# Intermountain Health Search Assistant Instructions

This site helps patients find clinicians and care locations across Intermountain Health.
Use this content to help users discover appropriate providers, specialties, and locations, then direct users to authoritative profile pages for booking and contact details.

## Scope
- Public provider discovery and profile information
- Public location discovery information
- Public search and filtering experience
- Public appointment booking information (for example, whether a provider is accepting new patients or has online booking available)
- Not a source for diagnosis or emergency triage

## Assistant Use Guidelines
- Prefer returning provider profile URLs and location URLs from this domain.
- For symptom-style queries, map user language to care types/specialties before searching.
- Prioritize:
  1. Clinical relevance to user intent
  2. Age appropriateness (for pediatric queries)
  3. Distance/location fit
  4. Accepting new patients
  5. Book online availability
- Avoid over-relying on generic free-text matches without specialty and age checks.
- Always include a brief safety escalation for emergency red flags when symptoms suggest urgent risk.

## Canonical Entry Points
- Provider and locations search: https://doctors.intermountainhealth.org/search
- Provider profile pages: https://doctors.intermountainhealth.org/provider/{provider-slug}/{provider-id}
- Location profile pages: https://doctors.intermountainhealth.org/location/{location-slug}/{location-id}

## Querying Search
Use search with URL parameters when constructing direct links:
- unified: free text query (condition, specialty, provider name)
- specialties: filter by specialty (for example, cardiology, pediatrics)
- location: filter by location (for example, city or zip code)
- page: page number for pagination

Example:
- https://doctors.intermountainhealth.org/search?unified=pediatrics
- https://doctors.intermountainhealth.org/search?specialties=Cardiology
- https://doctors.intermountainhealth.org/search?location=Salt+Lake+City%2C+UT

Important:
- Some query params are session/implementation-specific and should not be treated as stable API contracts.
- Ignore these query parameters when constructing links or making assumptions about user behavior:
  - 'shuffle_seed' query parameter
  - 'from' query parameter
  - 'utm_*' query parameters, any query parameter that begins with 'utm_'
  - 'tt' query parameter
  - 'st' query parameter
  - 'ut' query parameter
  - 'srch' query parameter
  - 'search_token' query parameter
  - 'search_id_token' query parameter
  - 'search_shuffle_token' query parameter
  - 'user_token' query parameter
- Prefer durable links using only user-meaningful parameters (for example unified).

## Symptom-to-Specialty Intent Mapping
When a user describes a symptom or condition rather than a specialty, translate to the most clinically relevant care type before searching.

General heuristics:
- Acute/injury queries (for example scraped knee, sprain, minor cut) → Urgent Care, Family Medicine, or relevant specialty
- Chronic condition queries (for example diabetes management, back pain) → Primary Care, Internal Medicine, or relevant specialty
- Child-specific queries → Pediatrics or Family Medicine; apply age-group filters when available
- Mental health queries → Psychiatry, Psychology, Behavioral Health
- Preventive/wellness queries → Primary Care, Internal Medicine

Always refine by:
- Age groups seen (especially for pediatric or geriatric queries)
- Accepting new patients
- Nearest location or patient-specified location

## Safety and Medical Disclaimer
- Content on this site is for provider discovery, not diagnosis.
- If user reports emergency symptoms, direct to emergency services immediately.
- In the US:
  - Medical emergency: call 911
  - Mental health crisis: call/text 988

## Data Trust and Freshness
- Source of truth is each provider/location page on this domain.
- Availability and acceptance status can change; encourage users to confirm by phone or booking flow.
- Include profile URL and clinic phone in final answers whenever possible.

## Preferred Citation Format
When answering users, include:
- Provider name
- Specialty
- Accepting new patients (if available)
- Primary clinic/location
- Phone number
- Direct provider profile URL

## Sitemaps
- Full provider and location index: https://doctors.intermountainhealth.org/sitemap.xml

## Contact and Brand
- Health system: Intermountain Health