UnitedHealth Group’s Optum eliminates virtual care service

Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group (UHG), is closing its virtual care business just three years after its inception, the company confirmed to mHealthIntelligence.

In an emailed statement, Optum emphasized its continued focus on virtual care capabilities, though there is no indication if it plans to replace the business with another telehealth-based service. 

"Virtual care has been and will continue to be a core part of our comprehensive, integrated care delivery model designed to provide care to people where, when and how they prefer," the statement reads. “As an enterprise, we are committed to providing patients with a robust network of providers for virtual urgent, primary and specialty care options. We continually review the capabilities and services we offer to meet the growing and evolving needs of our businesses and the people we serve."

Launched in April 2021, Optum Virtual Care offered UnitedHealthcare (UHC) and Surest plan members nationwide virtual access to physicians and nurse practitioners. It provided virtual visits for urgent, non-emergency medical needs, including cold and flu, sinus infections, allergies, skin conditions, and prescription refills.

UHG and Optum executives announced Optum Virtual Care in an earnings call for the first quarter of 2021.

“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 10x where they were pre-pandemic,” said Wyatt Decker, then-CEO of Optum Health, during the call. “And certain conditions or behavior or — or areas like behavioral healthcare are now seeing about 50 percent utilization through virtual services. So, we're very excited about where we can take this off.”

Decker further noted that the company’s goal is to integrate in-person and virtual care, offering virtual access to clinicians and connecting patients to brick-and-mortar facilities when needed.

According to the latest financial statement from UHG, Optum Health served 104 million in the three months ended March 31, 2024. The statement noted that the division is advancing its “clinical support for patients through virtual, in-home, and in-clinic engagement.”

However, Endpoints News reports that employees in the virtual care business were told during an April 18 conference call that Optum planned to shutter the unit. The company aims to support affected team members with job placement resources and deploy them to open roles within the organization where possible, the emailed statement noted. 

This decision to close the business could point to shifting approaches to virtual care.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth use skyrocketed, with healthcare providers, payers, and technology companies racing to launch their own services. However, four years later, with telehealth policy still up in the air post-2024, many are taking steps away from pandemic-era virtual care businesses.

For instance, Amazon shut down its telehealth business at the end of 2022, also three years after its launch. At the time, Sanjula Jain, PhD, senior vice president and chief research officer at market research firm Trilliant Health, told mHealthIntelligence the move may be due to lagging telehealth use and an enduring preference for in-person care. However, the technology giant announced a new virtual care venture shortly after: Amazon Clinic. The messaging-based platform connects healthcare consumers to telehealth provider groups like Wheel and SteadyMD. Last August, the service was expanded across 50 states and Washington, D.C.

The news of Optum Virtual Care’s demise also comes as Optum Health and other Optum divisions deal with the fallout from the cyberattack on Change Healthcare.

In February, Change Healthcare, one of the largest clearinghouses in the country, announced a network interruption due to a cyberattack. The attack has had devastating financial and operational effects on the healthcare industry. The federal government has gotten involved, with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opening an investigation into the attack and lawmakers holding a hearing into the ongoing crisis.

Editor's note: The article was updated at 11:40 am ET on April 26 with a statement from Optum.