The Mayo Clinic is urging Congress to overhaul Medicare's payment system, proposing a repeal of the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula and the creation of payment models that reward high-quality, efficient care, the Rochester, Minn.-based system announced yesterday. "We need to create new, negotiated payment models that tie reimbursement to patient-centered care and quality outcomes along the spectrum of care," Mayo Clinic president and CEO John Noseworthy, M.D., said in written testimony to the Senate Finance Committee, which is holding a hearing today on healthcare quality. To keep Medicare sustainable, Mayo also called for a one- to three-year transitional update payment schedule at no less than the Consumer Price Index. Announcement