Health system uses telemedicine to strengthen rural health care

Intermountain Health’s hub-and-spoke telemedicine platform connects critical access and large hospitals in a network across several rural states to facilitate virtual care and reduce transfers and travel. Through a partnership with Microsoft, Epic, Gate Ventures and West Health, the Salt Lake City-based health system aims to address health disparities and lack of access to care. The network consists of 33 of Intermountain’s hospitals and 40 outside its system that contract for telemedicine access. Telemedicine enables critical access hospitals to leverage the specialists available at larger hospitals without transferring patients. They are keeping up to 18% more of their patients, capturing charges and improving care management. Intermountain says its platform could serve as a model to improve care and prevent hospital closures throughout rural America. (HealthLeaders Media article, 2/3/25)