LHC Group President and CEO Josh Proffitt on Wednesday shared a home-based, value-based vision for the company’s future.
UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) Optum acquired LHC Group last year for $5.4 billion.
“Home Care remains deeply fragmented, disconnected and too difficult to navigate,” Proffitt said Wednesday. “It accounts for about $150 billion of the health sector today, and we expect this figure to climb substantially by the end of the decade. By then, 20% of the US population will be 65 or older. More than 9 million will be over the age of 85. People are living longer.”
Based in Lafayette, Louisiana, LHC Group is one of the largest home health providers in the country. It has about 530 home health locations and over 120 hospice locations across at least 32 states.
“They have a lot of needs, yet they all want the same thing – to stay in their homes with their loved ones and enjoy their lives,” Proffitt continued. “And that’s why we’re determined to get this right, connecting the services, experiences and support people need, and staying right there at their side every step of the way.”
Optum has also agreed to acquire Amedisys – another one of the largest home health providers in the country – though that deal is currently being challenged by the Department of Justice over anticompetitive concerns.
Proffitt also acknowledged how LHC Group is expanding its scope under Optum. For instance, he said that Optum is increasingly helping people manage urgent care issues in the home.
“Clinicians – and our always-on-call center – fill nearly 7,500 of these calls each month, and in the cases that can’t be resolved over the phone, a clinician will go to the patient’s home to address acute issues and administer medications,” he said. “Nearly 80% of these cases avoid hospitalization, and we expect to expand this capability to a broader mix of patients in the years ahead.”
LHC Group specifically provides care under the Optum Health umbrella, and within that, in home and community care.
Proffitt called out Optum’s Care Transitions, too, which was formerly known as naviHealth.
“For patients who need hospital care, our Care Transitions program has referred approximately 124,000 patients in 2024 to home and community programs for further post-discharge support,” he said. “This ability to smoothly and effectively coordinate care across different settings while minimizing disruption for patients and providers truly does set us apart. But what is unique and essential to this value-based care model is that no interaction occurs in isolation – primary care physicians and their care teams are situated in the center of it all.”
Optum additionally highlighted its initiative to grow care in the home in an information deck it released prior to the investor day.
“Home care is a key element of our value-based care approach,” the investor deck read. “It is essential to delivering more equitable and accessible care that effectively addresses a patient’s complex conditions, medication adherence, social needs and behavioral health challenges. This year we will make approximately 16 million home visits, helping to reduce hospital admissions and ensure more of our patients have access to a primary care physician.”
