@kristinincolorado
Hi Kristin, great questions. First I will add @johnbishop to this post as he has a lot of answers to the questions you ask whereas I am less familiar with the ins/outs of how Mayo works.

Also will add @colleenyoung @lisalucier who are both moderators on this site.

There is a group here in the forum that will likely answer many questions for you. Here is the link:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/traveling-to-mayo-clinic/
If you go here you will find a list of discussions about the Mayo Clinic and how it works. Hopefully one of the moderators, or John, will post here soon to give you some answers.
Best, Hank