Optum

Optum's three businesses, OptumRx, OptumHealth and OptumInsight focus on five core capabilities: data and analytics, pharmacy care services, population health, healthcare delivery and healthcare operations. Optum serves employers, government agencies, health plans, life science companies, care providers and individuals and families offering products in data and analytics, pharmacy care services, health care operations and delivery, population health management and advisory services.{{Cite web |title=Optum Products & Services |url=https://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/businesses/optum.html |website=United Health Group |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230807223253/https://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/people-and-businesses/businesses/optum.html |archive-date=August 7, 2023 }} The Optum Serve division provides health-related services to U.S. government agencies.{{Cite web |title=Optum Serve |url=https://www.optum.com/business/federal-government.html |website=Optum.com |access-date=May 27, 2025 }}

Since Optum's founding in 2011, the company has acquired various healthcare technology services to build out its pharmacy benefit manager and care services offerings.

• January 2013: Partnering with Mayo Clinic, Optum unveils OptumLabs, a health data initiative.
• October 2013: Optum, partnering with Dignity Health, launches Optum360, a revenue cycle management venture.
• February 2014: Optum purchases a majority stake in Audax Health Solutions, a patient engagement{{clarify|date=March 2023}} company. Audax is later rebranded as Rally Health.
• April 2015: Optum acquires MedExpress, an urgent care and preventative services company.{{cite web |last=Herman |first=Bob |date=April 9, 2015 |url=https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20150409/NEWS/150409897/optum-acquires-urgent-care-company-medexpress |title=Optum acquires urgent-care company MedExpress |website=Modern Healthcare |publisher=Crain Communications |access-date=September 20, 2024 }}
• July 2015: Catamaran, a pharmacy benefit manager, joins OptumRx.
• January 2017: Optum acquires Surgical Care Affiliates, an ambulatory surgery center and surgical hospital provider.{{Cite web |url=https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/secret-weapon-unitedhealths-optum-business-laying-waste-old-notions-about-how-payers-make-money |title=Secret Weapon: UnitedHealth's Optum Business Is Laying Waste to Old Notions about How Payers Make Money |website=Healthcare Finance News |access-date=March 11, 2019 }}
• August 2017: Optum announces it will acquire Advisory Board Company's healthcare business.
• December 2017: Optum announces acquisition of DaVita Medical Group from DaVita Inc.{{Cite news |last=Japsen |first=Bruce |date=March 7, 2019 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2019/03/07/anthem-wont-mimic-unitedhealths-doctor-buying-binge/ |title=Anthem Won't Mimic UnitedHealth's Doctor Buying Binge |work=Forbes }}
• September 2019: UnitedHealth Group announces acquisition of Equian, LLC for $3.2 billion.{{Cite news |last=Snowbeck |first=Christopher |date=September 13, 2019 |url=https://www.startribune.com/unitedhealth-group-acquires-payment-integrity-firm/560239052/ |title=UnitedHealth Group Acquires 'Payment Integrity' Firm |work=StarTribune }} A Payment Integrity Institution that has joined the Optum family.
• January 2021: UnitedHealth Group announces acquisition of Change Healthcare LLC, evaluated to worth $8 billion, in addition to paying off its $5 billion debt for a total of $13 billion.{{Cite web |url=https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/53597 |title=Change Healthcare Acquired for $13 Billion by UnitedHealth Group's OptumInsight }} It is said to be merged with OptumInsight.
• August 2021: UnitedHealth Group announces acquisition of Solutran LLC.{{Cite web |url=https://www.solutran.com/cool_timeline/solutran-joins-optum-unitedhealth-group-family-of-companies/ |title=Solutran Joins Optum and Is Now a Part of the UnitedHealth Group Family of Companies }}
• May 2022: Optum acquires Atrius Health, an independent physician-led healthcare organization.{{Cite web |title=News & Media {{!}} Atrius Health Joins Optum |url=https://www.atriushealth.org/news-media/2022-releases/atrius-health-joins-optum |website=AtriusHealth.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820024442/https://www.atriushealth.org/news-media/2022-releases/atrius-health-joins-optum |archive-date=August 20, 2022 }}
• June 2022: Bordeaux UK Holdings II Limited, an affiliate of Optum business acquires EMIS Health for a 49% premium on its closing share price.{{cite news |title=UnitedHealth Unit to Buy UK Health-Tech Firm EMIS for $1.5 Billion |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-17/unitedhealth-unit-to-acquire-u-k-s-emis-for-1-5-billion |access-date=June 17, 2022 |publisher=Bloomberg |date=June 17, 2022 }}
• July 2022: Optum acquires Caremount Medical, Inc., of southeastern New York State, Riverside Medical Care of New Jersey, and ProHealth Medical Group of Western Connecticut, three midsized physician-led independent medical groups. In its announcement to the public and patients of the acquisitions, insurance company UnitedHealth Group is not mentioned, casting the transaction as a merger of three midsize physician-led companies into a new company rather than three acquisitions by an existing much larger Fortune 500 corporation with multiple types of health-related acquisitions, as described above.{{Cite web |title=Welcome to Optum Medical Care |url=https://east.optum.com/ }}/
• June 2023: Optum agreed to acquire Amedisys for $3.3 billion. As part of the agreement, Amedisys rejected a prior buyout offer from Option Care that it initially agreed to the previous month.{{cite web |last=Barbarino |first=Al |date=June 26, 2023 |title=Optum to Buy Amedisys For $3.3B, Derailing Option Care Deal |url=https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1692739/optum-to-buy-amedisys-for-3-3b-derailing-option-care-deal- |work=Law360 |url-access=subscription}}{{cite news |last=Sego |first=Alyxandra |date=June 26, 2023 |title=Amedisys Dumps Option Care for UnitedHealth's Optum |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2023/06/26/amedisys-accepts-unitedhealth-optum-bid.html |publisher=American City Business Journals |url-access=subscription }}

This Optum-UnitedHealth model of vertical integration{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-banmedica-m-a-unitedhealth-idUSKBN1EG1MJ |title=UnitedHealth to Buy Chile's Banmedica for $2.8 Billion |date=December 22, 2017 |work=Reuters |access-date=February 15, 2019 }} is pointed to as having sparked a pattern of acquisition activity in the healthcare industry; most notably, mega-mergers between CVS-Aetna, Cigna-Express Scripts and Humana-Kindred.{{Cite web |last=Japsen |first=Bruce |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2018/04/17/buoyed-by-optum-unitedhealth-group-remains-on-a-roll/ |title=Buoyed By Optum, UnitedHealth Group Remains on a Roll |website=Forbes |access-date=January 22, 2019 }} "Optum's been the leader in showing how a managed care organization with an ambulatory care delivery platform and a pharmacy benefit manager all in house can lower or maintain and bend cost trend and then drive better market share gains in their health insurance business. I think they have been the impetus in the large space for the Aetna-CVS deal," Ana Gupte, managing director of healthcare services at Leerink, said in an interview with Healthcare Dive.

"Vertical integration" has met with considerable pushback and claims of antitrust law violations. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accused major pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), including CVS Caremark and OptumRx, of engaging in anticompetitive practices that harm competition and raise drug prices, citing conflicts of interest and exclusivity provisions.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/middlemen-have-outsized-influence-us-drug-prices-due-market-consolidation-ftc-2024-07-09/ |title=Middlemen Have Outsized Influence on US Drug Prices Due to Market Consolidation, FTC Says |date=July 9, 2024 |work=Reuters |access-date=December 5, 2024 }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/10/ftc-pharmacy-insulin-drug-00167342/ |title=Feds Poised to Sue Pharmacy Gatekeepers over High Insulin Prices as Part of Broader Probe into Drug Costs |date=July 10, 2024 |work=Politico |access-date=December 5, 2024 }} Similarly, the American Medical Association (AMA) has criticized the CVS-Aetna merger, arguing it undermines competition in pharmacy benefit management services, health insurance, and retail pharmacy markets, leading to higher consumer costs and fewer choices.{{Cite web |url=https://www.ama-assn.org/health-care-advocacy/access-care/cvs-aetna-merger |title=CVS-Aetna Merger Would Reduce Competition, AMA Says |website=American Medical Association |date=2018 |access-date=December 5, 2024 }}

• July 2011: Larry Renfro is named as Optum CEO.{{Cite press release |date=July 6, 2011 |title=Larry Renfro Named CEO of Optum |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110706005573/en/Larry-Renfro-Named-CEO-of-Optum |location=Minnetonka, Minnesota |publisher=UnitedHealth Group |agency=BusinessWire.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119165504/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110706005573/en/Larry-Renfro-Named-CEO-of-Optum |archive-date=January 19, 2024 }}
• March 2018: Optum announces Larry Renfro to step down as Optum CEO.{{Cite press release |date=March 13, 2018 |title=UnitedHealth Group Announces Leadership Actions |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180313005535/en/UnitedHealth-Group-Announces-Leadership-Actions |location=Minneapolis |publisher=UnitedHealth Group |agency=BusinessWire.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119165502/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180313005535/en/UnitedHealth-Group-Announces-Leadership-Actions |archive-date=January 19, 2024 }}
• July 2018: Sir Andrew Witty starts as CEO of Optum.
• February 2021: Andrew Witty appointed as CEO of UnitedHealth Group (Optum's parent company). No successor to the Optum CEO role is named.{{Cite press release |date=February 4, 2021 |title=UnitedHealth Group Announces Executive Leadership Actions |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210204005587/en/UnitedHealth-Group-Announces-Executive-Leadership-Actions |location=Minnetonka, Minnesota |publisher=UnitedHealth Group |agency=BusinessWire.com |access-date=May 27, 2025 }}
• April 2024: Heather Cianfrocco is named CEO of Optum.{{Cite web |url=https://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/people-and-businesses/our-leaders/heather-cianfrocco.html |title=UnitedHealth Group Executive Management Team |publisher=UnitedHealth Group |access-date=July 3, 2024 }}

In early 2019, UnitedHealth Group filed a lawsuit asking a U.S. district judge to stop former Optum executive, David William Smith, from working at Haven (the Amazon, JP Morgan and Berkshire-Hathaway joint-healthcare venture).{{Cite web |title=Amazon-Backed Healthcare Venture Gets Much-Needed Name: Haven |url=https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/innovation/amazon-backed-healthcare-venture-gets-much-needed-name-haven |access-date=March 11, 2019 |website=Health Leaders }} Optum argued that Haven is in direct competition with its business and as such, Smith's employment would be in violation of a noncompete agreement that he signed while with Optum.{{Cite news |last=Abelson |first=Reed |date=February 1, 2019 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/health/unitedhealth-amazon-chase.html |title=Clash of Giants: UnitedHealth Takes On Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase |work=The New York Times |access-date=March 11, 2019 |issn=0362-4331 }} Smith, meanwhile, asked the judge to send the parties into closed-door arbitration. Wolf rejected Optum's request and allowed Smith's, putting court proceedings on hold until the arbitration process is complete.{{Cite web |title=Judge Allows Ex-Optum Exec to Work for Amazon Healthcare Venture |url=https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/strategy/judge-allows-ex-optum-exec-work-amazon-healthcare-venture |access-date=March 11, 2019 |website=Health Leaders }}

The case garnered media attention as setting a precedent in trade secret litigation ahead of an anticipated wave of vertical integration in the healthcare industry{{Cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2018/04/18/the-buying-binge-of-unitedhealths-optum-is-only-just-beginning/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418143025/https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2018/04/18/the-buying-binge-of-unitedhealths-optum-is-only-just-beginning/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 18, 2018 |title=Buying Binge for UnitedHealth's Optum Is Only Just Beginning |last=Japsen |first=Bruce |website=Forbes |access-date=March 11, 2019 }} and for uncovering previously unknown details about Haven. The case has also been referred to as having shed light on the threat that pharmacy benefit managers feel to bottom lines amid mounting bipartisan pressure to control rising healthcare costs. Testimony brought by Haven chief operating officer Jack Stoddard was unsealed after a motion brought by the parent companies of Stat News and The Wall Street Journal.{{Cite web |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/optum-unitedhealth-lawsuit-against-amazon-berkshire-hathaway-jpmorgan-healthcare-venture-hire-2019-2 |title=A Lawsuit Is Giving Us the First Hints of How Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Are Planning to Upend the US Healthcare System |last=Ramsey |first=Lydia |website=Business Insider |access-date=March 11, 2019 }}(access to article is restricted)

===Alleged racial bias===

A 2019 study published in Science, alleges the "algorithm used to manage the healthcare of millions of Americans shows dramatic biases against black patients". Said algorithm, applied to over 200 million individuals yearly, "significantly underestimates the amount of care black patients need compared with white patients". In fact, "less money is spent on black patients with the same level of need as white patients, causing the algorithm to conclude that black patients were less sick". Optum claims "its system helps 'clinicians provide more effective patient care every day{{' "}}.{{cite web |last1=Paul |first1=Kari |title=Healthcare algorithm used across America has dramatic racial biases |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/oct/25/healthcare-algorithm-racial-biases-optum |website=The Guardian |date=October 25, 2019 |access-date=October 29, 2019}}{{cite journal |last1=Obermeyer |first1=Ziad |last2=Powers |first2=Brian |last3=Vogeli |first3=Christine |last4=Mullainathan |first4=Sendhil |title=Dissecting racial bias in an algorithm used to manage the health of populations |journal=Science |volume=366 |issue=6464 |date=2019 |pages=447–453 |issn=0036-8075 |doi=10.1126/science.aax2342 |pmid=31649194 |bibcode=2019Sci...366..447O |s2cid=204881868 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6h92v832 |doi-access=free }}

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Category:2011 establishments in Minnesota

Category:American companies established in 2011

Category:Health care companies based in Minnesota

Category:Health care companies established in 2011

Category:Multinational health care companies

Category:Pharmacy benefit management companies based in the United States

Category:UnitedHealth Group