Each year, more than one million patients from the United States and 150 other countries are seen at the Mayo Clinic, a nonprofit organization for medical research and practice that has three main centers in major US metropolitan areas (Rochester in Minnesota, Jacksonville in Florida and Scottsdale / Phoenix in Arizona) and several smaller clinics with various specialties in many locations across four states (Iowa, Georgia, Wisconsin and Minnesota). Due to its excellent reputation as a world-class medical institution and the fact that patients often do not need referrals to see a doctor, it is quite difficult to get an appointment; in many cases you have to prepare for a wait of a few months.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Get an Appointment
Step 1. Schedule an online appointment
Connect to the page https://www.mayoclinic.org and click on the "Request an Appointment" link located on the right side of the screen. This will take you to the section where you can make an online request for a medical examination.
- Foreign patients seeking to book an online visit must first select their language from the list found under the "Request an Appointment" button and follow the instructions that appear on the following pages. The languages available besides English are Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic and Portuguese.
- Do not begin the procedure for requesting an appointment without first contacting a health insurance company and your primary care physician.
Step 2. Choose a medical center
The three main centers offering medical care are located in Rochester, Minnesota, Jacksonville, Florida, and Scottsdale, Arizona. Know that the structure that best suits your needs is not necessarily the closest one, since certain specializations may not be provided for in some.
- The Rochester, Minnesota Medical Center is the largest in the Mayo Clinic Association, offers the widest range of services and has the largest number of physicians.
- Due to the typically cold and harsh weather during the winter, downtown Rochester is arguably the least busy during the winter months, which means a shorter waiting list.
Step 3. Provide information about the patient
After selecting the online medical center, you need to enter the data of the potential patient (be it a friend, a family member or yourself). Remember to fill in as much information as possible when filling out the form to speed up the appointment scheduling process.
- When completing the form, you must have the main data at hand, which includes the date of birth, address, details of the insurance company and details of the disease.
- Medical records are also required, such as tests, x-rays, and other diagnostic tests.
- When you have completed the form, click on the "Send Request" button located at the bottom of the page.
- A Mayo Clinic delegate will contact you (typically within a few business days) to review additional medical and financial details before making an appointment.
Step 4. Call the clinic
This is an alternative procedure to the online application. If you choose this route, you must call the specific facility you want to go to, as there is no centralized office for managing appointments. You can find the correct number for the location you want to contact on the Mayo Clinic web page.
- When you call, make sure you have all key patient information at hand, including the information that is required for the online procedure.
- The chances of getting an appointment by calling directly are no greater or less than the online request and the waiting time is the same.
Step 5. Prepare to wait
The order of magnitude of waiting times is a few months, but the severity of the pathology and the amount of work of the center you have chosen have a certain influence. In the meantime, continue to see your GP and contact the clinic if there are any significant changes in your health.
- You may be seen more quickly by a doctor if you report as a patient without an appointment; in this case, waiting times are about a week or more, depending on the number of patients who cancel their visit and the severity of your pathology.
- Don't wait to see a Mayo Clinic doctor if you are very ill. If the condition worsens while you wait for your appointment, go to your primary care doctor and ask for a letter of reference, if he hasn't already given it to you. in this way, you could speed up the procedure.
Step 6. Bring all relevant and useful information with you
On the day of the visit, remember to have all the documentation regarding the medical history and other relevant data to show to the doctor. Mayo Clinic doctors check all medical history and previous exams as part of the diagnostic and therapeutic process.
You must have previous x-rays, test results and all other important details
Part 2 of 2: Follow the Preliminary Procedures
Step 1. Go to the family doctor
Before you try to make an appointment at the Mayo Clinic, you should talk to your primary care doctor and ask if specialist care is needed for your condition. Mayo Clinic doctors are considered to be some of the best in the world, but they generally specialize in various fields of medicine; your illness could be better managed by a general practitioner.
Find out first if you think you need a specialist. If the family doctor confirms this doubt, you can ask him if the services offered by the Mayo Clinic are suitable for your situation; alternatively, you can do some research on your own
Step 2. Check the organization's website
This is the best way to get all the information you need before making an appointment. You can also access the online procedure to plan your visit, although this is not your only option. The Mayo Clinic website is available at:
If specialist services are more important than where the clinic is located, you can find out which centers treat cases like yours by consulting the facility's website
Step 3. Establish your medical needs
Appointment planning is primarily based on the needs of patients and more severe cases take precedence. If the condition is not immediately dangerous, it can be managed by a doctor at another facility, or it is generic, you will have to wait a long time before being examined.
- The family doctor is probably the best person to make this assessment; it is always best to contact him before making any important health decisions.
- Consider whether it is worth traveling to one of the Mayo Clinic centers to treat your condition; it may take a lot of time and money, so you should weigh these factors carefully.
Step 4. Determine if you need a reference letter
As the Mayo Clinic is very famous and offers the highest quality medical care, its services are in high demand. In some cases, a letter from another doctor is required in order to get an appointment. To find out, you need to call one of the health centers and the staff will tell you whether or not you need to present these references.
- While most patients can arrange an appointment on their own, some insurance companies require your primary care physician to complete a referral before granting you coverage for Mayo Clinic benefits. Call the agency where you took out the policy to find out the regulations.
- Although the insurance does not require a letter of request from the doctor, it may still be essential to obtain it to access some specialist visits at the Mayo Clinic; this is why you should call the facility before making an appointment.
Advice
- Foreign patients can make appointments by phone or online. The personal data provided via the web must coincide with those reported in the passport and all information must be provided in English.
- Occasionally, it is possible to go directly to the Mayo Clinic without an appointment; therefore, if you are truly in desperate condition and are located relatively close to one of the medical campuses, it is worth a try.
Warnings
- Do not exaggerate or invent symptoms or pathologies in order to speed up treatment times. This is immoral behavior that forces people with serious illnesses who need urgent care far more than you do to wait. Also, the doctor will notice your dishonesty as soon as he visits you.
- Following the programming procedure and respecting the waiting times does not guarantee that you will have an appointment.
