Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1219854
16 CFO / FINANCE Houston Methodist, UnitedHealthcare split affects 100,000 patients By Morgan Haefner H ouston Methodist facilities and physicians are no longer a part of UnitedHealthcare's network, a change that may require 100,000 patients to seek new providers, according to local news station Click2Houston. The organizations were unable to agree on reimbursement rates before a Dec. 31 deadline. As of Jan. 1, Houston Methodist's seven hospitals and outpatient clinics are no longer considered in-network facilities for UnitedHealthcare commercial and Medicare Advantage policyholders. In a statement to Click2Houston, Houston Methodist blamed UnitedHealthcare for proposing rate cuts and prioritizing profits over patients. "Houston Methodist had a contract in place with United for 21 years before they abruptly gave notice of termination a few months ago, creating confusion among our 100,000 patients insured by United," the health system said. "Although Houston Methodist negotiated in earnest, an agreement was not reached by the Jan. 1, 2020 deadline and now those Medicare Advantage and commercial patients must search for new doctors and new facilities." UnitedHealthcare, the health insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group, argued Houston Methodist charges significantly more than other area providers, which leads to higher healthcare costs for its members. "Care at Houston Methodist Hospital is significantly more expensive than care at other top-ranked hospitals in Texas as well as some of the most prestigious hospitals in the entire country," UnitedHealthcare said in a statement to Click2Houston. "Every time we attempted to reach a compromise during the negotiations, Methodist responded with proposals showing that it is intent on maintaining its position as one of the most expensive health systems in the country." n HCA acquires tech company: 4 notes By Ayla Ellison N ashville, Tenn.-based HCA Health- care has acquired Valify, a Frisco, Texas-based company that offers a web-based platform to help healthcare orga- nizations identify opportunities to cut costs. Four things to know: 1. Valify's platform allows provider organiza- tions to identify, benchmark and manage sav- ings in more than 1,000 purchased services cat- egories, according to the company's website. 2. HCA, a 184-hospital system, said it will use Valify's analytics and benchmarking tools to identify and pursue opportunities to reduce the cost of providing healthcare services. 3. HCA will also help Valify expand its plat- form. "We look forward to working with the Valify team to further develop their offerings to benefit all of their clients," HCA Executive Vice President and CFO Bill Rutherford said in a news release. 4. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed in the news release. n Optum helps boost UnitedHealth profit past $5B in Q4 By Morgan Haefner U nitedHealth Group saw its revenues just miss analysts' expectations in the fourth quarter of 2019, but the health insurance giant's Optum unit boosted profits. Five things to know: 1. UnitedHealth recorded $60.9 billion in revenues during the fourth quarter that end- ed Dec. 31, 2019. at's up 4.3 percent year over year from $58.4 billion. Analysts had predicted UnitedHealth would post $61 bil- lion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2019. 2. e company's health insurance unit, Unit- edHealthcare, brought in $48.2 billion in rev- enues for the fourth quarter, up 4.3 percent from $46.2 billion in the same quarter a year prior. e insurer primarily attributed the in- crease to growth in its Medicare Advantage and commercial benefit lines. 3. Optum, the health services arm of Unit- edHealth that includes its pharmacy benefits manager OptumRx, again boosted the health insurer's bottom line. Optum, which in- cludes physicians, brought in $29.8 billion in revenue during the fourth quarter, up nearly 8 percent year over year. 4. UnitedHealth ended the fourth quar- ter of 2019 with a $5.1 billion profit, up 13.3 percent from $4.5 billion in the same quarter a year prior. e profit includes $2.1 billion from UnitedHealthcare and $3 billion from Optum. 5. For the full year, UnitedHealth recorded a $19.7 billion profit on revenues of $242.2 billion. at's compared to 2018, when the insurer posted a $17.3 billion profit on rev- enues of $226.2 billion. n