UnitedHealth Group CEO David Wichmann suggested the company is poised to further expand Optum's ambulatory platform during the company's first-quarter earnings call.
Here are four takeaways from the call, as transcribed by Seeking Alpha.
1. "We're looking to add market presence and capability across our business," UnitedHealth Group CEO David Wichmann said. "And you can expect us to still be very strong deployers of capital, recognizing that we want to maintain a very strong balance sheet."
2. OptumHealth CEO Andrew Hayek said the OptumCare platform is tightly tied to the healthcare industry's consumer-centric evolution.
"We're positioned to be the leading high-value medical group and ambulatory care organization in the country with an ambition to serve 75 markets," Mr. Hayek said. "And we're enabling this transition to value-oriented and more consumer-centric care through our models to improve the quality, experience and total cost of healthcare through deploying advanced technology and data."
3. "OptumCare has grown from a single medical practice serving 350,000 people and one payer to an emerging national ambulatory care delivery platform focused on high-value care and exceptional consumer satisfaction, serving more than 80 payers and 15 million individuals," said Larry Renfro, Optum vice chairman and CEO.
4. Optum's first quarter 2018 revenues increased 11 percent to $23.6 billion, and its operating earnings grew 29 percent to nearly $1.7 billion.
"Strong growth, together with excellent operating costs and productivity management, lifted the first quarter margin by 100 basis points over last year," Mr. Renfro said.