UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) Optum has a new leader, one that will have a hand in integrating and leveraging two of the largest home health companies in the country in LHC Group and Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED).
Dr. Amar Desai – an Optum veteran who most recently spent time as the president of health care delivery at CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) – is the next CEO of Optum.
“Those of you that know me are familiar with my commitment to team, impact and serving others,” Desai wrote in a LinkedIn post Wednesday. “I can’t think of a more distinctive platform to make a larger difference in the health and health care of communities across the country. I am looking forward to working with our team who always puts patients and caregivers at the center of everything we do, and focus on making each interaction and moment with our patients matter.”
Optum is the health care services arm of UnitedHealth Group. Its capabilities are vast, and include home-based primary care, home health and hospice. Overall, it has 135,000 team members and provides care to more than 100 million Americans.
It acquired LHC Group officially earlier this year. It then entered an agreement to acquire Amedisys in late June.
If the Amedisys deal goes through, Optum will be the largest provider of home health services in the country, owning about 10% of the market.
Desai will replace Dr. Wyatt Decker as Optum CEO. Decker is moving into another role within UnitedHealth Group as the chief physician of value-based care.
“In this new role, I’ll be focused on strengthening and deepening our value-based care capabilities and innovative clinical solutions across UnitedHealth Group and working across health care to advocate for comprehensive, equitable care that addresses a person’s whole health,” Decker also wrote on LinkedIn. “On a personal note, it has been a great honor leading Optum Health for nearly five years. Being part of an organization that has matured into a leading national integrated care platform has been one of the greatest experiences in my life. Optum Health is in great hands with my colleague and friend, Amar Desai.”
On Desai’s end, he previously served as the president and CEO of Optum California and Optum Pacific West.
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