Here is a selection of recent executive hires, promotions and layoffs occurring across the healthcare industry.

Here is a selection of recent executive hires, promotions and layoffs occurring across the healthcare industry.

UnitedHealth Group’s Optum is acquiring Amedisys through an all-cash transaction for $101 per share, the companies announced Monday. The move represents a continuing shift to home-based care, several experts said.

As macroeconomic forces continue to negatively impact the healthcare sector, health tech experts predict that 2023 will be another slow year for the IPO market. However, they think consolidation deals will continue to be a constant, according to a new report.

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The St. Louis-based health system is collaborating with the UnitedHealth subsidiary to implement technology and processes that focus on improving care quality and reducing costs. Thousands of SSM Health employees will transition to Optum as part of the deal.

The New York-based rural health system has entered into a collaboration to outsource its IT and revenue cycle management operations to Optum. Further, about 500 Bassett employees, who currently perform those functions, will be given the opportunity to transition to Optum.

America’s abysmal record on maternal care outcomes and equity has spurred the rise of startups as well as innovative strategies from providers and payers, each trying to solve a piece of the larger problem. But these entities will also need the help of policymakers to truly improve care in this arena.

As Amazon starts to roll out its telehealth and pharmacy offerings, most big health systems and insurers don’t yet view it as a threat. But pharmacy benefit managers and vertically integrated payers will be keeping a watchful eye on the company as it starts to encroach on a slice of their business. 

UnitedHealth’s 2020 revenue jumped by $15 billion from the year before. As the payer gears up for 2021, leaders except to see demand for telehealth and online pharmacies continue, driving their focus on these services.

Optum, a subsidiary of insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, agreed to buy healthcare technology company Change Healthcare for $13.5 billion in cash. The acquisition will add data analytics, research and revenue cycle management offerings to Optum’s service roster.

The Boston-based startup developed a symptom checker that can also help navigate users to care in their insurance network. Optum Ventures is also one of its backers.

The survey, conducted by Optum, shows that healthcare executives’ confidence in AI is high, and most expect to soon see cost savings from implementing the technology. Further, a majority are looking to hire talent with experience developing AI.

OptumHealth acquired naviHealth, a startup developing a software platform to help manage post-acute care.   Cardinal Health sold a majority stake in the company two years ago.

UnitedHealth Group’s Optum subsidiary is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire AbleTo. The company, which provides behavioral telehealth services, has seen an uptick in users during the pandemic.

UnitedHealth Group beat earnings expectations, bringing in earnings of $19.7 billion The health insurance giant saw its margins grow across most its business segments, though pharmacy and health services branch Optum saw the fastest growth, at 13.7 percent.

The MedCity INVEST Digital Health conference in Minneapolis September 17 will advance the conversation around innovation in digital health from AI in healthcare, investment trends, and healthcare business models. Here’s a look at some of the highlights of the conference.

As part of the deal, Optum will take over non-clinical functions for the provider ranging from IT services, revenue cycle management, analytics and claims processing and bring on more than 500 John Muir Health employees.

Indianapolis-based Equian processes more than $50o billion in healthcare claims annually and works with nine out of the top 10 healthcare payers.

Interest and investment in the online therapy space has been ramping up as the technology has been positioned as a lever to address the larger issue of expanding access to behavioral health resources.

Stoddard told CNBC that the frequent travel between Haven’s Boston headquarters and his home in Philadelphia was taking a toll on his personal and family life

According to a CNBC report, Haven’s latest executive addition is Sandhya Rao, who will serve as the organization’s VP of Clinical Strategy.

In a ruling Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf denied Optum’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have stopped ex-executive Dave Smith from joining the healthcare venture.

According to ABJ COO Jack Stoddard, the initial focus of the collaborative is gathering data and researching the levers that drive costs and prices in healthcare.

Optum said in the suit that due to the nature of his position, former executive David Smith was one of fewer than 50 people at the company with access to Optum’s consolidated set of profit and loss statements at a product-line level.

The companies said the new price was due to a decline in the financial status of the medical group, along with a desire to expedite the process of obtaining clearance from the Federal Trade Commission. 

Keeping health plan provider directories current is a major administrative and cost burden for the industry, with an estimated $2.1 billion spent annually across the healthcare system to acquire and maintain provider data.

Panelists at the MedCity Engage conference in San Diego agreed that a growing shortage of mental health professionals mean that technology has a key role to play in improving behavioral health treatment.

Most recently, Udi Manber has served as a healthcare researcher and faculty member at the National Institutes of Health and at UC San Francisco.

UnitedHealth Group CEO Dave Wichmann laid out the company’s plan to launch “fully integrated and fully portable individual health record” on an earnings call last week.