How to get wife transferred to Mayo Clinic in Phoenix Az

Posted by cbwebb2003 @cbwebb2003, Jan 11 1:04pm

Looking to transfer my wife from Stanford Medical Center, she has been there since Christmas with no diagnoses. She has Lupus, RA and chronic pain, they keep doing tests after test, but unable to get a treatment plan in place. I believe that they are grabbing at straws , and letting their pride get into the way while not reaching out for further assistance while my wife in bounced back and forth from patient floor to ICU . I would like to see about getting her transferred before its too late, she would have to be transferred by plane.

Any info would be greatly appreciated, pulling out all stops

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Actually Mayo MN does have the most employees. Mayo Phoenix is highly rated in the following specialities.

From Wikipedia
As of 2023, Mayo Clinic Hospital in Arizona has been ranked No.1 in Arizona and the Phoenix metro area as part of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals” rankings. In addition, for a sixth consecutive year, Mayo Clinic in Arizona was recognized on the "Best Hospitals Honor Roll" which recognizes the top 20 hospitals in the nation.

In 2023, Mayo Clinic in Arizona received a high-performing rating in 19 of 20 procedures and conditions assessed by U.S. News & World Report. In addition, Mayo Clinic in Arizona ranked nationally in these 10 specialties:

Cancer
Cardiology and Heart Surgery
Diabetes and Endocrinology
Ear, Nose and Throat
Gastroenterology and GI Surgery
Geriatrics
Neurology and Neurosurgery
Orthopedics
Pulmonology and Lung Surgery
Urology

Any Mayo Clinic is outstanding though. I'm biased since Mayo Phoenix saved my life.

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@gratefulbob Your last paragraph is a problem since the MD's currently treating her don't have a clue what is wrong.
Re your claim about Phoenix Mayo size seems incorrect. Doing an internet search I found the following: that Mayo Clinic in Rochester employees 42,000 while in AZ they employ 10,000.

According to Mayo Clinic all 3 locations did a total of 1,986 transplants. The surgeons at the Arizona campus performed approximately 250 liver transplants, 475 kidney transplants, and 30 pancreas transplants in 2022. In addition I found that Phoenix performed 34 heart transplants for a total of 789. Mayo FL did a total of 53 transplants leaving 1,144 transplants in Rochester.

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Lupus and RA are auto-immune diseases so it seems like an immunologist would understand it best.
All three Mayo campuses have immunology physicians. If it were me I would search the Mayo website for the bios of each.

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@gratefulbob

I grew up in MN and now live in CA. Mayo Phoenix is larger than Mayo Rochester and performs more organ transplants than any facility in America.

Mayo MN does not take Kaiser insurance which is the largest insurer in California.

If it were me I would compare the doctors who specialize in the disease that afflicts your spouse and determine which are most experienced and their education and publication records.

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@gratefulbob Mayo in Rochester employs 42,000 people while Mayo Phoenix/Scottsdale employs 10,000. While 10K is a large number, Rochester is 4+ times larger.

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Hi @dandl48 @gratefulbob and others in this discussion. Allow me to provide some links to further info and stats about Mayo Clinic and the main locations in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota.

Mayo Clinic has more No. 1 rankings than any other hospital in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report. Learn more about our top-ranked specialties here: https://www.mayoclinic.org/about-mayo-clinic/quality/top-ranked

At Mayo Clinic, a world-class team of doctors and specialists will see you in one place, at one time. They'll listen to your story, learn your goals, and work together (including with expert colleagues cross-campuses) to accurately diagnose and treat your condition so you can get back to your life as quickly as possible. Read more about the patient-centered care approach https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-centered-care

Mayo Clinc locations https://www.mayoclinic.org/locations

- Transplant Center https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/transplant-center/sections/expertise-ranking/orc-20203899
- Rheumatology https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/rheumatology/sections/overview/ovc-20477132
.
@cbwebb2003, how is your wife doing?

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@dandl48

@gratefulbob Mayo in Rochester employs 42,000 people while Mayo Phoenix/Scottsdale employs 10,000. While 10K is a large number, Rochester is 4+ times larger.

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Why do you keep repeating this. Rochester clinic is larger but it's in Minnesota. Both MN and AZ have trouble attracting people due to their climates.

As I stated clearly if it were me I would decide based on the immunologists at the center and on which takes my insurance. I know that MN does not take Kaiser insurance which is what I have and most people in CA.

My medical bill approached $1 million and was covered completely by Kaiser Southern CA senior advantage. I attempted to see a doctor at Mayo Rochester for a different condition and found out that they do not accept Kaiser insurance. Anyway, Mayo saved my life and I will be grateful to all the Mayo centers forever.

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@gratefulbob

Why do you keep repeating this. Rochester clinic is larger but it's in Minnesota. Both MN and AZ have trouble attracting people due to their climates.

As I stated clearly if it were me I would decide based on the immunologists at the center and on which takes my insurance. I know that MN does not take Kaiser insurance which is what I have and most people in CA.

My medical bill approached $1 million and was covered completely by Kaiser Southern CA senior advantage. I attempted to see a doctor at Mayo Rochester for a different condition and found out that they do not accept Kaiser insurance. Anyway, Mayo saved my life and I will be grateful to all the Mayo centers forever.

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My experience has been that these three centers have physicians with unique special interests. I try to direct people to the physician and center that best matches their medical issue.
In some areas, the three centers also differ in organization. For example: At Mayo Rochester, the ascending aortic aneurysm surgeons are also transplant surgeons. I don't know what their ties are to the Aortic Center itself, which does descending and abdominal aortic aneurysms.

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@hsminc

My experience has been that these three centers have physicians with unique special interests. I try to direct people to the physician and center that best matches their medical issue.
In some areas, the three centers also differ in organization. For example: At Mayo Rochester, the ascending aortic aneurysm surgeons are also transplant surgeons. I don't know what their ties are to the Aortic Center itself, which does descending and abdominal aortic aneurysms.

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Thanks, but for most people what their insurance covers will be the primary consideration.

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Unfortunately, that is true. Many, if not most, people do not anticipate they will ever be seriously ill. Our approach is to always advise people to plan for the worst (especially as they age) in selecting medical plans - to make choices with this in mind and not to pick the cheapest plan; some Medicare plans are particularly egregious with small networks and very limited specialty providers. People that are employed also may have few choices; on the positive side, we have known many self-insured employers to occasionally pick up the tab for necessary out of network care.

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@colleenyoung

Hi @dandl48 @gratefulbob and others in this discussion. Allow me to provide some links to further info and stats about Mayo Clinic and the main locations in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota.

Mayo Clinic has more No. 1 rankings than any other hospital in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report. Learn more about our top-ranked specialties here: https://www.mayoclinic.org/about-mayo-clinic/quality/top-ranked

At Mayo Clinic, a world-class team of doctors and specialists will see you in one place, at one time. They'll listen to your story, learn your goals, and work together (including with expert colleagues cross-campuses) to accurately diagnose and treat your condition so you can get back to your life as quickly as possible. Read more about the patient-centered care approach https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-centered-care

Mayo Clinc locations https://www.mayoclinic.org/locations

- Transplant Center https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/transplant-center/sections/expertise-ranking/orc-20203899
- Rheumatology https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/rheumatology/sections/overview/ovc-20477132
.
@cbwebb2003, how is your wife doing?

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I have read in blogs that patients have not been accepted to Rochester. Is there any recourse to possibly look again at the records. I tried not to overwhelm them because I have too many progress notes, and procedures, so I downsized my documents. Nobody wanted to fax them for me, even my MD's secretary saying it wouldn tie up their fax machine for to long. I dropped it to 18 pages...
Trying a different way, e-mail to fax...

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