'Money & Medicine' PBS Film Featuring Intermountain

Intermountain Healthcare has a significant role in the PBS documentary, Money & Medicine, which was shown locally on KBYU Channel 11 on Thursday, April 4. Broadcast nationally last fall, the documentary on U.S. healthcare may prompt viewers to alter some of their own behaviors-whether it's executing an advance directive or learning more about the risks, benefits, and possible outcomes of elective procedures.

To watch the Money & Medicine documentary in its entirety, visit the PBS website at: http://www.pbs.org/programs/money-medicine/

The hour-long film explores the medical, ethical, and financial challenges of containing runaway healthcare spending. With remarkable candor and poignancy, Money & Medicine examines difficult topics such as end-of-life treatment decisions, testing and screening, as well as astounding treatment variations nationally among patients receiving discretionary procedures.

Award-winning producer, Roger Weisberg, chose Intermountain as one of his examples where clinical outcomes are excellent and costs are lower, based on a study by the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. With permission from patients and clinical staff, a film crew spent two weeks at Intermountain Medical Center talking with patients and physicians about how decisions are made, how care is delivered, and how individual patients are affected.

In addition to the doctor and patient interviews, the film also features interviews with some of the nation's leading health policy experts. One of those interviewed, Elliott Fisher, MD, MPH, of Dartmouth Medical School, says: The secret to Intermountain Healthcare is they use science to improve care and by improving care they reduce the cost of care.

The film's producer has created 31 documentaries on a variety of social issues that have aired in prime time on PBS and networks around the world. His films have won more than 100 awards, including Peabody, Emmy, and duPont-Columbia awards and two Academy Award nominations.​​