The Mayo Clinic, which has been cited and touted by President Obama as an authority as he has sought to gain credibility on the issue of health care, has put forth a policy statement regarding the current Health Care bill in congress:

Although there are some positive provisions in the current House Tri-Committee bill – including insurance for all and payment reform demonstration projects – the proposed legislation misses the opportunity to help create higher-quality, more affordable health care for patients. In fact, it will do the opposite.

In general, the proposals under discussion are not patient focused or results oriented. Lawmakers have failed to use a fundamental lever – a change in Medicare payment policy – to help drive necessary improvements in American health care. Unless legislators create payment systems that pay for good patient results at reasonable costs, the promise of transformation in American health care will wither. The real losers will be the citizens of the United States.

Recently, President Obama was interviewed by Diane Sawyer on ABC and had the following to say about the Mayo Clinic:

SAWYER: …patients. It is time for Americans to recognize they’re going to get fewer scans, fewer procedures, fewer tests, because the vicious cycle has to stop?

OBAMA: Well, I think what’s important is to say to the American People that you should get the best possible care to make you well. And that the measure of the quality of care is not quantity, but whether or not it is making you better. Now, what we’ve seen is that there’s some communities and some health systems that do this very well. Mayo Clinic, a classic example. In Rochester, Minnesota. People go there. They…spend about 20-30 percent less than some other parts of the country, and yet have better outcomes. And in other cases, you’ve got more spending, worse outcome. So, what we’ve said is let’s put out the research. Let’s study and figure out what works and what doesn’t. And let’s encourage doctors and patients to get what works. Let’s discourage what doesn’t. Let’s make sure that our payment incentives allow doctors to do the right thing. Because sometimes our payment incentives don’t allow them to do the right things. And if we do that, then I’m confident that we can drive down costs significantly.