David Gremmels, M.D., Chief of Cardiology, Children's Minnesota: The collaboration between Mayo Clinic and Children's Minnesota is designed to bring the best possible care to each individual patient.
With confidence, I tell the family I'm going to review this patient next Thursday in conference. I'm going to get our surgical team's expertise to assess the plan. And also present will be the Mayo Clinic surgical team, reviewing the studies, reviewing the images, reviewing the echo, hearing the clinical story, so that the family right away now has five surgeons making an assessment. This is the correct treatment plan, correct surgical plan, everyone's on board.
David Overman, M.D., Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery, Children's Minnesota: The biggest benefit is the availability of another set of eyes, another life's experience in terms of treating complicated problems.
Joseph Dearani, M.D., Director, Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart Surgery, Mayo Clinic: Because then you add the skill sets of the faculty up there, with the faculty down here, the opportunities are limitless.
Jonathan Johnson, M.D., Chair, Pediatric Cardiology, Mayo Clinic: The focus is always on the patient, and then that's a key tenant of our care here at Mayo and it's a key tenant for our collaborators and folks we're working with at Children's. We'll always do whatever is best for that patient. And that may include getting different people involved, getting different surgeons, different cardiologists involved. It will always be focused on you and your family.
Joseph Dearani, M.D.: There won't be any compromise in terms of what would be best.
David Overman, M.D.: Experience matters.
I think it's also incredibly important that as a parent, it feels right in your gut. You have to feel comfortable with your provider, because that is a lifelong trust-based relationship.
Joseph Dearani, M.D.: Patients and families should be reassured that the practitioners in the collaborative will always make the right call as to what is best for their child.