The Mayo Clinic is currently the largest integrated, non-profit group health practice in the world and the second-largest non-profit organization with headquarters in Rochester, Minnesota.Official Site: Mayo Clinic It was established by Dr. William Worrall Mayo and his two sons in the 1880s as one of the first multi-specialty clinics in the United States. The organization was created as a non-profit foundation in 1919 http://www.diavlos.gr/orto96/ortowww/historym.htm

The clinic has over 1700 physicians in over 60 fields of specialty. There is a medical school and a very active research program, with over 6,000 personnel working on over 8,000 projects. Education and research are important aspects of the Mayo Clinics reputation as a leader in health care. Besides the Rochester, Minnesota location, research is also conducted at the Mayo Clinic sites in Jacksonville, Florida, and Scottsdale, Arizona. http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/mayo/research/

In April 2009, Microsoft and Mayo Clinic introduced Mayo Clinic Health Manager, "free online personal health records that provide customized health recommendations based on patients' medical conditions."Information Week: Online E-Health Records Service (April 21, 2009) Through the news services that are offered by the clinic, are the Medical Edge resources which include professionally produced video, audio and printed material regarding advances in medical research. http://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-edge/ Research information, health news, and educational outreach news can also be obtained from the clinic through their RSS feeds and podcasts that they offer. http://www.mayoclinic.org/news//ref?

Before 2009 a Mayo Clinic Diet is a diet plan was been circulated via photocopies and e-mail but the diet was neither created by nor endorsed by Mayo Clinic. In late 2009, The Mayo Clinic released an official diet plan. The book for the Mayo Clinic Plan is sold on Amazon.com. http://newsblog.mayoclinic.org/2009/12/30/the-mayo-clinic-diet-mythical-no-longer/ The diet plan has two phases. The initial phase allows one to see results of the plan in a short time to help with motivation and to help the learning of new habits and then there is a long-term strategy that has a goal of weight loss at 1-2 pounds a week. http://newsblog.mayoclinic.org/2009/12/30/the-mayo-clinic-diet-mythical-no-longer/

In 2009, Mayo Clinic introduced the Mayo Clinic Health Manager which utilizes Microsoft's HealthVault Web-based personal health record platform.

With Mayo Clinic Health Manager, users are able to create online personal health records for themselves and family members, regardless of where they receive their health care. Users access HealthVault to enter, collect, and manage their health information. The system includes "a rules-based engine that triggers Mayo Clinic health recommendations and reminders to patients based on the information that"s contained in their Mayo Clinic Health Manager record."Information Week: Online E-Health Records Service (April 21, 2009)