Name: Amar Desai
Previous title: Executive-in-residence, UnitedHealth
New title: Chief executive officer, Optum Health
After returning to UnitedHealth Group this spring following a brief stint at CVS Health, Desai announced on LinkedIn that he will head up Optum’s care delivery organization.
“I’m thrilled to be back at Optum leading Optum Health as Chief Executive Officer, working alongside 135k+ team members and caregivers to improve the health of 103 million people across the U.S.,” he wrote on Wednesday.
UnitedHealth’s health services arm Optum, which includes value-based care operations as well as data analytics and pharmacy services, is a growing moneymaker for the company, which also owns the nation’s largest insurer UnitedHealthcare. The unit’s revenue increased 25% year over year in the second quarter this year, from $45.1 billion in June 2022 to $56.3 billion in June 2023, and Optum Health now cares for more than 4 million patients in fully-capitated arrangements.
Desai had previously worked at Optum as president and CEO of Optum Pacific West, a value-based care delivery group for the West Coast. He had also served as president of medical group HealthCare Partners, which was purchased by UnitedHealth in 2019 through its acquisition of DaVita Medical Group.
In October, he left Optum to oversee CVS’ newly created care delivery division.
But Desai returned to UnitedHealth about six months later, in April, to serve as a senior adviser to its CEO Andrew Witty. At the time, a UnitedHealth spokesperson told Healthcare Dive that Desai would advise Witty and the executive team on ongoing efforts to develop a consumer-focused health system.
Optum and CVS did not respond to requests for comment about Desai’s latest role.
