Intermountain Healthcare Named National Provider of the Year by Healthcare Dive

Intermountain Healthcare has been named the 2018 National Provider of the Year by Healthcare Dive, a nationwide healthcare industry news organization. The recognition was announced this week as part of Healthcare Dive’s annual Dive Awards, which recognizes organizations and leaders who are transforming healthcare and shaping the future of the healthcare industry. 

This is the second year the awards have included a Provider of the Year recipient. Last year, the Mayo Clinic received the inaugural honor. 

Accomplishments that helped Intermountain rise to the top this year include improvements in financial stability and affordability, investments in new facilities and innovations, and Intermountain’s efforts to improve complicated issues such as drug pricing. 

Other achievements cited by Healthcare Dive that make Intermountain a national leader in expanding access to high-quality, affordable care: 

Community health: Judges were impressed by Intermountain’s investment in the Utah Alliance for the Determinants of Health, a coalition of community organizations and government agencies seeking to make inroads into forces that affect people’s health well before they come to a clinic or a hospital.

Telehealth: The development of Connect Care Pro — a collection of 40 telehealth programs provided by more than 500 Intermountain clinicians — specifically resonated with the Healthcare Dive team.

Financial stability: Healthcare Dive acknowledged Intermountain’s fiscal responsibility, lauding the system’s strong bond rating.

Precision medicine: Intermountain’s Precision Genomics was praised for its launch of PRECISE, the study that builds a cache of genomic data from frozen tissue and blood specimens, which enhances the ability of Intermountain’s clinicians to see individual differences in genetics, environments, and lifestyles and specifically identify treatments that personally target the illnesses of each patient.

Making generic medications more accessible and affordable: Healthcare Dive also praised the creation of Civica Rx, Intermountain’s joint not-for-profit generic drug manufacturing project, and acknowledged Intermountain’s efforts as factors that led to the system’s national honor. 

Jessica Sweeney-Platt, executive director of physician performance research at Athenahealth, told Healthcare Dive that Intermountain has managed to strike an enviable balance between doing well financially while skillfully addressing the needs of patients. 

 “This recognition is testament to the hard work of all our caregivers,” said Intermountain CEO and President Marc Harrison, MD. “It’s such a privilege to work with all of them.” 

“We have extraordinary people in our organization. They’re the faces and stories behind these kinds of awards,” said Heather Brace, senior vice president and chief people officer. 

Recipients in other Healthcare Dive Award categories include Geisinger Health, Anthem Inc., and healthcare newcomers J.P. Morgan-Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway.