job at a time when the entire field of medicine is being rocked by a debate over the government's role in providing health care. And one of the primary exhibits in that debate is the hospital he was about to join.
President Barack Obama frequently singles out the Mayo Clinic as an example of quality, cost-effective health care.