The Mayo Clinic has reeled in a high-profile participant in its quest to build a nexus of health care organizations to improve treatments and bring down the cost of health care due to misdiagnosis, inefficiencies and poor results.

The prestigious Dartmouth-Hitchcock system said Friday it will join the Mayo Clinic Care Network, the seventh organization since the effort began in the past year.

Based in Lebanon, N.H., Dartmouth-Hitchcock operates one of the nation's top cancer centers and is known for its research into health care practices across geography through its Dartmouth Atlas Project, which launched in 1996.

Other hospital systems connected in the network are in Arizona, Michigan, Missouri and North Dakota. The addition of Dartmouth-Hitchcock gives Mayo's network a new presence in the Northeast corridor of the country.

Members of the network remain independent and pay a subscription fee to consult with Mayo specialists and gain 24-hour online access to clinical information. The network also offers tools to help health care systems improve quality, enhance safety and increase patient satisfaction, all of which will be measured under federal health policies.

Jackie Crosby • 612-673-7335