Thursday, April 20, 2006

What's in a name?

The new commercials from Intermountain Healthcare are very annoying to me. They talk about how nothing in their service is affected by changing the name of their health insurance company to SelectHealth. From their own website, they say,
"This change is the result of nearly two years of extensive research and listening to members, physicians, community leaders, employers, and others to understand how they perceive our company," said Sid Paulson, president and CEO of SelectHealth. "Having a distinctive name will clarify our company's structure and ultimately make it easier for our customers to understand and access their health benefits."
They also go on to say that SelectHealth will continue to operate as part of Intermountain Healthcare.
So why change the name to SelectHealth? In my opinion, the name change is to try and get the citizens of Utah as well as the state elected officials to believe that Intermountain Healthcare does not have a monopoly on health care in Utah. The above quote states it quite well, "clarify our company's structure." Do they really think that their health plans are separate from their hospitals and doctors? Their health plans bring in money. As a part of Intermountain Healthcare, SelectHealth will continue to bring money to Intermountain Healthcare.

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