Quarterlytics / Healthcare / Medical - Healthcare Plans / UnitedHealth

UnitedHealth

unh · NYSE Healthcare
Claim this profile
Ticker unh
Exchange NYSE
Sector Healthcare
Industry Medical - Healthcare Plans
Employees 10,000+
← All annual reports
FY2015 Annual Report · UnitedHealth
Sign in to download
Loading PDF…
2015 Annual Review

Contents

02 

04 

06 

Performance Highlights

UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealthcare

08   Optum

10 

11 

12 

Social Responsibility

Our Culture and Mission

Commitment to Excellence

On the Cover
A care provider and patients at one of the 160 MedExpress 

care centers operated by Optum, offering walk-in urgent care 

and a variety of other medical services. MedExpress is just one 

example of how Optum is helping improve access to high quality, 

convenient, affordable health care. Read more on page 9.

Welcome 

Thank you for your interest in UnitedHealth Group.

The health care system continues to evolve. Consumers want more transparency,  
higher quality and more personalization. Physicians and other care providers are taking  
on greater accountability, being paid for performance in an ever more demanding health care 
environment. The influence of advanced information technology is transforming care delivery 
and administration. Governments worldwide are trying to advance higher quality care,  
while bringing costs under control.

UnitedHealth Group, Optum and UnitedHealthcare are responding to change by offering  
practical innovations, strong support for clinical excellence and the actionable information  
and technological tools people and their care providers need for better decision-making.

In 2015, UnitedHealth Group continued to drive overall growth and solid shareholder returns. 
The enterprise moved steadily forward, grounded in strong fundamental execution, quality 
improvement and strategic investments. We are entering 2016 with better momentum and 
more opportunities than ever before. We expect growth to accelerate this year and remain 
strong in 2017, 2018 and throughout the next decade.

UnitedHealth Group   |   Annual Review   |   1

Performance Highlights

UnitedHealth Group ended 2015 strongly and enters 2016 with greater capabilities and  
many more opportunities for growth. We understand that growth can only be realized  
if we offer high quality and consistently excellent execution in everything we do.

Here are examples of the performance Optum 
and UnitedHealthcare delivered in 2015:

•  Today, 25 million consumers are served through 
UnitedHealthcare’s Advocate4Me service that 
provides people with a single point of contact  
to address their various health needs. People 
served by this approach are more engaged in 
their health and more effective in their health 
care decision-making – and are more satisfied.

•  More than 23 million consumers have access 

to Rally, our online digital health portal. Users 
are steadily advancing in selecting primary 
care physicians, making better use of urgent 
care over emergency care and more readily 
adopting personal health and condition 
management programs. 

•  In Medicare we helped close 9 million  

gaps in care for the seniors we serve. And  
we expect our efforts to advance the quality  
of our Medicare offerings in 2015 will result  
in 80 percent or more of our seniors being  
served through a four-Star quality plan by 2018.

•  In commercial benefits, we combine tiered 
networks, clinical strategies and innovative 
product designs to align with a wide array  
of price points for employers and consumers. 
Today, one-third of our commercial benefits 
customers are served through one of these  
more affordable plans. 

•  Optum continues to develop deeper, meaningful 
relationships with large customers facing 
complex challenges. For example, Optum360’s 
revenue management relationship with  
Dignity Health improved their cash flows  
by one-half billion dollars, with accounts  
settled a full eight days faster. Documentation 
technology is helping Dignity Health physicians 
meet demanding ICD-10 requirements even  
as their billing staff is realizing a 50 percent  
gain in productivity.

•  The OptumCare approach to care delivery 

respects local market norms and expectations, 
and our doctors deliver high quality results. 
We consistently outperform benchmarks  
around acute care readmissions and skilled 

nursing facility stays. More than three-quarters 
of private Medicare patients we care for are 
in health plans rated four Stars or better, and 
a survey of our Medicare Advantage patients 
revealed 96 percent would recommend our  
local care provider office to others.

•  Our HouseCalls services continue to deliver 

distinctive value for Medicare recipients and 
payers, with 98 percent patient satisfaction, 
more than 1 million visits to patients in their 
homes in 2015 and further growth expected 
in 2016.

The people of UnitedHealth Group are continuously 
increasing the quality and consistency of our 
products and services. Their efforts drive our 
solid financial results and the strong growth 
momentum set in motion in 2015. They are highly 
engaged in our mission and committed to serving 
our customers and consumers with innovation 
and compassion.

2   |   UnitedHealth Group   |   Annual Review

The people of UnitedHealth Group  
are committed to serving our 
customers and consumers with 
innovation and compassion.

Performance Highlights

2014 

2015

Revenues

$130.5B 

$157.1B

Earnings From Operations

$10.3B 

$11.0B

Cash Flows From Operations

$8.1B 

$9.7B

33%
DIVIDEND

$2.00 per share 
UnitedHealth Group  
increased its annual   
dividend 33 percent  
to $2.00 per share  
in 2015.

UnitedHealth Group   |   Annual Review   |   3

Advancing quality in health benefits and health services

UnitedHealth Group is a highly diversified health 
and well-being company serving virtually every 
constituent of health care – patients, physicians  
and other care providers, hospitals, out-patient 
clinics and life sciences researchers, private and 
public sponsors of health benefits, state and  
federal government agencies, payers, regulators  
and others. Our enterprise has one mission:  
to help people live healthier lives, and help  
make the health system work better for everyone. 
The people of UnitedHealth Group are dedicated 
to continuously improving the quality of our 
performance for the individuals and customers  
we serve. Five key values guide our operations 
and every interaction: integrity, compassion, 
relationships, innovation and performance.

Two Business Platforms
The enterprise is built on two business platforms: 
UnitedHealthcare, providing a broad range of 
affordable health benefits to serve the health care 
needs of people at every life stage; and Optum,  
for health services, analyzing data to create 
actionable information, improving consumer 
engagement and access and strengthening 
the performance of the care delivery system. 
Working autonomously and together, Optum and 
UnitedHealthcare are solving the fundamental 
challenges facing health systems in the midst  

of significant change as health care worldwide 
evolves to become more integrated, effective  
and consumer-centric.

Three Core Competencies
Our businesses are built around three enduring 
competencies – the things we do well to create 
value for both customers and shareholders:

•  Data, analytics and health information –  

to inform and guide patients and physicians  
in their decision-making.

•  Clinical experience and expertise – to deliver  

care at higher quality, with greater consistency,  
at lower costs to consumers and to the health  
care system as a whole. 

•  Advanced technology operating at scale –  
to help coordinate care, integrate care  
delivery and streamline administration  
and revenue management.

As a health advisor for UnitedHealthcare,  
Claire Meador says a big part of her job requires 
connecting with people on different levels,  
and exercising empathy and compassion.

4   |   UnitedHealth Group   |   Annual Review

500B

WE PROCESS MORE THAN  
500 BILLION DIGITAL 
TRANSACTIONS ANNUALLY.

$2.5B

WE INVEST MORE THAN  
$2.5 BILLION ANNUALLY IN 
TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION.

The extraordinary abilities of our 
employees, their ideas and energy 
are helping people live healthier 
lives and making the health system 
work better for everyone. 

Carl Allen, senior medical 
director, OptumCare’s 
Southwest Medical Associates, 
Las Vegas, is an advocate 
for patients, providers and 
his team. Carl says: “I really 
enjoy interacting with people 
and building and maintaining 
relationships.”

Our People 
The more than 200,000 employees of 
UnitedHealth Group power this enterprise with 
their entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to 
quality, delivering value our customers and health 
care consumers understand and appreciate. They 
serve individuals in local communities in all 50 states 
of the United States and 125 other nations. 

Globally, UnitedHealth Group has approximately 
18,500 physicians and nurses on staff, 
thousands of experts in technology, health care 
administration, clinical services and disease 
management, health and wellness, actuarial 
services and customer and consumer relations 
among others, all dedicated to living our 
cultural values of integrity, compassion, 
innovation, relationships and performance. 

18,500 

PHYSICIANS
AND NURSES
ON STAFF

UnitedHealth Group   |   Annual Review   |   5

  
Helping people live healthier lives

Better Health
The people of UnitedHealthcare engage 
individuals in their health and partner with 
physicians, nurses and other care providers 
to deliver better health and positive medical 
outcomes. UnitedHealthcare supports personal 
health by preventing illness and promoting 
wellness, managing chronic and complex 
conditions and closing gaps in care.

Superior Health Care Experience 
UnitedHealthcare is committed to giving 
consumers the personalized information they 
need to make better health care decisions,  
along with greater choice in health programs  
and benefits that fit their lifestyles and finances.

Affordable Benefits Products 
UnitedHealthcare is helping to manage the  
cost of care. The people of UnitedHealthcare  
give care providers the support and resources  
to deliver more efficient and effective care and 
help them expand the use of evidence-based  
care. UnitedHealthcare’s value-based payment 
systems reward the quality of care, not the 
quantity of care. 

Actionable Information 
Working with Optum, UnitedHealthcare  
leverages powerful insights gleaned from 
analyzing data on medical claims, patient and 

6   |   UnitedHealth Group   |   Annual Review

physician demographics and clinical information  
to help customers and care providers make  
more informed decisions, align and coordinate 
care for each individual and achieve better  
health at lower costs.

UnitedHealthcare provides health benefits  
to individuals at every stage of life.

UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual:  
Employer sponsored and individual health benefits plans.

Positioned for Growth
Growth follows quality and value, and 
UnitedHealthcare is positioned to serve the  
health and wellness needs of more people in  
more meaningful ways than ever before. In 2015, 
this business grew by more than 1.7 million people 
domestically, bringing total organic growth  
in the United States to nearly 10 million people 
over the past six years. As UnitedHealthcare 
constantly improves quality and delivers value, 
it expects this growth trend to continue and 
accelerate in 2016 and beyond. 

UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement:  
Health and well-being products and services  
for the growing senior market.

UnitedHealthcare Community & State:  
State Medicaid and community programs.

UnitedHealthcare Military & Veterans:  
Access to cost-effective, quality care for U.S. military 
service members, retirees and their family members.

UnitedHealthcare Global:  
Employer sponsored and individual medical  
benefits, principally in Brazil. 

Wanisha Seals and Whitney Simon participate in fun, 
healthy exercises as part of a community baby shower 
hosted by UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of 
Louisiana and March of Dimes. Participants also  
were able to learn about UnitedHealthcare’s Baby 
Blocks, an interactive incentive program designed  
to help them deliver healthy babies.  
(Photo: Lee Celano)

 
UnitedHealthcare’s award winning 
mobile app, Baby Blocks®, is helping 
new mothers and their infants receive 
access to the best care possible.

Baby Blocks®  

UnitedHealthcare’s Baby Blocks is an online, 
interactive incentive program that encourages 
pregnant women and new moms to visit 
their doctors regularly and learn about infant 
development, and offers rewards for seeking 
preventive care during pregnancy and the  
first two years of their babies’ lives.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, the high percentage of preterm births 
in the United States contributes to a higher infant 
mortality rate. Costs of preterm births are also 
considerable: Medical costs for a preterm baby  
are 12 times higher ($54K) than for a full-term  
baby without complications ($4.4K). 

Baby Blocks helps improve maternity health,  
control medical costs and ensure newborns  
are given the best possible start in life.

BABY BLOCKS RECEIVED A

From Medicaid 

beneficiaries surveyed 

by UnitedHealthcare  

in 16 states

SATISFACTION RATING

UnitedHealth Group   |   Annual Review   |   7

 
Our Optum business serves:

•  Nearly 115 million individuals

•  More then 100,000 physicians, practices and other health 

care facilities

•  4 out of 5 U.S. hospitals

•  A network of more than 67,000 pharmacies

•  Approximately 300 health plans

•  Government agencies in 31 states and D.C.

Helping make the health system work better for everyone

Advancing Care
Optum has deep experience in enabling care provider 
collaboration and engaging patients more directly 
in their care. Optum’s care management programs 
connect patients with the right care providers at the 
right time to improve health outcomes and reduce 
costs. This business also integrates pharmacy into the 
clinical care continuum and offers safe, convenient 
access to quality medications. Together, these 
capabilities deliver strong results across populations  
of patients.

Empowering Consumers
Consumers have a growing responsibility for their 
health care choices. Optum delivers critical support, 
guidance and innovative tools and programs  
to engage consumers in managing their health.  
Unique distribution capabilities link consumers  
with coverage options that best match their health 
needs and budgets. And Optum provides a range  
of financial products that help people save and  
pay for health care expenses.

Modernizing Health System Infrastructure 
Optum continues to develop a more intelligent, 
connected, collaborative and efficient health  
care system. This business delivers targeted  
insight and information to care providers  
at the point of care where critical decisions  

8   |   UnitedHealth Group   |   Annual Review

are made. Accurate clinical care documentation 
supports appropriate payment for services and 
compliance with regulatory and health reform 
mandates. And Optum’s operational services  
and support solutions drive increased integration 
and efficiency in the administrative processes  
at the core of the health system. 

Positioned for Growth
Since 2011, Optum has compounded revenues  
at 23 percent per year and operating earnings  
at 34 percent per year. In 2015, Optum grew  
its revenue by 42 percent (including the 
acquisition of Catamaran in July) and its contract  
backlog by more than 20 percent. We expect 
Optum’s businesses – OptumHealth, OptumInsight  
and OptumRx – to continue to produce strong, 
sustainable growth across the board in 2016  
and beyond, as a leader in the U.S. and  
international health services markets estimated  
at $1.0 trillion in the aggregate.

OptumRx, a leading, integrated pharmacy care services 
company, processes nearly 1 billion adjusted retail, mail 
and specialty drug prescriptions annually.

In 2015, Optum joined with 
MedExpress, a leader in high quality, 
affordable walk-in care, to expand 
access to lower-cost services in 
communities nationwide.

MedExpress Urgent  
Care Centers

Optum’s MedExpress urgent care centers 
operate at the convergence of health care  
and retail, measuring success one patient at  
a time. MedExpress can provide as much as  

90 percent of the care patients receive in the ER 
for as little as 10 percent of the cost. This model 
mitigates cost for both payers and consumers, 
while providing high quality, convenient care. 
MedExpress currently operates more than 160 
neighborhood care centers, with the goal of 
operating multiples of that number five years 
from now, including opening 35 in 2016.

CAN PROVIDE 
AS MUCH AS

FOR AS LITTLE AS

OF THE CARE PATIENTS 
RECEIVE IN THE ER

OF THE COST

UnitedHealth Group   |   Annual Review   |   9

Social Responsibility

Building Healthier Communities
UnitedHealth Group supports and leverages  
the capabilities of our businesses, the talent, 
expertise and compassion of our people and  
the unique partnerships we have cultivated  
across the health care landscape to help build 
healthier communities where we work and  
live. Our social responsibility programs focus  
on developing a health care workforce that  
will meet the growing demand for quality  
care and helping drive initiatives to improve  
health care quality and medical outcomes.

Our People
Across the enterprise, our people help individuals 
and strengthen local communities by participating 
in our year-round charitable giving program  
and volunteering their time, energy and skills  
on behalf of causes they care about. Supporting 
more than 12,300 charities and nonprofit 
organizations worldwide, they donate millions  
of dollars annually. In 2015, employees  
donated more than 1 million volunteer hours  
and 63 percent took part in company  
sponsored volunteer initiatives.

Our Partners
Partnership and collaboration are critical to 
fulfilling our mission and goals as a socially 
responsible company. We offer scholarships for 
students pursuing careers in health care and 
support the training of primary care providers.  
We partner with local governments and 
organizations to improve community health and 
health care. And we work with organizations that 
share our mission to improve health and the quality 
of life for all people, like Sesame Street, Blue Star 
Families, Florida Department of Health in Alachua 
County, Columbus Public Health, and UNLV  
School of Medicine.

The Environment
We are committed to conserving energy and 
natural resources, reducing our company’s carbon 
emissions and raising employee awareness about 
improving the environment. In recognition of our 
continued accomplishments, UnitedHealth Group 
was ranked 11th out of the largest U.S. companies 
and 17th out of the largest global companies in 
Newsweek’s 2015 Green Rankings. Additionally, 
for a third year in a row UnitedHealth Group was 

recognized as a leader among S&P 500 companies 
by the environmental nonprofit CDP, earning a 
position on its Climate Disclosure Leadership Index. 

United Health Foundation 
United Health Foundation is dedicated to  
building healthier communities. To date,  
the Foundation has committed more than  
$315 million to programs and communities  
around the world. 

UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation
The UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation 
gives families somewhere to turn when they need 
medical assistance not covered by a commercial 
insurance plan. Contributions come from 
UnitedHealth Group employees and the generosity 
of others. Since 2007, the Children’s Foundation 
has awarded more than 10,000 grants valued at 
more than $29 million to children and their families 
across the United States.

United Health Foundation is partnering with  
Blue Star Families (BSF) by providing a $750,000  
grant to train and support the more than 5.5 million 
military caregivers in the United States. Blue Star 
Families was founded by the spouses of military 
members to help connect military families with 
community groups and leaders to address the 
challenges of military life. The new initiative aims to 
increase caregiver knowledge, skills and confidence 
related to caring for wounded warriors, enhance 
their social support networks through a continuum  

of care and improve caregiver quality of life through 
new online training and interactive resources.

UnitedHealth Group participated in a Capitol Hill 
forum that highlighted unique military caregiver 
challenges. L to R: Sherrie Wilcox, caregiver and senior 
research advisor at BSF; Marine spouse and caregiver 
Callie Barr, BSF Operation Family Caregiver Program; 
Congressman Sanford Bishop, Jr.; and Tom Wiffler, 
COO of UnitedHealthcare Military & Veterans.  
(PHOTO: Barbara Salisbury)

10   |   UnitedHealth Group   |   Annual Review

Our Culture 

The people of this company are aligned  
around basic values that inspire our behavior  
as individuals and as an institution:

Integrity. We are dedicated to the highest 
levels of personal and institutional integrity. 
We make honest commitments and work to 
consistently honor those commitments. We 
do not compromise ethics. We strive to deliver 
on our promises and we have the courage to 
acknowledge mistakes and do whatever is 
needed to address them.

Relationships. We build trust through cultivating 
relationships and working in productive 
collaboration with government, employers, 
physicians, nurses and other health care 
professionals, hospitals and the individual 
consumers of health care. Trust is earned 
and preserved through truthfulness, integrity, 
active engagement and collaboration with 
our colleagues and clients. We encourage 
the variety of thoughts and perspectives that 
reflect the diversity of our markets, customers 
and workforce.

Compassion. We try to walk in the shoes of 
the people we serve and the people we work 
with across the health care community. Our 
job is to listen with empathy and then respond 
appropriately and quickly with service and 
advocacy for each individual, each group or 
community and for society as a whole. We 
celebrate our role in serving people and society  
in an area so vitally human as their health.

Innovation. We pursue a course of continuous, 
positive and practical innovation, using our 
deep experience in health care to be thoughtful 
advocates of change and to use the insights we 
gain to invent a better future that will make the 
health care environment work and serve everyone 
more fairly, productively and consistently. 

Performance. We are committed to deliver and 
demonstrate excellence in everything we do. 
We will be accountable and responsible for 
consistently delivering high quality and superior 
results that make a difference in the lives of 
the people we touch. We continue to challenge 
ourselves to strive for even better outcomes in all 
key performance areas.

Our Mission 
Our mission is to help people  
live healthier lives and to help  
make the health system work  
better for everyone.

•  We seek to enhance the performance of the 
health system and improve the overall health 
and well-being of the people we serve and 
their communities. 

•  We work with health care professionals and 

other key partners to expand access to quality 

health care so people get the care they need at 
an affordable price.

•  We support the physician/patient relationship 
and empower people with the information, 
guidance and tools they need to make personal 
health choices and decisions. 

UnitedHealth Group   |   Annual Review   |   11

Commitment to Excellence

Every company has an obligation to conduct its 
business responsibly. As a health care company, 
UnitedHealth Group must meet even higher 
expectations. We are intimately connected to  
the health and well-being of millions of individuals.  
We touch millions of physicians and other care 
providers and facilities across the spectrum of  
health care. We take this responsibility very  
seriously and strive daily to meet the needs of 
the people we serve and the communities where 
we live and work through our commitment to 
integrity, compassion, relationships, innovation 
and performance.

We are honored to have been recognized in 2015 for  
our continuing commitment to excellence:

Business Performance 
UnitedHealth Group was the top ranking company in  
the insurance and managed care sector on Fortune’s 2016 
“World’s Most Admired Companies” list. This is the sixth 
straight year UnitedHealth Group ranked No. 1 overall  
in its sector and the seventh consecutive year the company 
ranked No. 1 in its sector for innovation. 

Optum ranked No. 1 on the 2015 Healthcare Informatics 
(HCI) 100, a listing of the top health care IT companies  
based on U.S. revenues.

Optum360, a leading provider of health care revenue 
management services, earned the No. 1 spot in the 
2015 Black Book Rankings for revenue cycle and coding 
software and services.

12   |   UnitedHealth Group   |   Annual Review

Catamaran, which formally combined with OptumRx  
in July 2015, was named to the World’s Most Innovative 
Companies 2015 list by Forbes magazine.

Supporting Our Employees 
In 2015, for the fifth consecutive year, the National Business 
Group on Health honored UnitedHealth Group with a “Best 
Employers for Healthy Lifestyles” Platinum award.

UnitedHealth Group was named to the list of the Best 100 
Companies for Flexible Fortune 500 Jobs (2015), which 
recognizes employers that hire for flexible working options 
such as telecommuting, part-time and flextime.

UnitedHealth Group was named a 2016 Top 100 Military 
Friendly Employer and a 2016 Top 50 Military Spouse 
Friendly Employer by Victory Media, the publisher of  
G.I. Jobs and Military Spouse magazines.

UnitedHealth Group was honored with the Above and 
Beyond Award from the Employer Support of the Guard 
and Reserve (2015). The award distinguishes employers 
who have gone above and beyond the requirements for 
granting leave and providing support for military duty for 
their employees.

Sustainability 
UnitedHealth Group has been named to the Dow Jones 
Sustainability World Index and Dow Jones North America 
Index annually since 1999.

UnitedHealthcare’s Baby Blocks mobile, interactive incentive 
program for expectant moms, new parents and their 
babies enrolled in UnitedHealthcare plans has received 
the following recognition: 
• Business Intelligence Group 2015 BIG Innovation Award 
• 2015 American Business Awards (Stevie Awards) 
• 2015 Connecticut Quality Improvement Award 
•  Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal 2015 Eureka! Award

UnitedHealthcare’s Advocate4Me service, which  
leverages innovative tools and technology to simplify  
and personalize care, received a Stevie Award in the  
Sales & Customer Service category at the 2015  
American Business Awards.

Supporting the Community 
The American Bar Association recognized UnitedHealth 
Group with its 2015 Pro Bono Award for demonstrating 
an exceptional commitment to providing pro bono legal 
services.

Second Harvest Heartland, one of the nation’s largest 
food banks, recognized Optum with a 2015 Hunger 
Hero Volunteer Award. The Hunger Hero Awards honor 
organizational partners who make a compassionate  
and transformational impact on those who are hungry  
in the heartland.

Brazil-based Amil received a Best Marketing Sustainability 
award in 2015 for “Say No to Childhood Obesity,”  
its initiative to encourage physical activity and reeducate 
adults and children on dietary practices.

You can find more information about UnitedHealth 

Group and its businesses by visiting our website:  

www.unitedhealthgroup.com.

10%

10%

This annual review is printed on recycled papers and uses reduced  
VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) vegetable-based inks.

www.unitedhealthgroup.com

UnitedHealth Group Center 
9900 Bren Road East, Minnetonka, Minnesota 55343

100-17311 4/16 

©2016 UnitedHealth Group. All Rights Reserved. UnitedHealth Group is a registered trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.