Podcast Summary: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

Episode: Dan Liljenquist, JD, Chief Strategy Officer, Intermountain Health
Date: November 14, 2025
Host: Will Riley (R1)
Guest: Dan Liljenquist, JD

Overview

This episode of the Becker’s Healthcare Podcast features an in-depth conversation with Dan Liljenquist, Chief Strategy Officer at Intermountain Health. The discussion centers on the rapidly evolving role of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare—from operational improvements and labor efficiency to governance and the impact on clinical care. Dan shares timely examples, strategic insights, and candid perspectives on how his organization and the broader industry are navigating this technological shift amid workforce challenges and growing healthcare demands.

Main Themes and Key Insights

1. Intermountain Health at a Glance

• Intermountain Health is a large integrated delivery network operating in six states, with over 68,000 caregivers, 30+ hospitals, and 400+ clinics, including a large health plan.
  (00:53)

2. AI Adoption in Healthcare: Accelerating Change

• Industry Shift: Healthcare is emerging as one of the fastest adopters of AI, driven by workforce shortages and demographic shifts.
• Dan on Industry Momentum:

  "Healthcare is one of the fastest adopters of AI... this is one of those areas where there's actually a tailwind for the industry instead of a headwind." (01:42)

• Example of Rapid Impact: Intermountain runs approximately 300 AI projects, reflecting dramatic acceleration championed by both internal teams and partners.

3. Practical AI Applications & Immediate Benefits

• Workforce Efficiency:
  • AI saves administrative time for staff, e.g., automatically preparing payer appeal letters—saving ~30 minutes per letter.

    "We're taking about 30 minutes off each appeal letter... that's just one of dozens and dozens of different uses." (02:55)

• Cloud Enablement:
  • Moving to Microsoft Azure has enabled quicker integration with AI and OpenAI tools, shortening development cycles and ROI timelines.

    "We've moved all of our data into the cloud... [which] takes the ROI to that type of initiative down to near zero." (03:40)

4. Incumbents vs. Insurgents: Data as a Strategic Advantage

• Data Control:
  • Incumbent health systems have a natural advantage in AI due to their robust internal data, crucial for effective, safe AI training.

    "The data to train AI is already inside our firewalls, inside our environments. And so … we have an advantage for a time if we lean in." (04:53)

  • Caution to incumbents: Those not moving quickly risk being surpassed by innovative, trust-building startups.
• Partnerships:
  • Intermountain strategically collaborates with established tech partners (Epic, Microsoft, Salesforce, Workday) and selectively with startups, careful to ensure alignment and value.

5. AI Governance: Balancing Risk and Agility

• Structured Oversight:
  • New governance structures at board and C-suite levels ensure risk-based review of all AI projects.

    "We have dozens of different projects coming through each month through a governance process, depending on the level of risk..." (08:34)

• Risk-Tailored Approvals: Not all AI projects are equally risky; more complex use cases are escalated for higher approvals, while “no regrets” moves are accelerated.
• Labor Pressure:
  • Emphasis on AI’s role in addressing labor shortages and rising costs, with strategic focus on lowering the cost base while expanding service capacity.

6. Paradigm Shift: From Labor-First to Tech-First

• Optimizing Back Office & Administrative Ops:
  • Focused AI use in revenue cycle, analytics, call centers, and supply chain—especially where work is repetitive and rules-based.

    "We're spending as a country $740 billion a year in healthcare just on back office work… [AI] can get to almost near zero to actually do the work that required hundreds and hundreds of people." (10:36)

7. Broader Implications for Providers and Patients

• Changing Clinical Practice:
  • AI is positioned to transform care delivery as provider shortages intensify—enabling more personalized, proactive, and efficient care.

    "A quarter of our providers in the United States are going to enter retirement by 2040, or 2035, 40% of those providers are gone... So we need to change the practice of medicine." (12:09)

• AI in Patient Care:
  • Example: Medication titration and chronic disease management can be improved with AI oversight, reducing unnecessary visits and improving outcomes.

    "Only 20% [of patients] actually hit their target blood pressure range because the titration… is more precise than you can get out, you know, once a year, visit with the doctor." (12:09)

• Mission Alignment:
  • Intermountain believes AI will help achieve the mission of improving lives, extending reach, enhancing experience, and building stronger partnerships with patients.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Rapid AI Adoption:

  "We're seeing some pretty facet adoption partly because we're building right off of the platforms that we're currently using." – Dan Liljenquist (01:42)

• On Incumbent Advantage and Data:

  "If you train AI on bespoke data sets, you get bespoke AI instances that may not lead you into the right future... The incumbent systems have the data." (06:13)

• On Collaboration with Startups:

  "We lean in with partners who really understand what we're trying to do and really bring added value to our overall strategy." (07:29)

• On Governance:

  "There are a lot of no regrets moves that AI is helping us do, but there's some that are more complex that require a different level of visibility and governance." (09:41)

• On Healthcare Workforce Transformation:

  "The entire industry is under pressure there. We're an industry that's largely built on labor and that labor market is getting tighter and tighter." (09:50)

• On Being a Learning Organization:

  "We aspire to be a learn it all, share it all organization so we're definitely going to share what we're learning and of course want to learn from as many people who want to share as well." (14:01)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:53] – Dan’s role and Intermountain Health overview
• [01:42] – AI adoption rate in healthcare; industry “tailwinds”
• [02:55] – Practical AI application: reducing time for appeals letters
• [03:40] – Leveraging cloud infrastructure for faster AI ROI
• [04:53] – Incumbents’ data advantage in the AI era
• [06:13] – Importance of data quality in AI training
• [07:29] – Strategic approach to partnerships with startups
• [08:34] – AI governance and oversight structures
• [10:36] – Labor-saving AI initiatives in the back office and their impact
• [12:09] – Impact of AI on providers and patient care
• [14:01] – Dan’s concluding thoughts on learning and sharing best practices

Conclusion

Dan Liljenquist presents a compelling narrative for the transformation AI is driving at Intermountain Health and across the healthcare industry. From operational gains and workforce challenges to the deeper mission of improving patient care, technological innovation—if paired with vigilant governance and strategic partnerships—promises to help health systems navigate the future with resilience and purpose.