Intermountain Trustee AN EMAIL BRIEFING FOR INTERMOUNTAIN HEALTHCARE TRUSTEES
September 2017
INTERMOUNTAIN ISSUES AND INITIATIVES
Intermountain Supports Caregivers Affected by DACA Changes Leadership team, Board of Trustees commit to support some150 caregivers
Intermountain’s leadership team and members of our Board of trustees have committed to support some 150 caregivers who may be affected by proposed changes to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which were announced recently by the Trump Administration. Intermountain will help the affected caregivers file the appropriate paperwork so they can continue to legally live and work in the U.S.
“If you’re one of our caregivers who’s working as part of the DACA program, please know we value and support you!” said Intermountain CEO Marc Harrison, MD. “I want all Intermountain caregivers to know that we’re reaching out personally to let these colleagues know we’re offering resources to assist them in understanding what’s happening with this immigration policy and help them with extension applications if they’re needed.”
An invitation has been sent to caregivers who may be affected by changes to DACA. They’ve been invited to meet with attorney Roger Tsai, of the firm Holland and Hart, who will help our caregivers by answering their questions and assisting with their applications at no cost. Anyone feeling stress and anxiety in these uncertain times is also encouraged to reach out to Intermountain’s Employee Assistance Program, which offers counseling free of charge (1-800- 832-7733).
“Changes to DACA could affect about 150 of our valued caregivers working as nurses and medical aides, in food services and maintenance, and in many other areas,” said Joe Fournier, Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer. “Offering these resources is one of the ways we can show that we value everyone at Intermountain. Our caregivers demonstrate every day how dedicated they are to our patients and families who come to us for care, and to each other. We know we are stronger when we create a workplace where our caregivers feel supported in uncertain times.” Dr. Harrison added, “Please join me in expressing our support for those working through DACA and showing our appreciation for all of our fellow caregivers as we work toward ‘helping people live the healthiest lives possible.’”
DACA is an immigration policy established by the Obama administration in June 2012. It allows undocumented immigrants who entered the country as minors, and who meet other requirements, to work and study in the U.S. They apply to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit.
Approximately 690,000 such young people were enrolled nationally in the program as of 2017, including 9,000 Utahns. They are also known as “Dreamers.”
The Trump administration recently ordered an end to DACA, phasing out the program’s protections over the next six months. President Trump has urged Congress to pass a DACA replacement. New applicants are no longer being accepted, but anyone whose status is set to expire by March 5, 2018, has until October 5, 2017, to apply for a new two-year permit.
Primary Children’s Hospital Launches Campaign to Help Prevent Teen Suicide Campaign urges adults to watch for warning signs
Suicide has become the leading cause of death for young people in Utah ages 10 to 17, and September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Primary Children’s Hospital is focusing on preventing youth suicide with a new public service announcement and accompanying information online and in social media. You can help spread the message by sharing the video, and by watching for the warning signs of suicide among young people you know.
Studies show the risk of suicide increases dramatically when kids and teens have access to firearms, and more than half of all suicides in Utah are completed with a gun. That’s why Primary Children’s is sharing this powerful 60-second video, which advocates for gun safety and recommends guns and ammunition be stored and locked appropriately. Watch the ad and share it.
Utah Drug Overdose Deaths Are Down 10.6 Percent, CDC Reports Utah has the largest percentage decrease in deaths in the U.S. and is one of only nine states to see a drop
Utah drug overdose deaths are down 10.6 percent—the most significant decrease in the country— in the 12-month period ending February 2017.
In provisional numbers released by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Utah is one of only nine states where overdose deaths decreased. Other states where overdose deaths decreased include Mississippi (-9.9%), Nebraska (-8.7%), California (-3.2%), and Washington (-3.2%). Utah reported 616 overdose deaths, compared to 689 for the 12-month period ending February 2016.
By comparison, drug overdose deaths increased 128.8 percent in the District of Columbia, 63.8 percent in Maryland, 63.0 percent in Delaware, and 52.9 percent in Florida during the same period. In the United States as a whole, overdose deaths increased 20.3 percent. These provisional numbers include drug overdose deaths from all causes, including opioid-related deaths. The data are not considered final—they’re subject to change, according to the CDC’s report.
In the previous year (February 2015 to February 2016), overdose deaths increased in Utah by 13.7 percent, from 606 deaths to 689 deaths.
While the CDC report does not address the question of why deaths increased or decreased, the data suggest something is different in Utah compared to the U.S. as a whole. One possible factor is the effort being made in Utah to educate residents about the dangers of overdoses—from opioids and other drugs—as well as other prevention and treatment programs underway. Utah’s efforts involve collaboration among Intermountain Healthcare and other healthcare providers, the Utah Department of Health, other government and social services agencies, law enforcement, and other groups.
Between 2015 and 2017, Intermountain donated $3 million in support of public awareness campaigns regarding safe use, storage, and disposal of prescription opioids, as well as provider education and support of medication assisted treatment for people with opioid use disorders. In August, we announced a goal to reduce the opioid tablets prescribed per acute pain prescription by 40 percent—which would be a reduction of more than 5 million tablets annually. Our goal seeks to ensure patients receive the number of tablets they actually use while eliminating extra, unneeded tablets that may end up being misused.
The CDC’s provisional counts Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/National Center include deaths occurring within for Health Statistics (2017, September 11). Provisional Drug Overdose Death the 50 states and the District of Counts. Table 1: 12 Month-ending Provisional Counts of Drug Overdose Columbia. You can review the Deaths, Percent Change Over Previous 12-month Period, and Data Quality Metrics. Accessed Sep 20, 2017 at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/vsrr/ complete report here. drug-overdose-data.htm Intermountain and Our Caregivers Send $200,000 to Help Colleagues Affected by Hurricane Harvey More than 650 Intermountain caregivers personally support Hurricane Harvey victims
More than 650 Intermountain caregivers stepped up to personally support the victims of Hurricane Harvey through making personal monetary contributions that added up to a nearly $50,000 donation to the Texas Hospital Association (THA) Employee Assistance Fund. Intermountain contributed an additional $150,000, bringing the total to $200,000. These funds provide disaster relief for healthcare workers who’ve been affected by the devastating hurricane and subsequent flooding.
“Our caregivers go above and beyond every day to provide healing, comfort, and compassion to those who come to us when sick or injured,” said Marc Harrison, MD, Intermountain’s President and CEO. “Your willingness to reach out to our colleagues in Texas speaks to the humanitarian spirit of our team members throughout Intermountain.”
“We’re pleased to direct our gift to our fellow caregivers in Texas,” Dr. Harrison added. “We want them to know that we stand by them in their hour of need, knowing they’re giving help and support to those who depend on them.”
You can still donate to the THA Employee Assistance Fund.
New Chief Consumer Officer Joins Intermountain from Disney Here’s more about him and how he’ll help us better focus on consumer needs
Intermountain welcomed Kevan Mabbutt on August 24 as our new Senior Vice President and Chief Consumer Officer. He leads Intermountain’s efforts to create a customer-centric mentality across the organization and weave it into our culture. Mabbutt is a global leader in customer experience— where he’s worked to create best-in-class consumer outcomes for brands like Disney, Discovery Channel, and the BBC. Now he brings his expertise to Intermountain and to healthcare.
“Kevan is superbly qualified to identify what our customers and patients need and expect from us, and to evolve our capability to create and deliver consistent, customer-centered, digitally enabled experiences for them,” said Marc Harrison, MD, Intermountain’s President and CEO. “We’re fortunate he’s chosen Intermountain and healthcare on his professional journey.”
Mabbutt will be a member of Intermountain’s Executive Leadership Team—the team of top leaders—and will represent the voice of the customer at the strategy-setting level of the organization. He’ll also succeed Bruce Jensen, who’s retiring in January 2018, as the leader of Intermountain’s Communications team (including its marketing, advertising, public relations, internal communications, and media functions).
Mabbutt has served as the global head of consumer insight for The Walt Disney Company, based in Los Angeles, for the past seven and a half years. There, he led the transformation and development of Disney’s theme park, cruise line, resort, retail, and digital experiences in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He was instrumental in defining and optimizing the guest experience at Disney’s first theme park in mainland China (Shanghai Disney Resort, opened in 2016). He also oversaw the expansion of the Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars brands globally. Before Disney, Mabbutt held global marketing and analytics leadership roles at Discovery Channel and the British Broadcasting Corporation, and he served as a consultant to media companies in the Middle East and Europe.
“I’m excited to join an industry that’s so vital and dynamic and to be part of an organization at the forefront of change,” Mabbutt said. “Healthcare is primed for transformation, and Intermountain is well-positioned to lead the shift to a more customer-centric model. Leadership here has a clear, compelling, and progressive vision, and my sense is that the organization is ready, energized, and has the chops to pull it off. I’m humbled by this opportunity and eager to help Intermountain on this exciting journey.”
Mabbutt was born in London, England. He spent his childhood in Africa before returning to the United Kingdom for high school and college. Mabbutt received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees of arts from Cambridge University, U.K.
In 2005, he and his family moved to the U.S., where he’s continued to enjoy a global career while checking off visits to the 50 states. Mabbutt and his wife, Sue, have two boys, George and Dylan, ages 18 and 16. They enjoy travel, skiing, hiking, African safaris, Formula 1, soccer, art, and music. They know Utah has a lot to offer and look forward to taking it all in.
UPDATES AND FEATURES
Intermountain Supply Chain Is Well-stocked in Case of Disaster The ability to supply hospitals and clinics becomes especially critical during disasters
Following a catastrophic natural disaster, the challenge of supplying hospitals and clinics with adequate medical equipment looms large. It’s a question of life and death for some patients.
Fortunately, the centralized location of Intermountain’s Supply Chain Center in Midvale—and the mountain of resources consolidated there—leave Utah well-positioned in case of a calamity.
“We’re well-stocked and staffed for this sort of event,” said Gordon Slade, Director of Supply Chain logistics at Intermountain Healthcare, referring to a disaster on the scale of Hurricane Harvey. The well-being and functionality of hospitals themselves has become a paramount public safety topic, with mixed results, The New York Times reported.
Slade said our Supply Chain Center is consistently equipped with enough medical equipment to get the right materials to the right Intermountain hospitals and clinics within 48 to 96 hours without help from any outside disaster-response agencies. When those assisting agencies arrive, Slade said, “they’ve got the reins, but we’ve got the infrastructure (ready).”
The center holds 5,000 types of items to distribute, with up to a 30-day inventory for some supplies. Products that are distributed from the building are as diverse as the medical field itself, consisting of everything from sizeable portions of toilet paper and hand sanitizer to medical implants, Slade said. “Everything from toilet paper to helicopters is sourced out of here,” he said. To guard against the strength of a centralized location quickly devolving into weakness if the building’s structure were compromised, the supply chain center was designed to endure an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale, Slade said.
Severe earthquakes or major winter storms are among the biggest natural threats in Utah. The Supply Chain Center is also equipped with sufficient generators and has enough fuel on hand to keep delivery workers on the move regardless of what happens elsewhere.
The center, which was constructed in 2012 and distributes about 2.5 million items per year, was not built solely with emergency preparedness in mind, Slade said. The cost-saving economies of scale made possible by the center, as well as the improved distribution efficiency, are also critical reasons for its existence, he said.
Intermountain Clarifies Policy on Responding to Law Enforcement Requests High-profile case at a non-Intermountain facility brings the issue to the forefront
A high-profile case of a nurse at a non-Intermountain Utah hospital who was detained by a Salt Lake City police officer for not providing a blood sample from an unconscious patient has led a number of Intermountain caregivers to ask: What is Intermountain’s policy when we’re dealing with requests from law enforcement?
Intermountain’s policy—based on federal law—requires law enforcement to have a patient in custody, a warrant, or a patient’s permission before we can provide any information from a blood draw or any other protected health information (PHI). Without the patient’s permission—which can be expressed verbally or in writing—or a legal document, our caregivers shouldn’t provide lab samples or PHI.
The case in Utah was captured on video and has been distributed widely. “We’re not aware of all the details of that case and can’t comment on what happened there,” said Kim Henrichsen, Intermountain’s Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations and Chief Nursing Executive. “But if one of our caregivers encounters a situation where they face pressure from law enforcement or from anyone who wants patient information, they should enact the chain of command and call the nursing supervisor, security, and the administrator on call.”
Henrichsen added, “Our policies are put in place to protect our patients and our caregivers. We will continue to work with law enforcement to ensure our policies are clear and protect our caregivers who are providing direct care should similar circumstances arise at Intermountain. Intermountain caregivers should know that we will always fully support them in following our policies.” Outpatient Clinics Open on Campus of Intermountain’s Future Layton Hospital Clinics house Primary Children’s Outpatient Services, Layton Parkway Clinic, and Community Pharmacy
After 16 months of construction, Intermountain’s new Layton Hospital outpatient clinics opened to patients in September. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house tours of the new facility highlighted the specialties that are available. The clinics are located on the south end the hospital, which will open next summer with full hospital and emergency services.
The outpatient clinics will be home to Primary Children’s Outpatient Services, the Layton Parkway Clinic, an Intermountain Community Pharmacy, and additional physician offices. Patients will have access to both pediatric and adult outpatient services such as cardiology, ear nose and throat, physical therapy, gastroenterology, and oncology, among others.
“We’re excited to be a part of this young, vibrant community,” said Intermountain CEO Marc Harrison, MD. “We know that while this new building is beautiful, it’s the people—the doctors, nurses, and other caregivers, and the patients, families, and loved ones who will be cared for here—that will be at the heart of this hospital.”
Katy Welkie, administrator at Primary Children’s Hospital, said her hospital’s partnership with Layton Hospital will be similar to Primary Children’s partnership with Riverton Hospital, including access to TeleHealth and other pediatric services. “Primary Children’s is honored to be a part of the Davis County community,” she said. “We’re thrilled to provide pediatric specialty and subspecialty care to patients and their families closer to home.”
Rachelle Fredericksen knows firsthand the challenges of driving back and forth from her home in Clinton, Utah, to appointments for her second son, Easton, at Primary Children’s Hospital. The commute can take them an hour and a half each way. Easton was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, or half a heart—a rare condition the family wasn’t expecting when their son was born.
“We’ve spent a lot of time at the hospital and in the car, sometimes with multiple appointments a week,” said Fredericksen. “There are times when I’ve been crying during the drive, unable to believe this is what we have to do. This clinic at Layton Hospital is going to benefit our son and other special needs parents for a long time. It takes us just 10 to 15 minutes to drive here.”
When Layton Hospital opens in 2018, the 300,000-square-foot, five-story building will include 43 beds, emergency services, and major hospital services. The hospital is located at 201 W. Layton Parkway. RESEARCH AT INTERMOUNTAIN
Gastric Bypass Surgery Is Effective for Long-Term Weight Loss, Prevention of Diabetes and Hypertension, Study Shows The New England Journal of Medicine publishes study led by Intermountain researcher
A 12-year controlled study shows that gastric bypass surgery is effective for long-term weight loss, diabetes and hypertension prevention, and diabetes remission.
Published in The New England Journal of Medicine in September, the study demonstrated that the percentage of weight loss/gain among the gastric bypass group changed very little from six to 12 years.
“Based upon the findings of this study, gastric bypass appears to be effective for significant, long-term weight loss and for the treatment and prevention of diabetes,” said Ted Adams, PhD, MPH, study lead and Program and Research Director at Intermountain’s LiVe Well Center in Salt Lake City. “The decision to have gastric bypass surgery should include individual assessment of risks and benefits of the surgery and consultation with one’s healthcare provider.”
Funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIDDK/NIH), the study was a joint effort by Intermountain Healthcare, University of Utah School of Medicine, St. Mark’s Hospital, and Rocky Mountain Associated Physicians in Salt Lake City.
Research Teams Receive Funding from Intermountain and Stanford Recipients receive more than $400,000 focused on transforming healthcare
Stanford Medicine and Intermountain Healthcare announced the recipients of more than $400,000 in seed grants focused on transforming healthcare. The six research projects received seed grants of up to $75,000 each and are jointly led by principal investigators from Intermountain and Stanford. The grants took effect in September.
“The Intermountain-Stanford grant program is part of a collaboration focused on advancing clinical care best practices, education and training, and clinical research in heart disease, cancer, and other conditions,” said Rob Allen, Intermountain’s Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “The purpose of the grant awards is to spearhead and accelerate research between the two organizations and support innovative projects in research, patient care, and medical education.”
David Larson, MD, Stanford’s associate Chair of Performance Improvement in the Department of Radiology, added: “Our collaboration will foster scientific discoveries that will potentially improve patient care in both institutions.” “We’re privileged to collaborate with the Stanford University School of Medicine, a premier medical school and worldwide leader in science and research,” said Raj Srivastava, MD, MPH, Intermountain’s Assistant Vice President of Research. “We’re excited to launch these projects, foster new scientific collaborations focused on improving patient care, and set the stage for the healthcare transformation potential from the Intermountain-Stanford grant program.”
This is the second year of the grant program. Seven grants were awarded last year, and those projects are also underway. You can find out more about Intermountain Healthcare research.
ICU Patients Who Survive ARDS May Suffer from Prolonged Post-intensive Care Syndrome, Study Finds Condition includes debilitating mental, physical, and cognitive problems
Patients who survive acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS, often leave a hospital intensive care unit with debilitating mental, physical, or cognitive problems that may limit their quality of life. Now a new study of 645 ARDS survivors by researchers at Intermountain Medical Center, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Utah has identified subgroups of ARDS survivors who suffer what’s been called post-intensive care syndrome, a collection of symptoms that can linger for years.
“A lot of work has been done around post-intensive care syndrome. We’re realizing the people who are surviving are often terribly wounded, and they have emotional and psychological distress as severe as combat veterans returning from war,” said Sam Brown, MD, lead author of the study and Director of the Center for Humanizing Critical Care at Intermountain Medical Center. “They may have profound weakness or shortness of breath or other important limitations to their quality of life after they survive.”
Results of the new study, which was funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, are published in Thorax, one of the world’s leading journals for specialists in respiratory and critical care medicine. ARDS is a potentially life-threatening injury to the lungs that occurs most often in an intensive care unit among critically ill patients with pneumonia or other infections, although it can have other causes.
“If you had ARDS 25 years ago, we thought we saved your life in the intensive care unit, so we’d say, ‘All is well, off you go—you’ll be fine,’” said Dr. Brown. “We had no idea as doctors how wrong we were about life after ARDS.”
According to the research, physical and psychological injuries tend to go hand in hand. Cognitive impairment is independent of those two, however.
The study noted that six months after leaving intensive care, about half of the subjects in the study still weren’t living independently, even though 91 percent of them had done so prior to contracting ARDS. Instead, they lived in nursing homes or with relatives. “ARDS can lead to a long period of not being able to fend for yourself,” said Dr. Brown. Sex, ethnicity, and smoking before getting ARDS predicted which subgroup an individual would be in, with Latina smokers having the worst health status, while non-Latino men who didn’t smoke had the best. How severe the ARDS was during the ICU admission didn’t indicate the subgroup where a survivor would fit.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
Intermountain’s Chief Nursing Executive Named to Becker’s List of CNOs to Know for 2017 Top nursing executive ensures quality of care, positive patient experience
Chief nursing executives and chief nursing officers play a crucial oler in the success of hospitals or health systems. Many top nursing executives oversee large teams of nurses to ensure quality of care and patient experience.
Kim Henrichsen, RN, MSN, Intermountain’s Vice President of Clinical Operations and Chief Nursing Executive, has been named to the Becker’s Hospital Review list of 60+ CNOs to Know for 2017.
Henrichsen served as CNO of Intermountain’s facilities in the Salt Lake area before being promoted to Vice President of Clinical Operations and CNO of the health system. She has additional experience as CNO and Operations Officer for Intermountain’s Southwest Region and Director of Cardiovascular Surgery Services at St. George, Utah-based Dixie Regional Medical Center.
In her current role, she sets strategy for bedside care and clinical and professional services across the health system. She is a member of the Executive Leadership Team that sets the vision and strategic leadership for the organization. Henrichsen joined Intermountain Healthcare in 1984. She participates on several community and private boards as a member of the HealthInsight Board, BYU College Volunteer Leadership Council, Weber State University National Advisory Council, and an advisor to the Westminster College Nursing Leadership Council.
Henrichsen completed both a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a master’s in adult continuous care at the University of Utah. She is also a graduate of Intermountain Healthcare’s Advanced Training Program in Healthcare Delivery Improvement and the Wharton Nursing Fellowship Program. $3.8 Million Awarded to Intermountain, U of U Cancer Researchers National Cancer Institute awards a grant to develop an advanced cancer screening tool
Researchers from Intermountain Healthcare, University of Utah Health Care, and Huntsman Cancer Institute are teaming up to develop a new tool designed to help clinicians better identify patients who are at higher risk of developing cancer. The research is funded by a $3.8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute.
The new tool will use data from electronic health records to screen patients for several types of cancer. It will help providers identify and manage high-risk patients in primary care settings.
“It’s crucial that primary care physicians at the frontline of care identify patients who are at high risk of developing cancer,” said grant co-investigator Scott Narus, PhD, Intermountain’s Medical Informatics Director and Chief Clinical Systems Architect. “Early diagnosis and screening of cancer greatly increases the chances for successful treatment.”
Researchers plan to start by working with primary care physicians, oncologists, and genetic counselors to develop algorithms and interventions to support individualized screening of people who are at risk for breast and colorectal cancer.
“With the collaboration between the University of Utah and Intermountain Healthcare, and the support of the National Cancer Institute, we have the potential to produce a clinical decision support platform that has significant impact on individualizing cancer screening according to the best available evidence,” said Narus. “Our aim is to improve patient care and outcomes through evidence-based medicine.”
With consultation from Intermountain, University of Utah Health will be responsible for developing the clinical decision platform and workflows and demonstrating how it works in their care delivery system. Intermountain will then evaluate the solution in Intermountain’s care delivery system to test whether the application and workflow are transferable to other organizations and electronic health records.
You can find out more about Intermountain Healthcare research and the advancement of medical knowledge we’re pursuing in many clinical areas. LDS Hospital’s Blood and Marrow Transplant Program Earns Reaccreditation Program recognized for high-quality services and dedication to excellence
The Intermountain Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at LDS Hospital earned an official three-year reaccreditation from the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy, or FACT. The reaccreditation recognizes the program’s high-quality services and dedication to excellence in patient care and laboratory practices.
The three-year reaccreditation follows an extensive review of the program conducted during a site visit in April 2017 and applies to all the program’s services that were inspected by FACT surveyors, including adult allogeneic and autologous hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation, marrow and peripheral blood cellular therapy product collection, and cellular therapy product processing, the latter two functions performed by the American Red Cross.
Finn Bo Petersen, MD, the hematologist/oncologist who serves as Program Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, said, “Our clinical program was accredited with no deviation from FACT standards identified by the inspection team, which is a rare and significant honor that reflects our team’s commitment to the highest standards of quality and our effectiveness in consistently implementing them.”
Brandon Vonk, RN, MBA, LDS Hospital’s Nurse Administrator, added: “Earning FACT reaccreditation is a tremendous accomplishment that shines a light on the skill and dedication of our Blood and Marrow Transplant team. They’re completely committed to maintaining and advancing the highest standards of quality in their work. This reaccreditation—which is used as one quality indicator in U.S. News’s ranking of America’s Best Hospitals—reinforces their position as one of the most successful, most admired blood and marrow transplant programs not just in the U.S. but also in the world. Congratulations to our entire team!” INTERMOUNTAIN IN THE NEWS
What the World Is Saying About Us Recent news stories about Intermountain in the national and international media
National Public Radio, August 1: Tweets Threaten to Destabilize Insurance Markets. “In the absence of the cost-sharing reductions, the rate increases could be astonishing,” says Marc Harrison, MD, CEO of Intermountain Healthcare, which operates nonprofit hospitals and clinics and insures more than 800,000 people across Utah.”
New England Journal of Medicine, August 18: Surviving and Thriving in Rapid Change. “‘What are the shifting winds in healthcare that face us?’ asks Marc Harrison, MD, CEO of Intermountain Healthcare. These probably sound familiar: legislative uncertainty, dramatic changes in patient expectations, payments going to the mean of government payments, new quality and safety expectations, and huge disruption from other industries. We’ve had a lot of change for a long time in healthcare, and that’s not a bad thing.’ But, he adds, ‘the rapidity of change is unprecedented at this point in time.’”
Forbes, August 24: Utah’s Largest Hospital Group to Curtail Opioid Use. “Intermountain Healthcare, the largest hospital system in Utah and Idaho, is taking a stand against drugs like Oxycontin and Percocet, pledging to reduce the number of opioid pills it prescribes to patients newly diagnosed with pain by 40 percent by the end of next year. It says that would mean 5 million fewer opioid pills would end up in patients’ medicine cabinets.”
CNBC, August 24: Hospital Chain Pledges to Cut Opioid Prescriptions 40 Percent by 2018 in Face of Painkiller Epidemic. “A Utah-based hospital chain pledged Wednesday to slash the number of opioid pills prescribed for patients with acute pain at its facilities by 40 percent by the end of 2018 … If nonprofit Intermountain achieves its goal, it will reduce the number of opioid tablets it prescribes to patients with acute pain in Utah and southern Idaho by more than 5 million each year at its 22 hospitals and 180 clinics.”
Boston Globe STAT, August 25: It’s Past Time to Include Mental Health Into the Doctor’s Office Visit. In an editorial written by Intermountain CEO Marc Harrison, MD: “A landmark 10-year study my Intermountain colleagues published in JAMA shows that this approach [delivering integrated mental and physical healthcare in team-based clinic settings] pays off in several ways: better clinical outcomes for patients; more appropriate utilization of healthcare services (getting the right care at the right time); and lower costs, about $667 per patient each year for those with newly diagnosed depression. Based on Intermountain Healthcare’s experience and our findings, we project that the U.S. would save at least $4 billion a year in healthcare costs if our model was used nationally.”
U.S. News & World Report, August 28: Why Depression Might Double the Risk of Early Death for Heart Patients. “A new study shows that patients who suffer from both heart disease and depression have twice the risk of dying compared with people who only have heart disease. The findings indicate this is true even in heart patients who were diagnosed with depression years after they were found to have heart disease. ‘Depression, no matter how long it occurred after your coronary heart disease diagnosis, is a significant predictor of mortality,’ says Heidi May, lead author of the study and a cardiovascular epidemiologist at Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City. ‘It was actually a stronger predictor than other factors.’”
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