Intermountain Healthcare Notes 40 Years of Delivering Health and Excellence
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, USA, July 14, 2015 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Intermountain Healthcare celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2015. Intermountain is a Utah-based, not-for-profit system of 22 hospitals, 185 clinics, a Medical Group with some 1,300 employed physicians, a health plans division called SelectHealth, and other health services.
Intermountain’s mission — helping people live the healthiest lives possible — has been stated in various ways since Intermountain was founded on April 1, 1975. But the essence of the mission was reflected in the name of the organization by the first board members. Even though Intermountain was at that time a system of hospitals, the first board chose a name that trustees hoped would encompass a very broad definition of healthcare — one that included an emphasis on helping people achieve their best possible health as well as providing the best possible care in all types of settings.
In 1975, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated its 15-hospital system to the communities they serve. It asked a new, secular, not-for-profit organization — Intermountain Healthcare — to administer those hospitals in the best interests of the community.
In making the donation, church representatives expressed only one request to Intermountain’s board: Intermountain should strive to be a model of not-for-profit healthcare delivery. Church leaders urged Intermountain to become “a shining light to the nation.”
The original charge to become a model healthcare system has been repeated countless times over the years and Intermountain still strives to fulfill that charge today.
Through the years, Intermountain has developed from a relatively small multi-hospital company into a health system with a vision to provide extraordinary care and superior service at an affordable cost. Intermountain has continually added new capabilities in order to serve people more effectively. For example, in the 1980s the health plans division now known as SelectHealth was created, and in the 1990s the Intermountain Medical Group was formed, which offers employment to physicians. Both these capabilities allow Intermountain to interact with people outside — as well as inside — the hospital setting, in order to more effectively engage them in their health and care.
Intermountain has also improved the way it works together as a system, in an effort to provide uniformly excellent care and service. To help achieve its mission and vision, Intermountain has worked to define and adopt best practices in our clinical and operational areas.
Today, Intermountain is widely regarded as a national role model in delivering high-quality care for costs that are significantly below the national average.
• Researchers at Dartmouth cited Intermountain as a national benchmark for the efficient delivery of care. Their studies show that if all the hospitals in America provided care as effectively as we provide it, quality would improve — and national Medicare expenditures would fall — by more than 40 percent.
• Utah has the lowest per-capita healthcare costs in the nation — and Intermountain Healthcare has the lowest average healthcare costs in Utah.
• Health insurance premiums in Utah are among the lowest in the nation.
• National leaders from across the political spectrum — including President Obama — cite Intermountain as a role model health system other health providers should emulate.
For more information about Intermountain visit intermountainhealthcare.org, read blogs at intermountainhealthcare.org/blogs, connect on Twitter at twitter.com/intermountain, and on Facebook at facebook.com/intermountain.
Intermountain’s mission — helping people live the healthiest lives possible — has been stated in various ways since Intermountain was founded on April 1, 1975. But the essence of the mission was reflected in the name of the organization by the first board members. Even though Intermountain was at that time a system of hospitals, the first board chose a name that trustees hoped would encompass a very broad definition of healthcare — one that included an emphasis on helping people achieve their best possible health as well as providing the best possible care in all types of settings.
In 1975, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated its 15-hospital system to the communities they serve. It asked a new, secular, not-for-profit organization — Intermountain Healthcare — to administer those hospitals in the best interests of the community.
In making the donation, church representatives expressed only one request to Intermountain’s board: Intermountain should strive to be a model of not-for-profit healthcare delivery. Church leaders urged Intermountain to become “a shining light to the nation.”
The original charge to become a model healthcare system has been repeated countless times over the years and Intermountain still strives to fulfill that charge today.
Through the years, Intermountain has developed from a relatively small multi-hospital company into a health system with a vision to provide extraordinary care and superior service at an affordable cost. Intermountain has continually added new capabilities in order to serve people more effectively. For example, in the 1980s the health plans division now known as SelectHealth was created, and in the 1990s the Intermountain Medical Group was formed, which offers employment to physicians. Both these capabilities allow Intermountain to interact with people outside — as well as inside — the hospital setting, in order to more effectively engage them in their health and care.
Intermountain has also improved the way it works together as a system, in an effort to provide uniformly excellent care and service. To help achieve its mission and vision, Intermountain has worked to define and adopt best practices in our clinical and operational areas.
Today, Intermountain is widely regarded as a national role model in delivering high-quality care for costs that are significantly below the national average.
• Researchers at Dartmouth cited Intermountain as a national benchmark for the efficient delivery of care. Their studies show that if all the hospitals in America provided care as effectively as we provide it, quality would improve — and national Medicare expenditures would fall — by more than 40 percent.
• Utah has the lowest per-capita healthcare costs in the nation — and Intermountain Healthcare has the lowest average healthcare costs in Utah.
• Health insurance premiums in Utah are among the lowest in the nation.
• National leaders from across the political spectrum — including President Obama — cite Intermountain as a role model health system other health providers should emulate.
For more information about Intermountain visit intermountainhealthcare.org, read blogs at intermountainhealthcare.org/blogs, connect on Twitter at twitter.com/intermountain, and on Facebook at facebook.com/intermountain.
Daron Cowley
Intermountain Healthcare
801-442-2834
email us here
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