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No health-care provider can claim to outperform the Mayo Clinic. Mayo's laboratories have made huge strides in the use of chemotherapy to treat cancer, and they have pioneered breakthroughs as important as the use of cortisone to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The Mayo name is so well-known that it is recognized by 85% of all Americans. But the facility is far from being a jet-setters-only medical center: 97% of its patients are from the United States, and 35% are on Medicare. From the collaborative practices of Mayo doctors to the management structure of the Mayo Foundation, teamwork is built into the clinic's way of working. Here are five of the principles that define Mayo-style teamwork.

1. No one is big enough to be independent of others.

This precept originated with William Worrall Mayo, the founder of the Mayo Clinic, and it calls to mind a guiding principle of the Internet: None of us is as smart as all of us. After more than a century of operation, the Mayo Clinic continues to make collegial interdependence a touchstone for how it practices medicine. A doctor at Mayo is free to draw on the knowledge and experience of the clinic's medical experts -- or to add social workers, psychiatrists, or spiritual advisers to a patient's team. The patient's best interest -- not the doctor's ego -- comes first.

2. Teamwork is part of the culture.

At the Mayo Clinic, teamwork isn't an afterthought, an add-on, or a fad. It permeates the clinic's entire organizational culture. The Mayo experience sends a consistent and coherent message to everyone who works at the facility (including medical students and residents): You're expected to participate in the activities that run this place, and teamwork isn't optional -- it's essential. Teamwork is built into the treatment of patients, and it's integrated into the clinic's fabric of governance.

3. Language matters.

The first time you visit the Mayo Clinic, you're likely to be confused by all of the talk about "consultants." The normal first reaction: Why does this place need so many consultants? But soon you'll realize that "consultant" is what doctors on staff call one another -- because, at the Mayo Clinic, doctors are expected to consult with one another about their cases. This terminology reinforces the clinic's sense of openness and collaboration. Language makes a difference: Talk teamwork to get teamwork.

4. Money also talks.

Another Mayo Clinic innovation is its solution to the problem of money and medicine. For many doctors, medicine today is all business: Economic pressures drive them to order unnecessary procedures and to reduce the amount of time they spend with patients. At the Mayo Clinic, however, doctors are on salary -- period. Freed from having to think about economic incentives, physicians can focus on providing quality health care through organization-wide teamwork.

5. The customer is part of the team.

Working as a team is only one part of the Mayo Clinic way. Equally important is recognizing that customers -- or, in this case, patients -- are part of that team. The Mayo Clinic's approach to health care allows patients to be involved in their diagnosis and treatment as much or as little as they want.

Paul Roberts (proberts@nwi.net) is a Seattle-based writer who contributes frequently to Fast Company. You can visit the Mayo Clinic on the web (www.mayo.edu).