Lab results play a central role in almost every patient’s care journey. And every day, innovative new diagnostics are developed.
However, the benefits of new diagnostics can’t be unlocked without effective collaboration between diagnostic companies and health systems. Mayo Clinic Laboratories sits at the intersection of these entities. Becker’s Healthcare recently spoke with William Morice II, M.D., Ph.D., CEO and president of Mayo Clinic Laboratories, about how his organization leverages a platform approach to support collaboration and advance lab services.
Note: Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Question: There’s so much incredible innovation happening at Mayo Clinic. What’s the value of Mayo Clinic Laboratories collaborating with others?
Dr. William Morice: Innovation and collaboration have been a part of Mayo Clinic’s culture since its founding. The current moment is very exciting. We’re at the threshold of a new era in clinical diagnostics with a lot of innovation happening across the globe from cancer to autoimmune diseases to neurologic diseases.
At Mayo Clinic, the needs of the patient come first, and the value of collaborating with others outside the organization is that patients get access to diagnostic innovations happening across the globe. We can use those innovations to drive accurate diagnoses and personalized healthcare decisions.
Q: What are some of the primary benefits of collaboration for clients and patients?
WM: Collaboration refines the use of diagnostics for guiding clinical care and identifies new innovation opportunities. When we collaborate with other diagnostic companies, we help them increase access. Over time, we also identify better ways to use the test and determine other important questions that need to be answered.
Q: What do you look for in collaborators?
WM: As I mentioned, at Mayo Clinic the needs of the patient come first. Our other core values include respect, integrity, compassion, healing, teamwork, innovation and stewardship.
The first thing we look for in collaborators is alignment with these values. We also look for companies with diagnostics that complement our offerings, so we can be more of a one-stop shop. Finally, we look for trust. We want partners that are invested in quality, safety, and good business practices.
Q: You’ve taken a platform approach. What does that mean and why did you decide to go that route?
WM: Historically, the primary function of Mayo Clinic Laboratories was to allow patients to send their specimens to Mayo Clinic to be tested and get an answer. It was really a pipeline.
Under Mayo Clinic president and CEO Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., our strategy is to embrace a platform model. If you’re using Mayo Clinic Laboratories and there’s a diagnostic test from another entity that you could benefit from, you can access it through us. You can now interact with a lot of different diagnostic companies within a Mayo Clinic environment that also provides guidance and knowledge about how to best use a diagnostic tool to answer questions.
Q: Are there other benefits to the platform approach?
WM: The platform strategy is a more holistic approach to diagnostics. It transforms a lab from simply creating information to guiding the patient’s journey. Hopefully, over time, the platform approach will shift us away from episodic care and toward more longitudinal care. Cancer, for example, is transitioning from an episodic disease to a continuum of care. Our collaboration with Lucence is a perfect example of a relationship that allows us to think about caring for cancer patients longitudinally through blood-based lab tests.
