May 15, 2017, 2:32pm CDT
UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s Optum unit
is nearing a deal to acquire a physician group in Central Massachusetts.
Reliant
Medical Group's physicians voted last week to proceed with talks with Optum.
Reliant employs 2,500 workers, including 500 physicians, the Boston
Business Journal reports. Reliant generated $556 million in revenue
in 2014, according to the most recent data available.
“Reliant has long been a leader in providing
high-quality health care to the people of Massachusetts,” said Andrew Hayek, CEO of
OptumHealth, in a statement. “We look forward to working with the Reliant team
to help make the health system work better for everyone.”
The acquisition would be Optum’s first venture into the
Massachusetts health care provider market and would put Optum’s technology and
network at Reliant’s 25 locations throughout the state. The deal has already
been approved by independently owned Reliant, but still requires regulatory
approval.
Optum's health care provider arm, OptumCare, has expanded
rapidly in recent years, largely through acquisitions. The business runs
urgent- and primary-care centers in addition to providing other services. It
has steered clear of buying hospitals.
Optum's other care-provider M&A deals have included
acquiring urgent-care chain MedExpress. It more recently spent $2.3 billion to buy Surgical
Care Affiliates, which runs surgery centers. It has a long-term goal
of expanding into 75 markets.
OptumCare has a network of 17,000 primary care providers and
specialists nationwide. It's part of Minnetonka-based UntiedHealth's (NYSE:
UNH) broader Optum business, which develops technology, manages pharmacy
benefits and provides an array of other services to health systems and
insurers.
Katharine Grayson covers med tech, clean tech, technology, health
care and venture capital.
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