Story Update: Mayo Clinic Continues Innovation Spree

Earlier this year I interviewed Dr. Alan Duncan of the Mayo Clinic and reported on their SPARC Innovation Lab. Continuing its pace of rapid innovation, comes word of the clinic's latest endeavor, this time overhauling one of its primary business models.

Physicians aren't typically known for their business acumen. And up until recently, any technologies developed within the clinic were simply licensed to other companies which then turned them into products. But not anymore.

"There are a lot of innovations coming from our physicians. Why pass them off to others when you can do it yourself?" says Nina Schwenk, head of the Mayo Foundation's technology committee. So in 2003, when researchers decided they could produce a better-quality MRI device, and do it faster than anyone else, the technology committee put together a team, hiring IBM, GE, Siemens and Philips to virtually design, manufacture, sell and market the new device.

Now typical time-to-market for medical devices is 16 to 24 months. The Mayo Clinic did it in 8 months. How? It all came down to process and inspired relationships. Working closely and collaboratively with the entire virtual team, Mayo created a system in perpetual motion. Everyone had a job to do and no one waited for the other to finish. With jobs completed in tandem, expectations are clearly outlined and momentum isn't lost. And in the end, the Mayo Clinic is left with medical gear branded under its own name.

If the Mayo Clinic can get competitive giants like IBM, GE, Siemens and Philips to work together to produce a sophisticated product in 8 months, the possibilities for transforming other stale, intractable business models are limitless.

[See Business Week's Steve Hamm article here.]