Intermountain - Integrated Approach
Benefits of Integration

Providing Highest Possible Quality at the Lowest Possible Cost

Here are six ways our patients and consumers benefit from our approach:

• Patient focus
• Clinical quality & clinical process improvement
• Service quality
• Lower charges
• Prevention
• Scope of service

1. Patient focus. Integration helps Intermountain provide better clinical services to our patients at lower costs. Because we are integrated, we can align economic and clinical incentives, manage conflict constructively, improve communication among clinicians and with patients, and unite all involved in providing the best possible outcomes.
2. Clinical quality & clinical process improvement. Intermountain is internationally recognized as a pioneer in clinical process improvement, enabling the sharing of best medical practices. Medical outcomes are improved through collaboration, teamwork, and care process improvement initiatives.
3. Service quality. Intermountain continually measures customer service quality indicators (e.g., physician office wait times, scheduling of physician visits) in order to ensure excellence. Simplified patient billing, one-time gathering of information, and "one-stop shopping" for services are projects in progress. Our goal is "seamless care," where patients pass easily from one needed service to another.
4. Lower charges. As a system, Intermountain achieves economies of scale by volume for purchasing, sharing services, and streamlining management. Intermountain's computer information systems help the organization not only improve quality but also operate more efficiently.
5. Prevention. At Intermountain, incentives and resources of doctors, hospitals, and health plans are aligned to help people stay well. SelectHealth reminds members to use preventive benefits, and we have established continuous care management programs for patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes. SelectHealth recently received the Disease Management Association of America Award for Diabetes Management in 2003 and and the Innovations in Immunization First Place Award and Cholesterol Management Award in 2002. Outreach programs, such as family clinics at the Intermountain Pamela J. Atkinson Clinic at Lincoln Elementary School and the David E. Salisbury Intermountain Neighborhood Clinic at the Sorenson Multi-Cultural Center in Salt Lake City, are expanding access to primary care in previously underserved areas.
6. Scope of service. With hospitals, physicians, clinics, SelectHealth, home health agencies, occupational medicine clinics, and other services, Intermountain provides a seamless continuum of care. An Intermountain physician or facility is within a 15-minute drive for most residents in our service area.