Some “experts” in both the insurance and healthcare industries may have been skeptical when UnitedHealth Group’s Optima division bought MedExpress a few years ago. Others predicted that the insurance giant would likely look for ways to deliver deeper healthcare services to their own plan members. They were right. MedExpress is now the largest urgent care chain in the country. UHG expects even bigger things to come, however—projecting that MedExpress will help push its OptumCare medical group, which also employs primary care providers and surgeons, to become a $100 billion-a-year business by 2028, according to an article just published by Business Insider. Having done $16 billion in business in 2018, they have a ways to go. However, trends that see more and more patients flocking to urgent care, combined with the ongoing industry consolidation, may make it feasible for large operators with an increasing number of locations (and less competition) to grow at an accelerating rate. Considering that other insurers and retail drugstore companies are attempting to make similar inroads, the message is clear: companies that have traditionally not been direct providers of medical care now want a piece of the provider business. They’re not necessarily focusing on just one type of practice, however; in OptumCare’s case, they plan to continue to offer primary care, urgent care, and outpatient surgery in every market where they have a presence.
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