Optum, Northern Light form strategic partnership
The companies intend to work together to improve business processes through investment in technology and innovation.
Photo: VioletaStoimenova/Getty Images
Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, has partnered with Northern Light Health to manage revenue cycle management, information systems, inpatient care management, analytics, project management office and supply chain for the Maine health system.
As part of this relationship, select Northern Light Health employees will become part of Optum. The companies intend to work together to improve business processes through investment in technology and innovation. This, said UHG, will enable Northern Light Health to access new tools and more resources, ultimately enabling providers to focus more on patient care.
Timothy Dentry, president and CEO of Northern Light Health, said Optum's expertise will help the company manage some of its operational functions.
"Optum and Northern Light Health are both values driven and people and community focused," he said.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT?
The partnership will focus on four main areas:
- improving the scheduling and billing experience for patients and providers.
- advancing digital capabilities.
- leveraging new technology and tools.
- using data and analytics to anticipate and respond to patient, community and staff needs.
About 1,400 Northern Light Health employees will become employees of Optum beginning in March. These employees will continue to support Northern Light Health and become part of an Optum comprising roughly 220,000 people. Optum said these team members will have access to more state-of-the-art tools, technologies, processes, skills-development training opportunities and new opportunities for advancement.
The companies said they were committed to ensuring a smooth transition.
THE LARGER TREND
Optum has made similar moves with other health systems.
In May 2021, it announced that it would provide Bassett Healthcare Network in Cooperstown, New York, with a range of services, including revenue cycle management, advanced data and analytic capabilities, and information technology, with an eye toward advancing quality care and better patient experience.
In October 2021, Optum and SSM Health, a Catholic, not-for-profit health system in the Midwest, partnered across certain functions, including digital transformation, inpatient care and revenue cycle management.
Optum and Change Healthcare completed their merger in October 2022 following a court decision on September 19 against an attempt by the Department of Justice to stop the merger. Optum said the combined businesses share a vision for achieving a simpler, more intelligent and adaptive health system for patients, payers and care providers.
However, in November, the Department of Justice appealed the merger decision.
The estimated $13 billion merger combines UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest companies in the U.S. and the owner of the nation's largest health insurer, and Change Healthcare, among the nation's largest electronic data interchange clearinghouses.
The basis of the DOJ's case centered on the competitively sensitive data UnitedHealth would gain from its rivals through the acquisition uniting UHG subsidiary Optum Insight and Change. The American Hospital Association raised antitrust concerns.
To alleviate anticompetitive concerns, UnitedHealth divested Change's claims editing business ClaimsXten to TPG Capital. The divestiture was part of the September 19 court order.
Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: Jeff.Lagasse@himssmedia.com
