“We will expand these programs across our Optum Health footprint by the end of 2026.”

In context

“Patrick Conway: Thanks, Tim. As Steve noted, we are seeing positive momentum across Optum, with all three business segments performing in line or ahead of plan through the first half of the year. Optum Health is intently focused on improving its clinical care and operational experience to better serve the 20 million people we care for through primary and specialist care, ambulatory surgery, and home health. Over the last year, we have made significant changes in how we operate this business locally and nationally and are seeing the initial benefits of this approach. We are steadfast in our intent to optimize an integrated value-based care system that benefits patients, care providers, and taxpayers. On the clinical side, we're advancing approaches that better support care providers and drive measurable improvements to patient care at lower cost. I'll offer a few examples. First, enhanced support for patients during key transitions of care has resulted in approximately 10% reduction in hospitalizations since implementation late last year in the Western and Southern regions of Optum Health. Second, home health initiatives to better support patients as they return home, where they can be managed more comfortably and effectively, have reduced readmissions. In pilots, the effort has driven a more than 20% improvement in timely care delivery alongside reductions in acute care utilization and shorter skilled nursing facility stays. Third, in rural health, we've expanded access to care by integrating house calls and home-based care capabilities coupled with treat-in-place offerings for patients with complex chronic and behavioral health conditions. Today, Optum Health reaches nearly 90% of U.S. counties and conducts approximately 2.5 million rural patient home visits. We will expand these programs across our Optum Health footprint by the end of 2026. On the operational side of Optum Health, we have established a clear regional and national management focus. This gives us greater and more timely visibility into performance, driving consistent, best-in-class standards across the portfolio, and deploying technologies to support clinicians in the important work they do. There is real progress on the rollout of AI-based ambient listening capabilities, available to 70% of our employed providers today and on track to exceed 90% by year-end. Collectively, these actions are yielding tangible results. Patient experience in our care delivery sites is up approximately 5% year-over-year, and patient access has expanded by nearly 200,000 more patient-facing hours. We are in the early stages of these efforts. Optum Health will build upon this foundation with additional investments in clinical workflow improvements and network performance, more deeply embedding AI and automation to further improve operational performance and clinician experience. Additionally, we entered the 2027 benefit planning season very differently than years past, starting with much earlier proactive collaboration with all our payer partners. This will translate to greater care coordination for patients while more appropriate aligning rates and risk. As our plans and initiatives begin to mature and scale, with disciplined execution, we expect margins to continue to steadily improve. Turning to Optum Rx. For a few years now, we have been leading an industry-wide shift towards transparency and fee-based services, where we are delivering affordability and better outcomes regardless of pricing structure. That's why we continue to win new customers and retain existing ones, with retention rates in the high 90s. In May, we announced a new pharmacy care approach based on monthly per-member fees with full PBM and GPO fee transparency and enhanced consumer tools. Client feedback has been positive and focused on how greater transparency and clinical alignment can address trend challenges, shifting the conversation to affordable health outcomes versus economic guarantees. This all builds on our industry-leading commitment last year to pass through 100% of manufacturer rebates to customers by the end of 2027. We are well on our way, as we expect to end 2026 with more than 95% of clients on 100% pass-through. Moving to Optum Insight. AI-enabled approaches continue to gain traction as more payer and provider customers seek differentiated capabilities to drive better performance. The emerging suite of products includes solutions such as AI-enabled coding, real-time payer and provider interfaces, and clinical quality and safety support. These products are driving real impact for customers, making healthcare simpler, faster, better, and more affordable. For example, Value Connect is an AI-driven insights platform integrated into provider workflows and electronic health records to improve value-based care performance. Early client results include a 17% reduction in pharmacy costs. Bringing this all together, halfway through the year, we have made steady progress in each of our Optum businesses and will continue to find ways to better serve patients, providers, and customers. I'll now turn it over to Wayne DeVeydt.”