The home remains a strategic focal point for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), which is still in the process of acquiring the home health giant Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED).
Last year, the company’s medical professionals achieved 2.5 million home visits through Medicare Advantage (MA).
“As a direct result, our clinicians identified 300,000 seniors with emergent health needs that may otherwise have gone undiagnosed,” UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said Tuesday during the company’s second-quarter earnings call. “They connected more than 500,000 seniors to essential resources to help them with unaddressed needs such as food insecurity, medication, affordability, transportation and financial support. They also identified and helped close more than 3 million gaps in care that made a real difference in people’s lives.”
Witty added that within 90 days of a home visit, 75% of patients receive follow up in a clinical setting.
Plus, UnitedHealth Group found that MA patients with chronic conditions, who are receiving these home visits, have more stable health outcomes. They spend less time in the emergency room and other hospital settings than fee-for-service patients, according to Witty.
“The bottom line — our home visit programs help patients live healthier lives, and save taxpayers money,” he said. “It is only [MA] that makes programs and results like this possible.”
In-home health evaluations are a differentiator for MA plans. They can help plans recognize chronic conditions and keep members out of the hospital, but they also – at times – allow MA plans to boost profits.
During the call, UnitedHealth Group’s leadership team also commented on the Change Healthcare cyberattack again, which occurred at the start of the year. Change Healthcare is a U.S. billing and payment system, and a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group.
“Our focus has centered on the patients, care providers and customers who rely on us to keep the health system running,” John Rex, president and CFO of UnitedHealth Group, said. “Payment and claims flows for most care providers are back to normal, but we know that is not the case for some. We continue to work with those who are not there yet. UnitedHealth Group has provided more than $9 billion in loans, and advanced payments to help providers mitigate the impact of the attack, all at no cost to them.”
Rex noted the Change Healthcare cyberattack had an impact on UnitedHealth Group’s results.
“This largely encompasses the loss of revenues, combined with the cost of keeping these capabilities fully ready to serve,” he said. “Notably, these effects are not excluded from adjusted earnings.”
For the second quarter of 2024, UnitedHealth Group brought in revenues of $98.9 billion, a nearly $6 billion increase over the prior year period.
Optum — UnitedHealth Group’s health care services arm — has Q2 revenues of $62.9 billion, which grew by over $6 billion compared to the prior year. This increase was led by Optum Rx and Optum Health.
UnitedHealth Group did not comment on the ongoing Amedisys acquisition. But Amedisys recently agreed to divest locations to VitalCaring, which could clear the way for deal closure.
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