50 things to know about Optum

Optum, UnitedHealth Group's health services arm, is a major player in many corners of the healthcare industry, including pharmacy, primary care and revenue cycle management. 

Here are 50 things to know about Optum's growth, leadership and more. 

Fast facts 

1. UnitedHealth Group created health services arm Optum in 2011. 

2. Optum is divided into three core divisions: Optum Health, Optum Insight and Optum Rx. 

3. The company is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minn. 

4. The division has 165,000 employees worldwide. 

5. Optum has international operations in India, Brazil, Ireland and the U.K. 

6. The company created research initiative Optum Labs in collaboration with Rochester-based Mayo Clinic in 2013. 

7. The company surpassed $100 billion in annual revenue in 2018.

By the numbers

8. Optum brought in $56.3 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2023, a 25 percent year-over-year increase from 2022. 

9. Optum Health's revenue per customer grew 33 percent year over year in the second quarter of 2023, with the company adding 900,000 patients in value-based care arrangements, according to its second quarter earnings report. 

10. Optum Rx filled 381 million prescriptions in the second quarter of 2023. 

11. Optum Health served 103 million consumers in the second quarter of 2023. 

12. Optum Insight's revenue backlog increased $8 billion year over year in the second quarter of 2023, partly driven by the company's Change Healthcare acquisition. 

13. Optum Rx was the company's highest-earning segment in the second quarter of 2023, bringing in $28.6 billion in revenue. 

14. Optum Health brought in $23.9 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2023, and Optum Insight generated $4.7 billion. 

15. Optum Rx is the third largest PBM in the U.S., with 22 percent of the market. 

16. In 2022, around 77 percent of UnitedHealth Group's revenue came from UnitedHealthcare, with the remaining quarter from Optum. 

17. UnitedHealth Group expects Optum to bring in between $212 and $214 billion in revenues in 2023. 

Leadership 

18. Larry Renfro was the first CEO of Optum, a role he held from 2011 to 2017. Mr. Renfro now serves as a managing partner of Optum's venture arm. 

19. Current UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty was named CEO of Optum in 2018. He was promoted to lead Optum's parent company in 2021. 

20. The company has not appointed a CEO of Optum since Mr. Witty's promotion, but its three divisions have chief executives. 

21. Heather Cianfrocco was named CEO of Optum Rx in 2021. She was previously the chief executive of Optum Health Services. 

22. Amar Desai, MD, is CEO of Optum Health. He joined Optum in 2019 as a regional CEO and briefly served as president of healthcare delivery at CVS Health from 2022 to 2023.

23. Neil de Crescenzco is CEO of Optum Insight. He joined Optum when it acquired Change Healthcare, where he was CEO. 

24. Jeff Grosklags is CFO of Optum, a role he has held since 2022. 

Healthcare delivery 

25. Optum is the largest employer of physicians in the U.S., with at least 70,000 employed or aligned physicians. 

26. The company operates 2,200 primary and specialty care offices in 16 states. 

27. "The reason it's been so hard to make healthcare and the healthcare system work better in the United States is because it's rare to have patients, providers — especially doctors — payers, and data, all brought together under an organization," Dr. Decker said in 2022 "That's the rare combination that we offer."

28. Optum quietly acquired Middletown, N.Y.-based Crystal Run Healthcare earlier this year, a multispecialty physician group with over 400 providers across more than 30 locations.

29. In 2022, Optum acquired Refresh Mental Health, with more than 300 outpatient sites across 37 states and has more than 1,500 employees.

30. The company bought Houston-based medical group Kelsey-Seybold Clinic in 2022. The group currently operates 32 locations throughout Houston and plans to expand to more than 50 by 2026.

31. Optum acquired Atrius Health, with 30 locations in Massachusetts, in 2022. 

32. Other notable provider group acquisitions include MedExpress for $1.5 billion in 2015, Surgical Care Affiliates for $2.3 billion in 2017, the Advisory Board's healthcare arm for $1.3 billion in 2017, and DaVita Medical Group for $4.3 billion in 2019. 

Revenue cycle

33. Several health systems have outsourced revenue cycle, IT and other functions to Optum Insight. 

34. Hospitals outsourcing functions to Optum include Cooperstown, N.Y.-based Bassett Healthcare Network; St. Louis-based SSM Health, Greenbrae, Calif.-based MarinHealth; Boulder (Colo.) Community Health, Walnut Creek, Calif.-based John Muir Health; Brewer, Maine-based Northern Light Health; Owensboro (Ky.) Health; and Tacoma, Wash.-based Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. 

35. Mike Valli, president of Optum's Northeast Region, told Becker's he "would not be surprised" if the company adds more health system partnerships in 2023. 

36. Tommy Ibrahim, MD, president and CEO of Bassett Healthcare, told Becker's Bassett expects to save $25 million a year through its partnership with Optum. 

More acquisitions 

37. In February, UnitedHealth Group acquired home health provider LHC Group for $5.4 billion. 

38. In October 2022, UnitedHealth Group completed a $7.8 billion acquisition of data and analytics giant Change Healthcare. 

39. UnitedHealth Group spent $100 million to integrate the company with Optum. 

40. In June, UnitedHealth Group said it plans to acquire hospice care provider Amedisys in an all-cash deal valued at $101 per share, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.

41. "It's no secret that we are very strong believers in the value of home health and no secret that we believe that value — home health capabilities, when combined with other activities in terms of wrapping care around patients, is a really important element of future value-based care, particularly as you speak towards complex patients," UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty told investors about the acquisition. 

Competitors 

42. Optum, HCA and Tenet Healthcare are battling for market share in the ambulatory surgical center space. 

43. Amazon is a growing Optum competitor, upping its presence in direct-to-employer health services by acquiring One Medical for $3.9 billion in 2022.  

44. Optum owns more clinics than rivals CVS Health, Walgreens, Amazon and Walmart. 

45. Some CIOs bet on Optum being the biggest primary care disruptor in 2023. 

In the headlines 

46. In June, a federal judge in North Carolina certified class action status in a lawsuit alleging Aetna and OptumHealth Care Solutions conspired to use "dummy code" to make administrative fees appear to be billable medical charges.

47. Tacoma, Wash.-based Virginia Mason Franciscan Health partnered with Optum Washington, with Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle operating as the physician group's primary acute care referral center, according to the health system. The Polyclinic, a 200-physician group that Optum acquired five years ago, will refer patients to VMMC when patients need inpatient treatment. 

48. Optum has seen several leadership shake ups in 2023. 

49. Optum now provides financing for healthcare organization customers who need advanced funds. Optum Pay Advance provides a loan from Optum Bank to healthcare providers who have been Optum Pay customers for at least two years. 

50. In July 2022, Optum Health and Red Ventures partnered to launch a comprehensive consumer healthcare platform, RVO Health.