Can Digital Workflows at Optum Rx Transform UNH's Patient Experience?

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated UNH is doubling down on digital transformation throughout its healthcare ecosystem, with its pharmacy benefits division, Optum Rx, playing a key role in this initiative. In order to give patients a faster, safer and more personalized prescription experience, the company is investing more resources in automated and data-integrated workflows.

At the core of this strategy, Optum Rx is transforming routine administrative tasks like refill authorizations, claim verifications and formulary checks into smart, automated systems. This shift allows pharmacists to spend more time on clinical counselling and engaging with patients rather than doing paperwork. By harnessing predictive analytics and AI-driven platforms, Optum Rx can spot gaps in medication adherence, flag potential drug interactions and suggest optimized therapy options in real time. It also plans to remove the need for reauthorization on certain medications for chronic conditions, which marks another step aimed at making care more straightforward and continuous.

This digital transformation highlights UNH’s commitment to leveraging technology for better healthcare delivery and enhancing patient engagement. In the second quarter of 2025, Optum Rx’s revenues rose 19% year over year, benefited from growth in new clients, expansion in existing client relationships and pharmacy services.

However, the real challenge lies in maintaining the essential human touch throughout the process, making sure that technology enhances the roles of pharmacists and supports patients without replacing the personal guidance that matters most. If UNH can balance between innovation and trust, Optum Rx’s automation model could serve as a blueprint for the broader healthcare system, enhancing patient experiences.

How Are Competitors Faring?

Some of UNH’s major competitors in the AI-enabled healthcare workflows are Elevance Health, Inc. ELV and Humana Inc. HUM.

Elevance Health is taking a comprehensive approach by integrating AI across the entire organization. Instead of running isolated programs, Elevance Health is using AI as a strategic asset to reduce costs, enhance operational efficiency and provide clinical and experiential benefits to members and provider partners.

Humana focuses on using AI ethically to improve patient experience, enhance care quality and achieve better health outcomes while ensuring human involvement in any clinical decision-making process. Humana’s CenterWell segment’s revenues rose 11.9% year over year in the second quarter of 2025.

UnitedHealth’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of UNH have declined 26.9% in the year-to-date period compared with the industry’s fall of 21.3%.

From a valuation standpoint, UnitedHealth trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, above the industry average of 16.84. UNH carries a Value Score of B.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for UnitedHealth’s 2025 earnings is pegged at $16.20 per share, implying a 41.4% drop from the year-ago period.

UNH stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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