The giant subsidiary of United Healthcare employs [>]90,000 MDs and 40,000 more advanced practice clinicians – far more than any other entity.
That’s more than one out of every ten physicians, and a far higher percentage of practicing MDs.
While that’s pretty amazing, its just one of the many investors, healthplans, private equity firms, large healthcare systems, and insurers snapping up all manner of healthcare providers.
In fact, almost three-quarters of all physicians are employees of companies or healthcare systems/hospitals – not members of physician-owned practices.
As with everything in healthcare, location makes a big difference.
One of the biggest drivers has been Optum’s acquisitions, which included Kelsey Seybold, a very large practice in Texas…Optum reportedly paid $2.2 billion for the business. And, that happened AFTER the time period in the graph.
What does this mean for you?
Your healthcare will be driven by investors’ goals.
note – Optum’s communications folks asked me to publish a correction, because not all of the 90k docs are “employees”…I asked how many of those 90k docs are “employees”; Optum’s reply was “We don’t break out the numbers because we focus on the total number who serve our risk-based patients.”
I’m quite sure Optum knows the number. why they won’t release it is a mystery.
I also asked – twice – whether the “physicians who contract directly with Optum” (which make up some/part of the 90k docs):
- exclusively contract with Optum,
- are allowed to contract directly with other payers, and/or
- is Optum the contracting intermediary?.
I didn’t get an answer.
So, all I can tell you, dear reader, is Optum directly employs ≤ 89,999 physicians, and may or may not allow those “non-employed” physicians to contract with other payers.
