Intermountain Infectious Disease Physician Who Played Key Role During COVID-19 Pandemic Advising the Community Receives Utah Telehealth Award

An Intermountain Healthcare infectious diseases physician who played a key role in helping the community, patients, and caregivers navigate the many twists and turns of the COVID-19 pandemic has received a major award for his leading work in telehealth care during that time.

Todd Vento, MD, medical director for Intermountain’s infectious diseases telehealth service, is the 2022 recipient of the 3rd annual Deborah LaMarche Telehealth Excellence Award.  

The annual award is presented by the Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UETN) to recognize exemplary Utah clinical leaders who have played a key role in improving telehealth services throughout the state. 

“This recognition reflects the work of our entire Intermountain Telehealth Team for the incredible work they did throughout the pandemic and for their tireless dedication and commitment to provide high-quality, safe care during a very difficult time,” said Dr. Vento. 

Dr. Vento has served as medical director of infectious diseases and Intermountain Connect Care at Intermountain for the past six years. He oversees the delivery of infectious diseases telehealth services for over 30 healthcare facilities and supports tele-specialty care program delivery across 10 states in the Intermountain West region. 

He has extensive experience in clinical, operational, and academic medicine, serving in leadership roles from clinic chief to hospital chief of medical staff. 

Dr. Vento served in key positions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. He helped navigate and advise Intermountain’s executive leadership team, emergency operations center, and to the Utah Governor’s Task Force. 

He also implemented COVID-19 telehealth daily virtual clinical rounds for Intermountain and outreach facilities by ensuring that hospitalized patients had access to a team of clinical experts. 

Dr. Vento became a key expert to the community through regular COVID-19 video updates with news media and the community on Facebook Live and YouTube throughout the pandemic. He also participated in news interviews with MSNBC, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Wall Street Journal and the Population Health podcast. 

Additionally, Dr. Vento was invited to present to a session of Congress on the importance of expanding telehealth outpatient access for elderly/Medicare patients early in the COVID-19 pandemic, which supported the creation of executive orders to expand reimbursement for telephone and video clinical services. 

“Dr. Vento’s contribution to one of the leading telehealth operations in the country has been substantial, and we think he is well-deserving of this award,” said Adam Hornung, executive director of operations at Intermountain Healthcare, who nominated Dr. Vento for the award.  

“I think it is very important for healthcare providers, in particular, to continue to inform their patients about the availability of these services and to encourage their use,” said Dr. Vento. “The increased awareness about and use of telehealth was one of the most positive things that came out of an otherwise devastating period associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

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