WellStar Health System and Mayo Clinic Announce Collaboration

MARIETTA, Ga., Feb. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- WellStar Health System (WellStar) and Mayo Clinic today announced that the metro Atlanta-based health system is joining the Mayo Clinic Care Network, a national network of like-minded organizations that share a commitment to better serving patients and their families. WellStar is the largest member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network in the southeast and the only member in metro Atlanta.

Using digital technology to promote physician collaboration and sharing of the latest medical information, experts from WellStar and Mayo Clinic will work together to further enhance the delivery of healthcare for patients, allowing many patients to avoid unnecessary travel for answers to complex medical questions.

"WellStar is home to some of the most accomplished and preeminent physicians in the Southeast," says Robert Jansen, M.D., executive vice president and chief administrative medical officer of WellStar. "Working with Mayo Clinic through the Mayo Clinic Care Network offers our physicians a new resource to ensure the kind of innovative and leading care that patients have grown to expect from WellStar."

"With WellStar we share common values, mission and commitment to consistently improve the delivery of healthcare to patients," says Stephen Lange, M.D., southeast medical director of Mayo Clinic Care Network. "Working together, we can increasingly assure patients that they have access to the latest medical knowledge here, in their community. We're delighted to welcome this distinguished system to the Mayo Clinic Care Network." 

Specialists at WellStar can now consult Mayo Clinic knowledge and expertise using a variety of electronic tools and services and connect directly with Mayo Clinic experts on complex diagnosis and treatment plans. These tools and services include:

• eConsults: Physicians use electronic consulting to connect directly with Mayo Clinic specialists on complex patient cases.
• AskMayoExpert: Providers have 24/7 access to Mayo-vetted medical information and guidelines through AskMayoExpert, a Web-based resource created for physicians and other healthcare providers.
• Healthcare Consulting: Related to clinical and business processes, this relationship will allow WellStar providers to accelerate innovations in care in support of the System's mission to continuously improve the quality of health in the community.

"WellStar is committed to enhancing the level of care we provide through collaboration and innovation," says Reynold Jennings, president & CEO of WellStar Health System.  "By working with Mayo, we are transforming healthcare in Northwest Georgia and metro Atlanta and furthering our mission of providing world-class healthcare."

These tools, in addition to healthcare consulting related to clinical and business processes, will allow WellStar providers to accelerate innovations in care in support of the system's mission to continuously improve the quality of health in the community.

With more than 13,000 team members, WellStar is one of the largest health systems in the Southeast and is the largest not-for-profit health system in Georgia. WellStar serves a population of more than 1.4 million residents in five counties.

"Patients have long looked to WellStar to provide them with outstanding care," says Janie Maddox, chair of the WellStar Board of Trustees. "Now our specialists will be working in conjunction with Mayo's world renowned experts so that WellStar can provide unsurpassed care close to home."

The Mayo Clinic Care Network represents non-ownership relationships with organizations that share with Mayo Clinic a desire to serve patients and improve the delivery of health care. The network, which began in 2011, has member organizations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Wisconsin as well as Puerto Rico and Mexico.

About WellStar Health System
Recognized as the fifth most integrated healthcare delivery system in the country, WellStar Health System is the largest not-for-profit health system in Georgia and serves a population of more than 1.4 million residents in five counties. The vision of WellStar is to deliver world-class healthcare. A national leader in the transformation of healthcare delivery, WellStar launched the Center for Health Transformation and the Georgia Health Collaborative that will have far reaching effects on healthcare both locally and nationally. WellStar includes WellStar Kennestone Regional Medical Center (anchored by WellStar Kennestone Hospital) and WellStar Cobb, Douglas, Paulding and Windy Hill hospitals; the WellStar Medical Group; Urgent Care Centers; Acworth Health Park; Health Place; Homecare; Hospice; Atherton Place; Paulding Nursing Center; and the WellStar Foundation. For more information, call 770-956-STAR or visit wellstar.org.     

About Mayo Clinic
Recognizing 150 years of serving humanity in 2014, Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit 150years.mayoclinic.org, www.mayoclinic.org and newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org.

SOURCE WellStar Health System