Optum Vows Continued, Dramatic Growth in Urgent Care Acquisitions

UnitedHealth’s OptumCare division already runs over 160 urgent care centers in 14 states by virtue of having bought MedExpress, but it plans to have “several multiples of that number five years from now.” That’s what Optum CEO and UnitedHealth Group vice chair Larry Renfro told a group of analysts recently, citing provider revenues as a key growth factor for the company. Already the largest payer in the U.S., UnitedHealth joins HCA Holdings and Tenet Healthcare as traditionally non urgent care companies that are buying up urgent care properties. Renfro also plugged urgent care’s advantages over retail clinics (eg, a wider array of services and closer contact with physicians) during the call.