Pages

Friday, August 24, 2018

CEO looking to reinvent going to the doctor says he can cut all US health costs by 10 percent

One Medical CEO Amir Rubin told CNBC on Friday the primary-care organization's recent investment from private equity firm Carlyle Group will help it reach its goal of decreasing overall health-care spending in the U.S.

On Wednesday, One Medical announced that it had received an investment of up to $350 million from Carlyle Group. Rubin said use of the new funds will include doubling its office space, expanding its membership footprint and aggressively hiring more medical professionals.

The group, which is backed by Alphabet's GV, has 72 offices across 9 cities.

"Our goal is to delight millions of consumers and take out 10 percent of the U.S. health-care spend," Rubin, a former executive of UnitedHealth Group, said in a "Squawk Box" interview. "So, we're thrilled with our partnership with Carlyle, and as we continue to grow we'll tackle that approach."

CNBC previously reported that One Medical was in talks with Carlyle. One Medical, which offers concierge-style primary care, allows patients same-day office visits and around-the-clock virtual medical assistance from professionals. Rubin expects providing high-quality office visits will reduce a patient's need for additional appointments, thus reducing costs.

One Medical's approach comes as health spending rises in the U.S. and corporations begin to take the cost of care for employees into their own hands.

Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, Amazon's Jeff Bezos and J.P. Morgan's Jamie Dimon announced in January a venture designed to cut health costs and improve services for their U.S. employees. The three hope their companies' sheer sizes will help bring the necessary scale and resources to tackle the health-care system's most pertinent issues.

Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon who has written extensively about inefficiencies in the health-care system, was selected to lead the joint health-care venture.

Lowering the cost of health care and improving outcomes will be much tougher than it appears, experts say, with health spending representing 18 percent of gross domestic product and seen as rising.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

from Top News & Analysis https://ift.tt/2BHXmLC
via IFTTT

No comments:

Post a Comment