There are few environments more data-rich than the healthcare landscape.
There are also few ecosystems as fragmented and siloed in their processes.
That’s what makes the ability of healthcare players to efficiently collect, analyze and leverage patient, clinical, operational and marketplace data a competitive advantage.
UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty told investors on the company’s second-quarter 2023 earnings call Friday (July 14) that “the more data we have to wrap around care, the better we’re able to develop innovative products and make the economics [of the business] more attractive.”
Having the ability to incorporate the latest data is important year over year, Witty added, emphasizing that because of UnitedHealth’s ability to integrate insights and analytics, the healthcare giant can design processes that are “nimble” and able to respond to any developing trends, while at the same time “[keeping] the business durable.”
The company saw growth across its operations for the second quarter, beating analyst expectations and lifting the company’s stock from a 19-month low.
“Our ability to take advantage of whatever new technology comes down to the pipeline — we’re really excited about it,” Witty said on the call, highlighting to investors the “range of levers” in United’s organization to respond to landscape events.
See also: 79% of Consumers Want to Pay All Medical Bills From Single Digital Platform
The second quarter of 2023 was the firm’s sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth, with gains driven by growth at both the UnitedHealthcare insurance business and Optum.
“Our diverse healthcare capabilities and dedicated colleagues are enabling us to meet the needs of more people in more ways, driving substantial growth and expanding our opportunities to serve well into the future,” Witty said on the call.
UnitedHealth’s Optum acquired Amedisys, a home health and hospice firm, in a $3.3 billion all-cash deal at the end of June.
The acquisition boosts Optum’s data and analytics presence as well as home delivery capabilities, and it comes on the heels of UnitedHealth’s purchase of Change Healthcare, which was also folded into Optum.
Change leverages analytics to help “automate provider contracts to help reduce costs and improve efficiency,” and offers financial clearing services that can help patients find funding sources to help pay their medical bills, all capabilities that are now provided by Optum.
“There’s been a growth in membership led by product innovation, and we see that continuing pretty assertively,” UnitedHealth executives said during the Q&A portion of the call.
“OptumInsight continues to focus on building and expanding upon offerings to meet the increasing needs of care providers and health plans,” Witty added.
See also: Macro Challenges Spur Digital Healthcare Pivot to B2B
UnitedHealth’s executives also took time during the Q&A section to emphasize the more active role their finance department has been playing in helping the firm post good results during a time of ongoing macro uncertainty.
“Investment income has been growing strongly as a result of active management by our treasury team by deploying more cash balances into interest-bearing accounts by advancing the productivity of that cash,” UnitedHealth Chief Financial Officer John Rex told investors.
The evolving role of the CFO is something that PYMNTS has been tracking, as finance chiefs see their responsibilities shift from “bean counter” to “business partner,” and digital solutions help broaden the reach and impact of balance-sheet-led corporate planning.
The role of the CFO as a strategic leader responsible for roadmap planning, risk management, innovation and more business-critical initiatives has become more pronounced as economic uncertainty has businesses increasingly looking inward and fine-tuning their operations.
Two additional points raised by the UnitedHealth team on Thursday’s call included a “reduction in deferment of care” and an increase in the “number of people accessing behavioral care.”
“We’ve seen a shift in the fraction of people who, once they’ve been recommended surgery, they actually go ahead and get that surgery,” Witty said.
He added that there has been a “very significant increase compared to just a year ago in the number of people looking to access behavioral care … it isn’t strictly young people; it’s across the board for conditions like anxiety, depression and substance abuse disorders.”
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