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Optum Acquires Houston-Based Physician Group for $2 Billion

— Optum's network reported to make up over 5% of all U.S. physicians

MedpageToday
A photo of the sign outside of the headquarters of Optum in Eden Prairie, Minnesota

UnitedHealth Group's healthcare services division, Optum, will reportedly acquire Kelsey-Seybold for approximately $2 billion, according to the .

The acquisition of Kelsey-Seybold, a physician group based in Houston that includes cancer and women's health centers, two ambulatory surgery centers, and a sleep center, was first announced in April, but few details have emerged since, the Star Tribune reported.

However, Optum, based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, did provide a statement to ľֱ about incorporating Kelsey-Seybold's operations and staff into the Optum network.

"Optum is aligned with Kelsey-Seybold's care delivery model that brings coordinated, value-based care to patients and employers," the company said. "We have a shared vision of supporting high-quality care with better experiences for patients and providers at a lower total cost of care."

Optum also highlighted its plans to focus on expanding services around the communities that Kelsey-Seybold has been serving.

"We look forward to working together to advance Kelsey-Seybold's compassionate, coordinated care model to more patients and communities in the Greater Houston area," the statement concluded.

As part of this effort, Kelsey-Seybold has already begun construction on expanding one of its healthcare campuses, which includes an ambulatory surgery center and a cancer center, according to . The expanded site will reportedly triple the number of possible providers at that location to 82, while also adding "four operating rooms, three endoscopy suites, and a procedure room to support interventional pain management and interventional radiology services."

In addition to that project, Kelsey-Seybold has announced several others that will either expand existing healthcare facilities or break ground on new locations, the press release noted.

These expansion projects will add to Optum's fast-growing network of physicians around the country.

In March 2021, that Optum's network of 53,000 physicians made up 5.4% of all U.S. physicians. At that time, it was considered to be the largest employer of physicians in the country. Since that report, the company has reportedly added 10,000 more physicians.

states that it currently employs 60,000 physicians in more than 2,000 locations across the country.

It is not clear whether those numbers reflect the deal with Kelsey-Seybold, which claims to have more than 600 healthcare professionals and 30 clinics on its .

According to the Bloomberg report, acquisitions by Optum, such as the deal with Kelsey-Seybold, are "a key driver of UnitedHealth's growth" to expand healthcare services and increase revenue and profits. "More than any of its peers, the company has sought to purchase medical groups and other providers," the article noted.

UnitedHealth Group also announced that it acquired KS Plan Administrators, which is affiliated with Kelsey-Seybold and covers about 41,000 Medicare beneficiaries, according to .

The healthcare giant more than $80 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2022.

  • author['full_name']

    Michael DePeau-Wilson is a reporter on ľֱ’s enterprise & investigative team. He covers psychiatry, long covid, and infectious diseases, among other relevant U.S. clinical news.