Becker's Spine Review

33 OUTPATIENT SURGERY Optum CEO Andrew Witty now also UnitedHealth Group president By Laura Dyrda E den Prairie, Minn.-based Optum CEO Andrew Witty was promoted to UnitedHealth Group president on Nov. 12 and will retain his responsi- bilities with Optum. He was appointed CEO of Optum in March 2018 and has led the company to several strategic partnerships. "Optum has made remarkable progress un- der Andrew's leadership over the past 18 months, clarifying and focusing its strategy, and driving key priorities to advance Optum's position as a leader in healthcare services," said UnitedHealth Group CEO David Wichmann. With his new responsibilities, Mr. Witty will oversee the enterprise business strategy formation as well as business development and partnerships. During his time at Optum, the company partnered with John Muir Health in Walnut Creek, Calif., to manage the nonclinical functions of the hospital, including IT and revenue cycle. It also completed the $4.3 billion acquisition of DaVita Medical Group and invested $16 million in San Jose, Calif.-based startup Health[at]Scale, a machine learning solution for precision medicine. For the third quarter, Optum reported $28.8 billion in revenue, up 13.3 percent from the same period last year. OptumHealth revenue was up 34.4 percent to $8.1 billion, largely due to the expansion of behavioral health services. n 44% of U.S. physicians were employed by hospitals in 2018 + more market insights By Angie Stewart H ospitals will account for an estimated 33 percent, or $1.3 trillion, of U.S. healthcare expenditures in 2019, accord- ing to the Health Industry Distributors Association's 2019 Hospitals & Health Systems Market Report. Four more insights: 1. In 2019, Medicare and private health insurance are expected to account for 25 percent and 39 percent of for-profit hospitals' payer mix, respectively. 2. Medicare's portion of the hospital payer mix is projected to rise 4 percent by 2028, while private payers' share will drop 2 percent. 3. In 2018, an estimated 44 percent of U.S. physicians were hos- pital-employed, up from 41.7 percent in 2016 and 26 percent in 2012. 4. In 2018, for-profit hospitals had an estimated median operating margin of 1.8 percent, which is lower than the 2.5 percent that is considered healthy. n Competition between ASCs, physician practices could ramp up: 2 reasons why By Angie Stewart A mbulatory surgery centers primarily compete with hospitals, but they're facing another layer of competition as more inves- tors enter the space, according to Health Capital Consultants. ASCs could face more competition from physician practices that perform office-based surgeries and other revenue-producing procedures, HCC's Todd A. Zigrang and Jessica L. Bailey-Wheaton wrote in an October newsletter. There are two reasons for more competition be- tween these players: 1. Reimbursement is increasingly based on quality, rather than quantity. 2. There is increasing integration and affiliation among hospitals, physician practices and other outpatient providers who become affiliated with an ACO. n New York hospital cites surgery center debt in bankruptcy filing By Eric Oliver L ockport, N.Y.-based Eastern Niagara Hospital filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing, among an array of expenses, debt ac- quired from opening a surgery center, The Buffalo News reports. What you should know: 1. The hospital said it would continue to offer the services it does now, but care locations have dwin- dled from five to two. 2. The hospital closed its maternity unit June 30 and said it would sell an urgent care facility it had been operating in Newfane, N.Y. 3. The hospital will hold a community forum to ad- dress concerns at a to-be-determined date. 4. Eastern Niagara Hospital leadership cited a num- ber of reasons behind the closure. While prior debt and loan obligations have had an effect on the hos- pital, debt brought on by its new outpatient sur- gery center and new mammography equipment were among the larger contributions. n

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