Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group's Optum reported 9.1 percent year-over-year growth, and OptumHealth revenue grew 16 percent to $6.7 billion. Deerfield, Ill.-based Surgical Care Affiliates, now part of OptumHealth, continues to grow.
During the company's 2018 second quarter financial report, OptumHealth CEO Andrew Hayek and UnitedHealth Group CEO David Wichmann discussed outpatient total joint replacements and the success of SCA since its acquisition last year. Here are three quotes from the conference call, as reported in Seeking Alpha:
Andrew Hayek on outpatient total joint replacements: "From an SCA standpoint, we have been seeing a continued growth in total joint replacement procedures in commercial space. We are beginning to see that happen with needs from a Medicare standpoint, in terms of physicians preparing to shift those cases."
AH on benefits of outpatient total joints for Medicare: "We know [outpatient total joint replacements] are really good for the patient in terms of quality and experience, very high NPS, fantastic quality outcomes and substantial cost savings. We've been seeing that on a commercial basis for a number of years and working very collaboratively with even health plans, and we think that will be a great benefit to Medicare over the coming years. And we expect them to continue to widen the range of procedures eligible for our patient[s]."
David Wichmann on the acquisition of SCA: "One of the reasons why we invested in SCA [is] we viewed [it] as the right ambulatory surgical platform properly positioned in the higher acuity surgeries that were offered in those settings, and to have great ambition for its ability to expand and need to meet some more people with higher quality and greater levels of patient satisfaction. Just as a reminder, SCA operates in 91 NPS zone. So, very progressive and doing so while saving consumers about 50 percent."