At a time when the health industry is facing some of the roughest currents in history, we have an opportunity to rethink how we collectively steer the ship. When it comes to staying healthy and navigating the nation's current fee-for-service healthcare system, our industry is collectively sending a clear message to our patients and communities: You're on your own.
But there's a better way. Instead of focusing on other hospitals and health systems as our main competition, we can partner with other health systems and the communities and patients we serve to focus on the real competition that faces us all — disease. Together, we can simplify and streamline the healthcare experience and focus on people first.
There's a telling statistic that sums up the current state of our nation's health system. A 2020 national poll found 62% of consumers think the healthcare system feels like it's designed to be confusing. Caregivers are equally frustrated.
Since beginning my role as president and CEO of Intermountain Health in late 2022, I have met with thousands of doctors and caregivers across seven states in the interior west. They've shared with me some of their frustrations. They are spending too much time on documentation and want more time with patients, for example.
Right now, about a quarter of the nation's $4.3 trillion healthcare spending is for treating preventable diseases. Another quarter is considered wasteful or not necessary. The bottom line is that consumers are paying a hefty sum for healthcare but are often reaping meager results because the national system is incentivized to wait for people to get sick before we pay attention to them or engage them in their own health. As a nation, we get what we pay for: expensive, wasteful care, and an increasingly unhealthy population.
A Better, Simpler Way
For more than a decade, Intermountain has focused on building a value-based model. In this model, the incentives of those delivering and those paying for health services are increasingly aligned with those of the people and communities we serve. By taking on financial risk for the health of patients instead of being paid a fee for every service or treatment we provide, we're incentivized financially to keep people well.
I would like to say Intermountain is immune to the complexity and waste inherent in the fee-for-service model, but the truth is we must do better. The good news is our caregivers hold the keys. For health system leaders, the solution to many of these challenges comes from listening to the ideas of those who are on the frontlines. Genuine, authentic listening.
Several years ago, Intermountain began building an internal continuous improvement digital portal and tiered daily escalation huddle process that connects employees from the frontline to the C-suite to identify concerns, share and implement ideas, and improve workflows and care. To date, more than 395,000 ideas have been shared and implemented. This is not simply crowdsourcing the problem solving. We're beginning to open source health by leveraging the power of community to transparently solve one of healthcare's biggest problems: complexity.
Like countless others across the nation, I chose a career in health to improve lives and patient outcomes, not to push paper and create redundant processes. Our patients, health plan members, and communities want and deserve a simpler and better health experience, rather than feeling like they are without a map or compass to navigate our systems. Our colleagues want to deliver that experience. As leaders, it's time for all of us to get out of our own way, simplify health, and partner with our caregivers and patients — and each other — to improve health for all in our communities. Let's take the next big leap in health to finally get a step ahead of disease.
Rob Allen is president and CEO of Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health.