Kenzie Wall

Professor Courtney

English 2010

17 February 2017

Intermountain Healthcare

Intermountain was originally a part of the LDS church system. After world war 2

the church system built more hospital such as LDS hospital and primary children's. In

1974 the church decided they weren't going to be apart of the hospital business;

"because the operation of hospitals is not central to the mission of the Church.(Press,

James). That is when the non-profit healthcare system of Intermountain was "born".

William N. Jones took over, and gained a partner who was the new president of the

company named Scott Parker. It all started when Scott Parker mentioned, 'The money

is going to come centrally and we're going to bank it, invest it and control it centrally.' He

wanted to take the risk of providing the best healthcare at a fraction of the cost. In 1998

the first CEO Scott Parker retired. William H. Nelson took over as the new CEO of

Intermountain, and costs of healthcare still remained 30% less than the national

average. He continued to follow the intermountains mission of keeping prices low!

Intermountain's mission statement summed up describes non-profit clinics, and

hospitals with quality care at a low price. They truly give the best quality care to

everyone, charging just enough to maintain the financial strength to fulfill this mission

and keep the company running in order. They want to be a model health care system,

for other's to join their trend and provide care for those who truly need it. More

healthcare systems around the world should really look into all the Intermountain does
for its patients and employees. Patients from other healthcare systems should consider

intermountain if they are struggling financially.

Intermountain has lowered its income by $700 million, for patient care revenue.

While Intermountain is a role-model to many healthcare systems all around the world,

not many are willing to take the steps to be like them. "There aren't many organizations

that have the experience, the level of integration across the continuum and the analytics

to support what Intermountain is doing. Many people aspire to it but are not ready to go

that far that fast, states Bruce Henderson (Larkin, Howard). It makes sense why they

are skeptical in taking this big leap, Intermountain is losing money for pricing things at

the lowest cost possible. They are more worried about the wellbeing of others rather

than the income.

"Opportunities exist in many hospitals and health systems to consistently provide

an extraordinary patient care experience while reducing operating costs (Clark, Savitz,

and Pingree). While Intermountain is cutting costs, the quality care is still remaining. It

can moreso be described as accelerating in quality care. Intermountains vision for the

healthcare they aim to be goes as follows, Be a model health system by providing

extraordinary care and superior service at an affordable cost.

Intermountain wants to be fair to all, they have a chart that has been designed to

show how its done. It explains the steps that Intermountain takes when decided what

care is needed for each patient. Shared to us by Zimmerli, Bert, Todd Craghead, and

Neera Gupta;

FAIR Scheduling and Service Approval Process

1. Physician relers patient to facility:
> Provides full data set (demographics, insurance, procedure)
> Provides time irame lor service (e.g., urgent/emergent)
2. Facility uses indicators to assess patient compliance:
> Verifies whether procedure is emergent/urgent
> Checks lor insurance/sponsorship/authorization
> Checks lor history of bad debt
> Provides estimate of patient responsibility
3. Patient accounts stafi help patients become compliant by completing
financial processes:
> Assist patient in completing applications (Medicaid/CHIP,
enrollment, charity documentation, COBRA, etc.)
> Set up payment plans
> Facilitate preservice collections
4. Scheduling stall reschedule nonemergent/nonurgent patients who are
not compliant to allow them time to become compliant:
> Notify physicians/physician offices about noncompliant patients and
ask the physicians about urgency status
> Always rely on clinical judgment as the final determining factor in
scheduling patients for services

This chart is beneficial because it shows the process that intermountain goes through

to provide quality care, no matter what the situation. They want you to be going to

where you need to be for whatever medical problem you are having. For example they

wouldnt want to see you at the ER for a small cut that needs stitches, rather theyd

want you at the instacare so you are not going to be charged for care you dont

particularly need. It also points out how things are going to be paid for, and how

intermountain will help you figure out a way for it to be done.

Intermountain is engaged with the community as well. Intermountains Car Seat

Initiative, try and make learning about car seat safety a fun thing for families. They want

the importance of car seats to be recognized. They provide car seats at low or no cost,

for the safety of children. (https://youtu.be/pmx5s9ZsnHA). Spot the Tot, is a program

designed in the importance of avoiding tragedy amongst children. Over the past ten

years, more than 60 Utah children have been killed and more than 500 injured in

accidental backovers (https://youtu.be/oGKZJdekojM). Intermountain also has 5ks

many times a year to raise money for different medical conditions. These are just a few

of the amazing things that Intermountain does for the community. I wish I could state

them all, but that would turn into a novel, rather than an essay.

Works Cited:
Clark, David D., Lucy A. Savitz, and Scott P. Pingree. "Cost Cutting in Health Systems

Without Compromising Quality Care." Frontiers of Health Services Management.

Business Source Premier, 1 Dec. 2010. Web. 3 Feb. 2017.

"Community Partnerships." Intermountain Healthcare Community Benefit. N.p., n.d.

Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

Larkin, Howard. "In Search of Value." EDS. N.p., Mar. 2016. Web. Feb. 2017.

Press, James. "Intermountain Health Care, Inc." History of Intermountain Health Care,

Inc. FundingUniverse. International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 27,

1999. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

Shinkman, Ron. "HEALTHCARE IS LOOKING GOOD IN SLC, UT." Modern Healthcare,

June 1999. Web.

Zimmerli, Bert, Todd Craghead, and Neera Gupta. "A Fair Way to Reduce

Uncompensated Care." HMFA. Healthcare Financial Management Association, 1

May 2010. Web. 3 Feb. 2017.