Innovation in anesthesiology at Mayo Clinic

At Mayo Clinic Rochester, innovation is built into the fabric of how we practice, train, and lead. As a resident in our Anesthesiology program, you’ll be immersed in a culture that embraces technology, human-centered design, and disruptive thinking to improve patient care.

Our department and department chair have committed to creative innovation, with the development of an Innovation and Transformation Committee, which has direct resident involvement. We are nationally recognized for pioneering how artificial intelligence, digital health, and clinical decision support intersect with perioperative safety and performance. Residents don’t just observe innovation, they participate in it. 

Your innovation journey starts here

Mayo Clinic offers unmatched infrastructure, mentorship, and resources to help residents explore their own creative ideas or contribute to major enterprise initiatives:

• Integration with the department’s research and practice committees: Working in a collaborative ecosystem helps speed ideas and boost implementation.
• Pilot and improve evolving technology: Residents will have access to new tools, applications, and devices that aligns the Department with Bold.Forward.Unbound and the future of medicine.
• Access Mayo’s Department of Business Development: Transform promising ideas into pilot programs, startups, or digital products.
• Partnership with Mayo’s Generative AI Workgroup: Engage in clinical testing and validation of large language models for clinical documentation, education, and decision support.
• Innovation Pathways in Training: Residents can pursue dedicated scholarly time in digital health, join departmental innovation sprints, and work alongside physician-entrepreneurs, informatics experts, and AI engineers.

Innovation goals for the future of care

Innovation at Mayo Clinic goes beyond single projects; it is a strategic vision to reimagine how perioperative and hospital medicine is delivered. As a resident, you will be immersed in this ecosystem and have the chance to contribute to transformational work. Our current innovation goals include: 

• Artificial intelligence integration
  • Embed AI safely into perioperative workflows
  • Partner with Mayo Clinic Platform to validate predictive algorithms (e.g., AI-ECG, hypotension prediction, ASA scoring)
  • Focus on explainability, transparency, and patient safety in AI adoption
• Smarter clinical decision making
  • Expand dlinical decision support tools that give anesthesia providers real-time, evidence-based guidance
  • Use predictive analytics to anticipate complications and personalize anesthetic management
  • Integrate digital twins and simulation platforms to test interventions before applying them in the OR
• Data solutions and knowledge management
  • Harness the power of Mayo’s vast, secure clinical data resources
  • Build natural language and knowledge retrieval systems (like the C8 tool) to capture institutional wisdom and make it instantly available at the bedside
  • Drive evidence generation through structured perioperative data to support patient safety, outcomes research, and innovation trials
• Entrepreneurship and business development
  • Collaborate with Mayo’s Department of Business Development to turn ideas into viable solutions
  • Support resident and faculty innovators in developing intellectual property, spinning out startups, or partnering with industry
  • Provide mentorship in regulatory science, reimbursement pathways, and commercialization strategies
• New models and workflows of care
  • Reimagine perioperative pathways with hospital-at-home, remote monitoring, and continuous ward surveillance
  • Deploy automation where it reduces clinician burden, such as voice navigation, AI scribes, and agentic task management
  • Pilot workflow solutions in anesthesia, ICU, and PACU settings to improve safety and efficiency
• Resident integration into Bold. Forward. Unbound.
  • As part of Mayo Clinic’s Bold. Forward. Unbound. strategy, residents are not just trainees, they are contributors to the long-term transformation of healthcare
  • Opportunities to align scholarly projects and innovation electives with the initiative's priorities (digital health, advanced diagnostics, patient-centered models of care)
  • Early exposure to enterprise-level innovation ensures residents graduate with the skills to lead health system transformation

Message from the innovation and transformation vice chair

This is an extraordinary time to train as an anesthesiologist. The landscape of healthcare is evolving at a breathtaking pace—artificial intelligence, digital health, data-driven decision making, and new care models are transforming how we serve patients. But what excites me most is not the technology itself, but the people who will use it: our residents, who will become the next pioneers, programmers, entrepreneurs, and clinicians who think differently.

At Mayo Clinic, you will find not only world-class clinical training, but also a culture that encourages curiosity, collaboration, and innovation. We are committed to creating an environment where residents can dream boldly, test new ideas, and learn how to transform those ideas into meaningful change for patients. The future of anesthesiology will be defined by leaders who are as comfortable caring for a patient in the operating room as they are in designing new workflows, coding a predictive model, or launching a new venture. My hope is that you will join us in this mission, bringing your unique perspective, passion, and creativity.

On a personal note, I am extremely grateful for my time as a Mayo Clinic anesthesiology resident (Class of 2016). The mentorship I received and the relationships I built here continue to shape my career and have allowed me the privilege of serving in this role—supporting and championing the next generation of innovators.

Warmly, 
Arney Abcejo, M.D.
Vice Chair for Innovation & Transformation 
Chair, Division of Neuroanesthesiology & Radiology 
Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine 
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota