UnitedHealth Group was founded by Dr. Paul Ellwood and Mr. Richard Burke in 1977. Dr. Ellwood re-imagined healthcare and is often referred to as the “father of the health maintenance organization”. Ellwood began his career as a pediatric neurologist, specializing in Polio, and then realized that care was being given in regards to economic benefit and not patient benefit. He was invited to help President Nixon’s staff to reform the way this country approached healthcare. Mr. Richard Burke is an entrepreneur who currently sits as the Chair of the Board of Directors. He also worked as the CEO of United HealthCare until 1988.
UnitedHealth Group was founded in a time that healthcare was still rapidly developing. In 1979, the first network-based health plan was introduced for seniors. UnitedHealth also began the earliest experiments to find alternatives to …show more content…
In 2009 UnitedHealth launched DocGPS which allowed Iphone users to locate providers and clinics in their location using the new GPS feature. In 2009 the Patient-Centered Medical Home program (PCMH) was put into effect which allowed patients to receive coordinated care from their primary care physician instead of receiving fragmented and episodic care from various healthcare providers and facilities. In 2015, UnitedHealth also took part in two groundbreaking cancer research programs that place patient needs at the center of patient