MedExpress bought by United Health Group
United Health Group, owner of the nation's largest health insurer, is jumping into the fast-growing urgent care business with an acquisition of the largest operator of such centers in Western Pennsylvania.
Optum, a United subsidiary, said it bought Morgantown, W.Va.-based MedExpress for an undisclosed price this month, giving the company a much larger foothold in a $17 billion industry.
The purchase highlights a move by some health insurers to diversify into the business of providing medical care and underscores a growing interest in companies that provide care in a retail setting. Downtown-based Highmark Inc., the state's largest health insurer, had acquired a stake in MedExpress as part of its formation of the Allegheny Health Network.
“It's a blockbuster deal in the urgent care space,” said Thomas Charland, CEO of consulting firm Merchant Medicine in Shoreview, Minn.
Charland said health care companies and investors are getting into the urgent care business because the centers offer a way to attract patients who are looking for value and convenience.
The walk-in centers are less expensive than emergency rooms and unlike doctor offices, don't require appointments, he said. The growing popularity of high-deductible insurance plans means patients are making more decisions about where to spend their health care dollars.
“It's clearly a space where the whole walk-in, high-convenience space is very fast-growing, largely because of the economics of health care right now,” Charland said. “Most money is coming out of individuals' pockets, and they're thinking twice about where to go.”
The urgent care industry is generating revenue of $17 billion a year and growing at a rate of 8 percent a year, according to estimates by research firm IBISWorld.
Buying MedExpress gives Optum's small urgent care business a boost. The company owns nine Optum Clinics in Texas, Nevada and Kansas. Privately held MedExpress owns 141 urgent care centers in 11 states and has an administration center in Cecil.
MedExpress is the nation's fourth-largest operator of urgent care centers, according to Charland's research, and it's getting bigger. It will open 25 to 30 centers this year, according to Optum.
Spokespeople for MedExpress and Optum said MedExpress will retain its administrative offices in Morgantown and Cecil and “continue to operate its business as usual.”
“We look forward to working with MedExpress to build on the exceptional care and services it provides today, and to expanding this progressive and successful approach to care to more communities across the country,” Optum CEO Larry Renfro said in a statement.
Highmark spokesman Aaron Billger said the insurer expects its members to continue to have access to MedExpress.
United Health Group, which owns the nation's largest health insurer in United Healthcare, is not the only company getting into the urgent care business.
Anthem Inc., the largest Blue Cross health insurance company in the country, partnered with a private equity firm in 2012 to buy a stake in Physicians Immediate Care, an owner of clinics in Illinois, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has invested in FastMed Urgent Care, which operates centers in North Carolina and Arizona.
Alex Nixon is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7928 or anixon@tribweb.com.
