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đź”’Healthcare innovator Jack Reed tees up ProHealth Physicians’ next growth phase

For 22 years, Jack Reed has shepherded one of the state’s largest doctor groups — ProHealth Physicians — through the healthcare industry’s twists and turns.

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Optum's physician buying spree

Insurer-employed physicians remain somewhat rare in Connecticut, but the trend is picking up steam across the country.

Optum is leading the charge, having amassed approximately 35,000 employed, managed or contracted physicians in multiple states as of the end of 2018, according to its parent company UnitedHealth Group.

Optum’s pending $4.3 billion acquisition of a large Colorado-based dialysis chain, DaVita, will add another 13,000 doctors to its ranks.

UnitedHealth is poised to become the single largest employer of physicians, according to Sean Wieland, equity research analyst at Piper Jaffray.

Optum represents an alternative to the long-running and ongoing trend of hospitals acquiring and hiring formerly independent docs, he said.

“They want to have more control over your first point of contact with the healthcare system, which is generally the primary-care provider,” Wieland said of Optum.

“They have a history of buying the biggest and best [groups] in their individual markets,” he added.

Optum earned more than $101 billion in revenue and netted $8.2 billion in operating earnings for UnitedHealth Group in 2018. The top line number included $24.1 billion from OptumHealth, the unit that has been acquiring doctor groups. That figure has grown from $13.9 billion in 2015, the same year that Optum acquired ProHealth.

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