UnitedHealth appoints new CEO to run health services division

By Amina Niasse

NEW YORK (Reuters) -UnitedHealth Group's health services segment, Optum Health, will be led by Patrick Conway, according to an internal company memo.

A spokesperson for UnitedHealth said Conway's experience in value-based care, where payment is generated from keeping patients healthy, drove the health insurer's new appointment.

“Leadership changes are consistent with the company’s longstanding, intentional approach to develop an executive team with a range of experiences across its diverse portfolio of businesses," the spokesperson said.

The company named former Optum Health CEO Amar Desai as vice-chairman of the unit. UnitedHealth Group named a new company-wide CEO, veteran Stephen Hemsley, to steer the healthcare giant following its first earnings miss since 2008.

Conway in April was appointed CEO of UnitedHealth's Optum segment, which operates its Optum Health unit, and previously ran its Optum Rx pharmacy benefit manager. Optum Health, which operates medical clinics and offers nursing services, serves as UnitedHealth's healthcare delivery arm.

In a first-quarter earnings call, UnitedHealth detailed underperforming revenue at Optum Health, citing reduced engagement from Medicare Advantage patients. A May Wall Street Journal report detailed a criminal probe by the Department of Justice on UnitedHealth's billing practices, related to in-home visits it conducts within Optum Health.

Hemsley in a June shareholder meeting said that the company was undertaking a review of practices across its business, apologizing for recent underperformance in earnings.

(Reporting by Amina Niasse in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

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