United Healthcare 2006 Annual Report Download - page 13

• Affordability across a wide product line from essential needs to comprehensive benefit plans, all of which
offer access to our broad-based proprietary network with economic benefits reflective of the aggregate
purchasing capacity of our organization;
• Innovative clinical programs — built around an extensive longitudinal clinical data set and the principles of
evidence-based medicine;
• Access to quality and cost information for physicians and hospitals through the UnitedHealth Premium
program;
• Care facilitation services that use several identification tools including proprietary predictive technology to
identify individuals with significant gaps in care and unmet needs or risks for potential health problems and
then facilitate appropriate interventions;
• Disease and condition management programs to help individuals address significant, complex disease states;
• Convenient self-service tools for health transactions and information; and
• Clinical information that physicians can use to better serve their patients as well as improve their practices.
UnitedHealthcare’s regional and national access to broad, affordable and quality networks of health care
providers has advanced over the past three years, with significant increases in access to services in California,
Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Central Illinois, Northern Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Western
Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Eastern Tennessee,
Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington DC. UnitedHealthcare has also organized
health care alliances with select regional not-for-profit health plans to facilitate greater customer access and
affordability.
We believe that UnitedHealthcare’s innovation distinguishes its product offerings from the competition. Its
consumer-oriented health benefits and services value individual choice and control in accessing health care.
UnitedHealthcare has programs that provide health education, admission counseling before hospital stays, care
advocacy to help avoid delays in patients’ stays in the hospital, support for individuals at risk of needing
intensive treatment and coordination of care for people with chronic conditions. Data-driven networks and
clinical management are organized around clinical lines of service such as behavioral health; cardiology;
congenital heart disease; kidney disease; oncology; neuroscience; orthopedics; spine; women’s health; primary
care and transplantation to provide consumers with the necessary resources and information to make more
informed choices when managing their health. UnitedHealthcare also offers comprehensive and integrated
pharmaceutical management services that achieve lower costs by using formulary programs that drive better unit
costs for drugs, benefit designs that encourage consumers to use drugs that offer the best value and outcomes,
and physician and consumer programs that support the appropriate use of drugs based on clinical evidence.
UnitedHealthcare’s distribution system consists primarily of insurance producers and direct and Internet
marketing sales in the individual market; insurance producers in the small employer group market; and producers
and other consultant-based or direct sales for large employer and public sector groups. UnitedHealthcare’s direct
distribution efforts are generally limited to the individual market, portions of the large employer group and public
sector markets, and cross-selling of specialty products to existing customers.
Ovations
Ovations provides health and well-being services for individuals age 50 and older, addressing their unique needs
for preventive and acute health care services as well as for services dealing with chronic disease and other
specialized issues for older individuals. Ovations, through its affiliates, is one of few enterprises fully dedicated
to this market segment, providing products and services in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico,
the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Ovations participates nationally in the
Medicare program, offering a wide-ranging spectrum of Medicare products, including Medigap products that
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