Optum Virtual Care, a new remote healthcare product of UnitedHealth subsidiary Optum, has gone live in all 50 states of the US. According to the company’s top executives, the software integrates physical care, telehealth, home care and behavioral care. The company has been confident about virtual care’s sustainability even as a fall in its use has been reported from the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- OptumHealth CEO Wyatt Decker said they quickly stood up over 17,000 providers during the pandemic on telehealth solutions. “What will really differentiate our product to those that we serve is the ability to offer virtual solutions,” he said.
- Pointing out how telehealth developed as a set of capabilities over the last several years, UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty predicted many new telehealth initiatives in deployment between Optum and UnitedHealth.
- Decker said: “We’re seeing continued sustainability of virtual care solutions which, as you may know, peaked during the height of the pandemic, have declined some, but are still probably 10 times where they were pre-pandemic.”
- Optum has posted a video on its website about how many Optum doctors have been able to provide virtual care via synchronous video visits through smartphone, tablet or laptop. Optum’s new offering assumes greater significance given that Amazon is all set to come out with its own telehealth services across the country.
