Optum Guide: A Health Advocacy Solution

HEATHER LOOK: Here we go. 

JEREMY SELKO: Optum Guide is a member service model that's really, truly making healthcare human. 

HEATHER LOOK: The service we built is helping people navigate healthcare much more simply. 

SHAWN MCNATIN: People need help. People need a copilot. People need somebody who looks out for them, who is an industry insider. 

STEPHANIE MEYER: Every opportunity we get to connect with a member, we take very seriously. It started with members that had children that had special needs. We noticed that these members were having an incredibly challenging time navigating the system. We also recognized that while we proved out there was a value to helping members in that way, there were certainly broader needs across the healthcare system that were not focused on dependents with special needs.

HEATHER LOOK: Members with complex conditions have even more to navigate. It's our job to help them make sure to get the most out of all the benefits that their employer has provided. 

JEREMY SELKO: We want people to live healthier lives, holistically. We want to guide people through to root cause solutions. 

HEATHER LOOK: Our guides do whatever it takes to help members navigate healthcare. Healthcare is hard, and we need to be able to make it easy. 

STEPHANIE MEYER: And helping bring clinical and administrative needs together, in an on demand model for members, is not only what they need, it’s helping heal the healthcare system kind of one member at a time. 

SHAWN MCNATIN: When they don't have that advocate, they're not getting the best care. They're not getting the highest quality. And their health suffers, they spend more on health care, there's bad outcomes, the payers suffer. And so the whole ecosystem is impacted by those poor decisions and lack of knowledge.

JEREMY SELKO: Our people are making incredible differences in the lives of those they serve, and they take it very personally. We've had instances where our agents, our advocates, have been invited to weddings.

PATIENT ADVOCATE: How are you doing?

FEMALE PATIENT: Good. 

JEREMY SELKO: They're not just patients. They're not just a number on an ID card. They're part of our family.

SHAWN MCNATIN: They just never expect this out of their insurance company or their plan sponsor or the customers that buy our services. It's a wow factor almost every time. 

JEREMY SELKO: My mom recently had cancer. I wish she had someone that stood by her, removed all of the barriers, allowed her to just focus on her illness and overcoming it, enjoying and embracing her family. That's what we do. 

STEPHANIE MEYER: That's why this work is important. We're not only trying to change advocacy inside of Optum, we're trying to change the way healthcare is delivered in the US, and this is one step closer to that.