Outside of the payvider model, where one organization owns both payer and provider assets, it’s even more difficult to assess the value of what any part of the health care spectrum contributes in terms of value or payers or patients, Mark Friedlander, chief medical officer of behavioral health for Universal Health Services (NYSE: UHS), said at VALUE. He added that Optum will continue on the acquisition path with the behavioral health group “because there’s so much richness in integrating the behavioral side with the physical side.” Referring to the Refresh Mental Health and other health care provider acquisitions, Hofer said Optum is acquiring health care assets to influence how care is provided, and owning care assets is the way to do that. “To me, the more exciting part is the provider side and how you start to influence the provider community and get behavioral health integrated with physical health,” Hofer said. The carve-out business works with 350,000 providers nationwide. Meanwhile, Optum Behavioral Health Solutions operates two distinct businesses: a 5,000-provider-strong outpatient mental health network and a $7.2 billion managed behavioral health benefits “carve out.” The provider group brings in about $600 million, Hofer said. More recently, CVS Health Ventures led a $25 million funding round with Array Behavioral Care, a company that integrates telepsychiatry services into physical care settings.īehavioral Health Business Deborah Fernandez-Turner, deputy chief psychiatric officer at CVS Health’s Aetna, speaks at VALUE 2023. Optum acquired Hofer’s previous company, AbleTo, in April 2020. Optum Venture has put money into several tech-backed or tech-focused behavioral health startups including Brightline, Alma, Equip and Groups Recover Together, to name a few. “I think, as a society, we’re really understanding that the brain and the body are interconnected,” Fernandez-Turner said.ĬVS Health’s and Optum’s efforts to bring about greater integration of behavioral health into the health care system even extend to venture investing. On the health care provider side, CVS Health’s MinuteClinics have started co-locating mental health providers or telehealth access for mental health services on site in its drug stores. This makes creating these kinds of payvider models more complicated and time-consuming to build, Fernandez-Turner said. Deborah Fernandez-Turner, deputy chief psychiatric officer of Aetna, said at VALUE.īehavioral Health Business OptumHealth Behavioral Health Solutions CEO Trip Hofer speaks at VALUE 2023.īehavioral health is “unique and different” in comparison to other segments of health care, yet it can’t be parsed out and left aside. While the health insurance industry is increasingly moving towards a “whole-person care” approach to care, the inclusion of behavioral health complicates matters, Dr. “Six months later, we still can’t get it implemented because it’s like, ‘Well, how do I get data back to them?'” I have access problems for depression, stress and anxiety for adults.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, we have a ton of solutions for you,'” Hofer said. “Kelsey Seybold says, ‘Trip, here’s my issue. For example, in 2022, Optum acquired Kelsey-Seybold Clinic in Houston, which employs over 500 health care professionals. In April 2022, UnitedHealth Group’s CEO said the Refresh Mental health deal fit into its “ value-based proposition.”īut integrating those acquisitions into the continuum of care has had its challenges. This includes the acquisition of the second-largest outpatient mental health care provider in the U.S.: Refresh Mental Health. In 2022 alone, there were at least six big-time deals by Optum, according to reports. A key challenge is reconciling several different information technology systems and making other business arrangements with the entities Optum has acquired.
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