About
Mayo Clinic seeks to provide the best possible care for its patients every day. For more than 150 years, Mayo has pursued solutions to the problems that exist in health care delivery, seeking continuous improvements in health and health care. The organization's ability to meet this goal stems from the research it conducts — in close alignment with the medical practice — to address the unmet needs of patients.
As a research center fully embedded in the medical practice, the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery is uniquely positioned to build on and advance Mayo Clinic's strong history of taking a scientific approach to health care delivery. Its mission? To create and foster a learning health system within Mayo Clinic.
A learning health system
Learning health systems use data and analytics to generate knowledge to inform decisions that transform the clinical practice. Put another way, a learning health system identifies problems or areas that could use improvement. It designs and tests new ways of doing things, implementing and updating processes along the way. Continuous refinement is part of the process, and a learning health system adjusts and improves care day to day.
In the Mayo Clinic Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, every project is inspired by real-world challenges experienced by patients and health care providers at Mayo Clinic. Multidisciplinary teams work together to provide evidence-based health care delivery solutions that improve patient outcomes. As new knowledge is generated and potential improvements are identified, center experts work with health care providers to apply this knowledge to clinical practice, leading to higher value care for patients at Mayo Clinic and everywhere.
Capabilities of unique depth and breadth
The Mayo Clinic Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery is unique in its ability to draw on a breadth and depth of resources and expertise to translate ideas and findings into real-world applications.
Within the center, experts come together from across a range of fields, including:
- Applied clinical informatics
- Artificial intelligence and data science
- Economics
- Engineering
- Ergonomics and human factors
- Health care policy
- Health services and outcomes research
- Human-centered design
- Implementation and evaluation science
- Information technology and knowledge management
- Knowledge synthesis
- Population health and epidemiologic modeling
- Qualitative research
- Quality measurement research
- Social and behavioral science
These experts work directly with clinicians to find new ways to improve health and the way people experience health care.
Focused for differentiation
The foundation of the center's work is an unwavering commitment to support Mayo Clinic's medical practice by creating and sustaining a high-quality, affordable, seamless patient experience — provided by a healthy and happy workforce.
To support this goal, the center's leaders encourage the development and application of knowledge, capabilities and technologies aligned with designated research programs.
Meanwhile, the center's education and outreach program sponsors various platforms from which to share findings and innovations. It is also responsible for numerous internships, fellowships and scholar programs within the center.
The center's work — from within the practice — allows new models of health care delivery to move rapidly from the earliest stages of research and discovery, through rigorous testing and refinement, and then be disseminated for widespread use in routine patient care.