Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, faced bipartisan outrage from senators on the Senate Finance Committee angered by his company's cybersecurity failures. Here were the key moments from the hearing on Wednesday.
Optum is shutting down its virtual care unit after a three-year run. Industry experts agree that the closure reflects broader trends in the telehealth market, in which saturation and differentiation challenges are leading some providers to struggle.
This eBook, in collaboration with Care Logistics, details how hospitals and health systems can facilitate more effective decision-making by operationalizing elevated awareness.
The U.S. Department of Justice has reportedly recently launched an antitrust investigation of UnitedHealth Group, which begs the question of whether the healthcare giant should be broken up. Experts have varying opinions.
Pharmacies across the country are facing disruptions following a cyberattack on Change Healthcare — which is owned by Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group. In a filing with the SEC, UnitedHealth stated that the unauthorized party that gained access to Change Healthcare's systems was a “suspected nation-state associated cyber security threat actor."
The Labor Department recently sued UnitedHealth Group subsidiary UMR, alleging that it wrongfully denied claims for emergency room services and urinary drug screenings since 2015. UMR did not determine the medical necessity of the claims, denying them “based solely on diagnosis codes and not applying a prudent layperson standard," according to the complaint.
Here is a selection of recent executive hires, departures and layoffs occurring across the healthcare industry.
At the Payer Insights sessions on Day 1 of ViVE 2024, a panel on prior authorization offered compelling insights from speakers who shared the positive developments in this area after years of mounting frustration. Speakers also shared challenges as they work with providers to figure out how policy developments and technology will work in practice.
The program aims to improve work environments for nurses and remove the stigma associated with asking for mental health care. The curriculum will focus on ways to identify and reduce stress before it escalates. While it will help all nurses, the program is especially geared toward nurses of color and those under the age of 35.
While the top-level view of the growth in the hospice industry at 20-plus percent is impressive, it’s worth looking at a few prominent examples to gain further insight into this accelerating trend.
Through the collaboration, UnitedHealth Group's Optum will use its analytics and support tools to help Walmart Health clinicians deliver value-based care to Medicare Advantage beneficiaries. The partnership is starting at 15 locations in Florida and Georgia with the potential to grow in the future.
The Department of Justice filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop the deal just ahead of it being finalized on February 27.
The TSX Venture Exchange has a strong history of helping early-stage health and life sciences companies raise patient capital for research and development.
The companies have certified substantial compliance with a request for additional information from the Department of Justice, which opened an investigation of the merger in March. They struck an agreement with the agency not to merge until February of 2022, unless it drops its investigation before then.
Independent and community pharmacies seek to prevent UHG and Change merging into a "corporate monster" that will stifle competition.
U.S. Anesthesia Partners has filed lawsuits against UnitedHealthcare in Colorado and Texas, accusing the payer of forcing it out of network and intentionally interfering with its relationships with providers in those states. But, according to UnitedHealthcare, the lawsuits are an attempt to get the insurer to meet the anesthesia group's high rate demands.
The American Hospital Association is urging the Justice Department to thoroughly review UnitedHealth's intended acquisition of Change Healthcare. The transaction would reduce competition in the health IT arena and result in higher prices and lower quality of care, the hospital group says.
A federal grand jury indicted Surgical Care Affiliates, a network of surgical centers and hospitals owned by UnitedHealthcare, for agreeing with competitors not to poach top-level talent.