In 1993, Mayo took many of the concerns out of such decisions with a new service that is available to patients of any age 24 hours a day. With just one phone call, a patient, family member or physician can set the process in motion with the Mayo MedAir team. Mayo MedAir's service agents coordinate all aspects of travel and medical care, including travel to and from the airport, consultation with the patient's local doctor, along with billing and special assistance with insurance authorization when appropriate. If Mayo Clinic is the destination, a physician referral may also be arranged. Customers pay a single fee to receive an entire medical care package, which includes air travel and transfers via ground ambulance.
All flights require prior financial approval and arrangements.
Since an air ambulance is usually a service you choose, costs are generally not covered by health insurance. In 1996, its air ambulances made 210 flights and logged more than 208,000 round-trip miles transferring patients to and from Mayo Clinic from other medical facilities and back again. It also flies patients to and from any other medical center or hospital. Although 90 percent of its flights are within 500 miles of Rochester, Minn., Mayo MedAir is equipped to fly anywhere in the world. Since it began, Mayo MedAir has flown to countries as distant as Kuwait and France.