The United Health Group: A Case Study

The mission of UnitedHealthcare is to “make the health system work better for everyone,” help people improve their well-being and health outcomes so people can lead healthier lives. Their goal is make health care simple, more accessible and affordable for all individuals (UnitedHealthcare, 2010).

The health care system must change to improve our nation’s health and takes strong steps to address the unsustainable growth of health care costs in America. We still have a long way to go before our health system become effective. We still have population that do not have insurance, have difficulties accessing their health care, or their needs are not met within the healthcare system. It is an investment in prevention and wellness and increasing access to primary care physician.

Humana Inc. is an insurance company that has been around for more than 50 years. Well-being is the core objective of Humana. Well-being remains the primary focus, but Humana is going beyond health insurance to partner with people to assist with healthier lives. Humana’s organizational behavior stands on management’s principles, visions, and values to sustain those well-being goals.

The United States health care system is lacking the needs to create a reliable system to achieve quality, access, cost, and educate for the consumers. Despite the efforts of the government to find a common ground to meet the standard for the societies, the system has yet to have a major improvement. These issues must be reexamined to fix the broken system. The United States health care expenditure is another issue that needs to be addressed to achieve the future goals of the healthcare system in the United States. Healthcare societies will need to interact differently by incorporating consumer’s empowerment, technology, and education to meet the future goals of the health care system. Also, the consumer must be highly educated on the purpose of preventive care to lower the risk of chronic diseases which account for a lot health care spending. The process of correcting the United States health care system will take time and effort from all individual to achieve greatness.

Mission statement: Our mission is to help people live healthier lives and to help make the health system work better for everyone.

Sultz, H.A. & Young, K.M. (2010). Health Care USA: Understanding its Organization And Delivery (7th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Barton, Phoebe Lindsey. Understanding the U.S. Health Services System, Fourth Edition. Foundation of the American College of Healthcare Executives, 2010.

Every individual in the world deserves to enjoy health and wellness. Maintaining or achieving proper health needs enables individuals to be productive at work and leisure. Traditionally, many people have had barriers obtaining adequate healthcare due to economic constraints or personal inconveniences. Despite impressive technological advances in medicine, the challenge of delivering quality healthcare to the Americans continues to be debated amongst the nation’s political and healthcare leaders. The aging baby-boomers and the increased number of uninsured people add to the equation of population growth which results in limited access to primary healthcare for the entire public. On the

Banner Health is a nonprofit health care system that was started on September 1, 1991 after the merger of Samaritan Health System and Lutheran Health Systems. Before the merger Lutheran Health System had a long standing history as a respected health care provider in rural communities located across Western and Midwestern states dating as far back as 1938 while Samaritan Health System was formed in 1911 and had a reputation for clinical excellence in California and Arizona primarily in the metro Phoenix area. The headquarters of Banner Health are located in Phoenix

Our healthcare system needs major restructuring. Major improvements needs to begin with "all health care organizations, professional groups, and private and public purchasers should adopt as their explicit purpose to continually reduce the burden of illness, injury, and disability, and to improve the health and functioning of the people of the United States", (Crossing the ……, 2001).

Everyone has their own views on what they think the United States healthcare system should consist of. Consequently, the healthcare system has been flawed for many years and does not plan to change anytime soon. According to Luft (2006), “rapid and wide-reaching technological innovation, the ready access to care for the insured, and clinical and patient autonomy” (p.1). These are some of the strengths the US healthcare system are proficient in providing. In contrast, the weaknesses of the healthcare system outweigh the system’s strengths. Luft (2006) examined and acknowledged the following:

Thus, Kaiser Permanente is working in a rapidly changing health care environment that requires constant change. Their mission is to provide high quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of their members and the communities they serve (KP, 2016a). Their vision states they are trusted partners in total health, collaborating with people to help them thrive, and creating communities that are among the healthiest in the nation (KP, 2016a). Therefore, advancing the mission on affordability will help them achieve their main goals, to perform, grow, and lead while keeping affordability at the center (Kaiser Permanente, personal communication, February 2015). First, drive performance in care, quality, and service at a lower cost, enabled by their people, places, and technology. Second, pursue core and new growth with an increasing focus on consumers. Third, lead national health care change through expertise, trust, and

United Healthcare assesses that it services approximately 70 million Americans . Its entire system spans 676,287 physicians and health care professionals, 80,000 dentists and 5,190 hospitals, whilst their pharmaceutical management provides more affordable drugs to 13 million people.

It was in 1977 that the United Healthcare United Health group was founded by Richard Burke. The headquarters of the company are in Minnetonka, Minnesota. This organization works towards the betterment of people's health, it help them in living a healthy life by providing them with the kind of health care that would be best for them. The main focus of United Healthcare which is a major division of the United Health group is to provide the people with better health benefits and coverage.

UnitedHealth Group continues to enjoy steady progress across its major business units. Over the past two years United has worked to strengthen and accelerate its investments in its core health insurance and health services (Optum) units. This disciplined approach has resulted in both top-line and bottom-line growth growth for the organization on a year-over-year basis, with primary growth coming from the senior and public sectors, as well as from strong results in Optum. Membership for the third quarter was unchanged sequentially from 2Q14 with medical membership holding steady at 44.9 million members.