Owensboro Health and Optum Launch Comprehensive Partnership to Enhance Patient Care and Experience in Western Kentucky and Southern Indiana

• Optum will manage and modernize key functions including revenue cycle and information technology
• Relationship will bring new jobs and opportunities to the region and support future growth and innovation at Owensboro Health

OWENSBORO, Ky. & EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Owensboro Health and Optum today announced a partnership to enhance patient care and experience while meeting the community’s evolving health care needs. Through the partnership, Owensboro Health revenue cycle management operations and information technology services will become part of Optum, providing new opportunities for team member growth and career advancement. Together, Owensboro Health and Optum will improve patient outcomes and safety, and deliver greater value through adoption of new technologies.

“We are proud to be the regional leader in providing high-quality primary and specialty care for our friends, family and neighbors in western Kentucky and southern Indiana,” said Russ Ranallo, chief financial officer of Owensboro Health. “As partners with Optum, we’ll build on the innovative work we’ve already done, recruit and retain the loyalty of the best physicians and clinicians, invest in new technologies to enhance patient care, and expand our services to underserved areas. Owensboro Health has deep roots in the local community, and we look forward to continuing our tradition of service and doing what we do best for generations to come.”

As a part of this new relationship, Optum will manage a select set of operational functions and investments, allowing Owensboro Health to focus on its core competencies – patient care and service – and support future growth and innovation in the region. Specifically, Owensboro Health and Optum will:

• Simplify revenue cycle workflows so team members can spend more time communicating with patients and less time dealing with repetitive tasks.
• Deliver a transparent, patient-friendly billing experience and resolve issues quickly.
• Power digital health care transformation by enhancing infrastructure across all of Owensboro Health’s care delivery networks.
• Create a virtual Center of Excellence contact center training program to recruit, train and employ a regional workforce of both entry level and experienced talent to support health systems across the nation. The jobs will offer competitive wages and promote career growth in Owensboro and western Kentucky.
• Accelerate job creation and learning opportunities within Owensboro Health by supporting key workforce initiatives to help educate and train high school and college students in specialized health care roles. Optum will provide internships, mentoring programs and post-graduate hiring of qualified candidates.

“Optum is honored to be working with Owensboro Health to reinvent traditional health care models and systems, improve efficiency and address complex social and economic factors,” said Dan Schumacher, chief strategy and growth officer of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of Optum. “Together we can advance superior quality care and enhance the experience of patients, physicians, nurses and other providers.”

As a part of this new relationship, approximately 575 Owensboro Health team members in revenue cycle and information technology services will become part of Optum beginning in April 2023. These team members will continue to support Owensboro Health and become part of the Optum workforce of 220,000 people with a mission to help people live healthier lives and help make the health system work better for everyone. As part of Optum, these team members will have access to more state-of-the-art tools, technologies, processes, skills development training opportunities and new opportunities for advancement.

About Owensboro Health

Owensboro Health is a nonprofit health system with a mission to heal the sick and to improve the health of the communities it serves in Kentucky and Indiana. The system includes Owensboro Health Regional Hospital, nationally recognized for design, architecture and engineering; Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital; Owensboro Health Twin Lakes Medical Center; the Owensboro Health Medical Group comprised of over 200 providers at more than 20 locations; three outpatient Healthplex facilities, a certified medical fitness facility, the Healthpark; a surgical weight loss center and program, and the Mitchell Memorial Cancer Center.

On average each year, we have 16,000 inpatient admissions, deliver 2,000 babies and provide the region’s only Level III NICU. Owensboro Health physicians perform nearly 24,000 surgical procedures, including nearly 200 open-heart surgeries. Our physicians and staff have 70,000 Emergency Department visits, and more than a million outpatient visits annually. Visit our home page for more information.

About Optum

Optum is a leading information and technology-enabled health services business dedicated to helping make the health system work better for everyone. With more than 220,000 people worldwide, Optum delivers intelligent, integrated solutions that help to modernize the health system and improve overall population health. Optum is part of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH). For more information, visit www.Optum.com.