Story

For over a century, Saint Mary’s Health Network stood as a beacon of trust and care in Northern Nevada. With over 380 beds and more than 50 providers, it had built a reputation for clinical excellence and community service. But as the health system grew, so did the cracks in its patient experience. Behind the scenes, staff were stretched thin. Patients were frustrated. The once seamless system was struggling to keep up with the demands of a modern healthcare environment.

At the heart of the problem was a fragmented patient journey. Booking an appointment was difficult, with call centers overwhelmed and average hold times stretching to nearly an hour. Staff shortages made matters worse, and critical steps like annual wellness visits were being missed—leading to poor quality scores and penalties from payer plans. Meanwhile, the emergency department had turned chaotic, with no effective way to manage patient flow. Despite having a team deeply committed to care, Saint Mary’s was losing patients, time, and revenue.

That’s when they turned to Steer Health.

The leadership team at Saint Mary’s knew they needed more than just another tool. They needed a complete transformation of how patients accessed care and how staff delivered it. Steer Health brought exactly that. With intelligent automation and a deep understanding of healthcare workflows, Steer stepped in to redesign everything from patient intake to follow-up—starting with a powerful new digital front door.

Now, patients could book, reschedule, or cancel appointments anytime—online, by text, or through voice assistants. Staff no longer had to manually manage every call, because the digital platform worked around the clock. What used to be a disconnected experience across different departments was now unified. Primary care, emergency services, specialists—all were linked through guided patient navigation that kept people moving forward in their care journey.

Emergency care, too, got a much-needed overhaul. With Steer’s GetCareNow tool, patients could see ER wait times, register from home, and arrive knowing exactly what to expect. It was a shift from chaos to clarity. And the results followed quickly.

In just six months, the no-show rate dropped from a staggering 22% to just 5.2%. In a single facility, nearly 3,000 appointments were booked digitally. Most patient requests after hours were now handled by the system itself—no waiting, no frustration. Positive reviews soared to 94%, and one site alone welcomed over 2,000 new patients, many of whom had higher-value insurance coverage. In the emergency department, every 50 patients saved staff an average of eight hours of time, thanks to smarter intake and communication.

Saint Mary’s saw not only smoother operations, but a clear path to sustainable growth. With Steer, they gained more than automation—they gained a partner that helped them reimagine what healthcare delivery could look like. And as they now plan to extend this transformation to referrals, revenue workflows, and broader care coordination, the team is seeing that the future of care isn’t just digital—it’s intelligent, seamless, and deeply human.

As CEO Derrick Glum put it best: “Our priority is to provide patients with an exceptional experience. Steer helps us do that—even before they walk through the door.”

Looking Ahead

With FastTrackCare and Steer Health’s digital platform in place, Desert Valley Urgent Care is
now positioned to:

• Scale outreach to new commercial patients
• Continue reducing in-person bottlenecks through smarter triage
• Expand AI usage to include follow-ups, check-in automation, and reminders
• Improve visibility into peak hours with time-of-day analytics
• The journey from urgent to optimized care has begun—and it’s only getting smarter from here.