I have had to go to Mayo for 8 years, and it is overpriced, under-delivered care in almost every case. Here is my assessment after this time:1. They are increasingly understaffed at all levels. Many of the providers and workers are rude and socially inept.2. They are relying on tech to fill in the gaps for their lack of staff. You will be on hold a lot, asked to fill out redundant surveys, and still be unable to get the care you need. Mayo wants to collect your data, analyze it, and sell it (de-identified) to the highest bidder. Providing health care is not as big of a priority for Mayo--your data is.3. Their specialists will order tons of expensive tests, and fail to look at them for answers. If it is not cut and dry, they will not take the time for you. Especially avoid neurology, GI, or any of their women's care specialties.4. I feel uncomfortable at how they treat families and tween or teen care. My daughters have noticed how everything implies that parents are dangerous abusers, while the providers are portrayed as the safe and caring adults that kids can talk to about birth control or questions about sexuality, etc. I understand why this is (abuse, privacy), but it feels a little "cringe," as my teen would say. When they turn 13, parents can't access their kids online portal, for protective reasons, which means it becomes that much harder to make an appointment. Do you really think my teens are going to look at their tests? In my family, one daughter gave me permission to access her portal, and we filled out forms...3 times! And, I still don't have access. I told her that she can make her own appointments now (haha). I still have to pay though...in a separate bill addressed to her.5. It's not popular to diss their breast/mammo clinic, but I am not a fan. I have gotten called back four out of five times for mammograms, only to be told the same thing each time--you probably have some new normal cysts. Now, you want to have an overcautious provider reading your mammogram, but I get the feeling each time that the radiologists or docs have not looked at any other past mammograms or records beyond the previous year, if they even saw that one. Each time, it feels like some sort of doomsday scenario, and then it turns out that just like the last time, this testing was a waste of time. This last time, they found a whole bunch of stuff, and said it was fine. I got my bill about 1 hour later. That, I suppose, is the worst part about it--going through testing that shows that your boob now looks like a balloon filled with a sky full of constellations where it used to only look like a balloon filled with Orion, and then be told it is nothing, and handed a big-a**ed bill one hour later. Yes, the needs of the patient truly come first in this case.6. You will not be able to get support or testing for your child if they have any problems (ADHD or autism), unless it is obvious or severe. Go elsewhere.7. If your kid has some allergies, they will probably blame you as the parent, or suggest it is is psychosomatic. I have heard many parents experience this in our area, and they go elsewhere.8. Did I mention their testing is overpriced? Neurology wants you to have their expert, amazing (students) doctors read their super high tech MRIs for $6000, while you can get an MRI on the same machine elsewhere for $800. Your doctor won't look at it anyway for more than a minute, so just go elsewhere. 9. If you have an amorphous problem like a hormone imbalance or autoimmune condition, just go elsewhere. From the way the doctors talk about it, they seem to think most patients with such problems are nuts, and because they are by-the-book, anything not within their very narrow guidelines is not treated. 10. THEY HAVE NO URGENT CARE IN ROCHESTER MN. This is the worst for families, who constantly need it for their kids or selves. It can be too challenging to get in to see a PCP who will probably tell you to try OTC treatments (bill one hour later). In short, if you have anything other than a clear cut myocardial infarction, just go somewhere else.
