UnitedHealth, Walgreens Play to Digital Strengths in Latest Earnings
UnitedHealth Group and Walgreens each reported fiscal growth and ongoing strategic expansions of their respective connected healthcare ecosystems during quarterly earnings calls on Thursday (Oct. 14).
For UnitedHealth Group (UHC), Q3 2021 revenues of $72.3 billion are up 11.1% year over year to reach $7.2 billion, in what the company called “balanced, double-digit growth at both Optum and UnitedHealthcare.”
OptumHealth stole the spotlight with digital efforts, as President and Chief Operating Officer Dirk McMahon told analysts, “Optum is distinctively enabling virtual care for patients using their own primary care physicians and with behavioral clinicians,” adding that UHC “is using Optum’s virtual capabilities to introduce a new suite of digital-first products, offering a near-seamless experience between virtual and traditional primary, specialty and urgent care.”
He noted that in 2022, the company will “further build on these opportunities to connect and integrate multiple channels of care, simplify the experience for patients and providers, and deliver quality care that is affordable and in the optimal setting.”
Walgreens also talked up digital, with CEO Roz Brewer pointing to the creation of “a range of consumer-centric healthcare solutions, which will form the engine for our next phase of growth” during the company’s investor presentation on Thursday (Oct. 14).
As PYMNTS reported, Walgreens President John Standley said the company is departing from “cookie-cutter stores with similar offerings” in favor of expansions of partnerships, notably VillageMD, with smaller-format stores. Walgreens said it plans to open 160 new VillageMD locations and 100 small footprint stores by the end of next year.
See also: Walgreens Launches New Business Segment Focused on Healthcare
More Opportunities to Improve Care Delivery With Data
Reporting that digitally initiated retail sales increased 82% in fiscal Q4, UHC’s McMahon told analysts and investors that the company is focusing on “unlocking the collaborative potential within Optum and United” by “developing our technology and data science platform to aid patient care and experience, and help the system run better.”
Enhancements to the OptumInsights analytics unit have been front and center since January of 2021, when Optum merged with Change Healthcare, a provider of payment management and health information exchange solutions. OptumInsight’s revenue grew 13% in the quarter and earnings grew 15%, per financial statements.
Walgreens is also moving decisively deeper into analytics after partnering in September with the health records platform Epic “to create a portal through which Walmart Health members, healthcare professionals and other authorized stakeholders can access patients’ medical records and histories,” as PYMNTS reported.
See also: Optum Defies Post-COVID Slowdown as Digital Basket of Services Buoys UnitedHealth Results
Prescription Business Is Strong and Diversifying
As UHC’s McMahon spoke of the “still-untapped collaborative potential between UnitedHealthcare and Optum to benefit individuals and the system” and “the power of applied technology to advance care and service,” results for the OptumRX unit were solid.
“OptumRx revenue and scripts grew 6% year over year and earnings [grew] 5%. OptumRx is seeing both strong customer retention levels and sales success for the largely completed ’22 selling season and early activity for ’23,” he said.
UHC reported that OptumRx's adjusted scripts in Q3 were 344 million, rising 6% compared to last year, “driven by growth in people served and as the provision of care and usage of pharmaceuticals has continued to recover over the last year.”
“OptumRx continues to grow and diversify its pharmacy care offerings, including the number of community-based behavioral health pharmacies and growth in specialty pharmacy, infusion services and eCommerce offerings,” per UHC’s latest financials.
See also: UnitedHealth’s Optum Buys Change Healthcare for $13B