Intermountain Health + Qualtrics

Intermountain Health’s mission is clear and powerful: Help people live the healthiest lives possible®. This unwavering commitment to exceptional patient care and caregiver well-being has distinguished Intermountain as a leading health system, but the organization understands that resting on past achievements isn’t enough. To truly stand out, they must innovate beyond traditional boundaries—aiming to not only lead in care delivery, but in shaping the entire experience for patients, consumers, and caregivers alike.

Traditionally, patient experience (PX) efforts in healthcare have narrowly focused on moments when patients interact directly with clinical services within the system—appointments, treatments, follow-ups. Intermountain saw an opportunity to push further and explore what happens before a person even becomes a patient and after they leave the clinic. For example, why do some people start scheduling appointments but then give up? And beyond patients, Intermountain recognized that caregivers’ experiences profoundly influence the quality of care that patients receive. Understanding these connections became a priority.

To transform this vision into reality, Intermountain set out to implement a  comprehensive, unified experience management (XM) platform. This tech empowers them to listen closely, understand deeply, and respond swiftly to feedback from caregivers and consumers across the entire system and in real time.

“We've turned engagement into compassionate conversations, into real conversations with our employees. And we've seen really great shifts in how our employees feel inside the organization.” – Heather Brace, Chief People Officer

To accomplish this strategy, Intermountain mapped every critical touchpoint in the caregiver, patient, and consumer journey. They expanded their listening channels—surveys, digital interactions, contact center calls—capturing feedback at every opportunity. To measure the full experience, they created a Consumer Experience Index, focusing on three factors: a person’s ability to accomplish their goals, the ease of their interactions, and their emotional response to the experience.

Every day, Intermountain analyzes thousands of pieces of feedback, pinpointing friction points ranging from confusing website navigation to frustrating check-in procedures at select clinics. Tackling these specific challenges simplifies the experience for everyone—and fosters the trust that’s essential to lasting relationships.

On the caregiver side, Intermountain zeroed in on moments that matter most. Applying a “listen, learn, and act” approach, they responded quickly when data revealed declines in caregiver well-being. Following a major merger that broadened their workforce’s diversity, Intermountain shifted from a one-size-fits-all holiday schedule dictated from the top down to a democratic process that empowered caregivers to voice which holidays mattered most. Real-time feedback shaped this new approach, signaling respect and inclusivity.

The effort sparked a transformation in Intermountain’s caregiver experience strategy—shifting to a proactive, transparent framework led by managers and caregivers themselves, focused on meaningful moments along the journey.

Removing barriers to care 

Intermountain’s consumer experience efforts reflect the same dedication to understanding and removing obstacles. They proactively sought feedback on their website: Are consumers finding the information they need? Where do they get stuck?

When calling into Intermountain, consumers expressed frustration with the AI virtual assistant at the beginning of calls. Intermountain made changes to offer callers clearer options and enable quicker access to the information, actions, or agents they needed.

The power of unified insights 

The results of bringing together the patient, consumer, and experience data onto one platform spoke for themselves. Intermountain’s analysis found that when caregivers felt supported and cooperated effectively, it significantly improved patients' perceptions of teamwork among staff, their trust in healthcare providers, and their sense of being cared for.

By embracing this holistic, real-time experience management, Intermountain Health is not just delivering care; they’re building trust at every step, forging relationships that empower healthier lives today and into the future.