Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice.

Is UnitedHealth Group Incorporated's (NYSE:UNH) Stock's Recent Performance Being Led By Its Attractive Financial Prospects?

Two months after hackers broke into Change Healthcare systems stealing and then encrypting company data, it’s still unclear how many Americans were UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty finally gave an estimate of how many Americans were impacted by the hack on the company&#x27;s subsidiary Change ...

UnitedHealthcare CEO says 'maybe a third' of US citizens were affected by recent hack | TechCrunch

Hackers who breached UnitedHealth&#x27;s tech unit in February potentially stole a third of Americans&#x27; data, the largest U.S. health insurer&#x27;s CEO told a Congressional committee on Wednesday.

UnitedHealth says hackers potentially stole a third of Americans' data | Reuters

UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty told lawmakers that its subsidiary Change Healthcare didn&#x27;t have multifactor authentification.

UnitedHealth data breach caused by lack of multifactor authentication, CEO says - CBS News

Several lawmakers questioned whether the company had become so large — with tentacles in every aspect of the nation’s medical care — that the effects of the hack were outsize.

UnitedHealth’s CEO Slammed Over Cyberattack - The New York Times

Andrew Witty is on Capitol Hill today, answering questions about the health giant’s data breach.

U.S. lawmakers slam UnitedHealth’s cybersecurity, call the company ‘a monopoly on steroids’

Senators questioned UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty on Wednesday about a cyberattack on its subsidiary Change Healthcare.

UnitedHealth CEO tells lawmakers the company paid hackers a $22 million ransom

Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, faced withering criticism from lawmakers over the company’s handling of a crippling cyberattack.

UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty testifies on Change Healthcare hack in Congress - The Washington Post

UnitedHealth Group said on Friday its Change Healthcare unit will start to process the medical claims backlog of more than $14 billion as it resumes some software services disrupted by a cyberattack last month.

UnitedHealth unit will start processing $14 bln medical claims backlog after hack | Reuters

Lawmakers haven’t hidden their frustrations about the Change cyberattack, as constituents fill their ears and inboxes with stories about the consequences.

Senate set to grill UnitedHealth over Change Healthcare crisis - The Washington Post

UnitedHealth Group

unitedhealthgroup

How to Protect Small and Middle Businesses From Cyberattacks

Welcome to " ". This week we have an Entrepreneur and tech expert who thinks Monday is the most exciting day of the week. His previous experience includes working for Tech giants like Twitter, Teradata, IBM--before he found fulfillment in graphs at his venture TigerGraph! Mondays with Entrepreneurs 's the Guest? Who : Name Dr. Yu Xu Dr. Yu Xu is CEO of 💪What they do: TigerGraph So before starting your week, pause for a coffee break ;) and enjoy this chit-chat with Dr. Yu Xu. 1. What topic areas are you most passionate about? I’m most passionate about bringing the power of graphs to advanced analytics, Machine Learning (ML), and Artificial Intelligence (AI). With the native and parallel technology breakthroughs in the industry by TigerGraph, utilizing graph analytics on large data sets to provide unique features that improve traditional ML/AI models is critical to many use cases. Such use cases include anti-money laundering, supply-chain optimization, real-time fraud prevention, customer journey analytics, personalized recommendation systems, and more. 2. Through your experience, how do you visualize the evolution of data mining and data science? Could you brief them? Data mining and data science have a long history. Due to the data explosion over the past 10 years and the dramatic cost reduction in data storage and performance improvements in CPU/GPU, deep learning (auto-ML) is fundamentally changing how data mining and sciences are applied across industries today. In addition to all the exciting things happening in data mining and data science right now, an up and coming trend to shed light on is how to leverage graph technology to augment ML/AI, whether it’s new features only available through graphs, or explainability for ML models. Graph neural networks are gaining tons of attention in both academia and industries. TigerGraph has organized an open conference called Graph + AI Summit, which occurs twice a year to facilitate this. The last two virtual conferences have been hugely successful, bringing together over 10,000 data scientists and researchers, Fortune 100 companies, innovative startups, and industry analysts to share best practices for combining graph and AI. 3. How did you get to become an expert in Data Analytics? I gained experience in data analytics through my years of experience training in the field. I’ve always been a database guy, as I see it as an integral part of the data analytics infrastructure. To further my knowledge in this discipline, I got my Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, San Diego. Beyond this, working with customers every day helps me learn what matters to real-world use cases. 4. 2 Sentences that best summarize how you learned ML and data analytics? I learned the basics and theories from my M.S. and Ph.D. studies in Computer Science. I also learned a great deal while at Teradata, working with leading customers and their use cases. And while I was at , I got to work alongside some of the best data scientists and ML engineers in the world. These experiences taught me a lot more than what I learned from my schooling. Twitter Now, I am learning from leading companies such as UnitedHealth Group, JP Morgan Chase, Visa, Jaguar Land Rover, Duke Energy, Nike, Walmart, and many other innovative companies, specifically using graphs to improve their ML and data analytics. I find this, even more, educational and inspiring. 5. What’s the main value proposition of Graph Analytics Technology? The main value propositions for graph analytics technology are highlighted with the phrase, “Connect, Analyze and Learn from Data.” Graph analytics provides these three core capabilities to drive business outcomes: Connect all data sets and pipelines: Organizations of all sizes are connecting all of their data, including Spark pipelines, for machine learning and Kafka pipelines for streaming data with a distributed graph database. Analyze connected data for never-before insights with advanced analytics: After connecting all of the data, the next step is to analyze the data 10-100 times faster with graph-based analytics. Learn from the connected data with in-database ML: After connecting and analyzing data, organizations are learning from the data with graph-based ML. 6. Can you please brief us on How are graphs used for e-commerce/customer intelligence, anti-fraud detection, supply chain intelligence, and other areas? For this question, I think it will be most powerful to explain using customer examples aligning with the core capabilities listed in question 5. These include: You can connect data sets and pipelines: One customer example would be . They are connecting 200+ sources to deliver a real-time customer 360 to improve the quality of care for 50 million members. UnitedHealth Group The graph is also used to analyze connected data, providing never-before insights through advanced analytics: For example, has accelerated supply chain planning from 3 weeks to 45 minutes, reduced supplier risk by 35%, and added 100 million pounds annually in profits. NewDay, a leading specialist financial services provider and one of the largest issuers of credit cards in the UK, uses advanced graph analytics to prevent and preempt financial fraud. Jaguar Land Rover There are many opportunities to learn from the connected data with in-database ML: has built an AI-based customer 360 with in-database ML for entity resolution, personalized recommendations, and fraud detection. Graph-based ML at Intuit has reduced at-risk events by 50% while improving accuracy by 50%, overall reducing false positives. Seven out of the top 10 banks are driving real-time fraud detection and credit risk assessment with in-database ML. Intuit 7. Regarding Tiger Graph’s growth, What is the biggest improvement that you introduced in the last 12 months that has considerably improved your workflow? The #1 challenge for TigerGraph right now is our goal of hiring 300+ talented team members quickly to scale our business. Before the pandemic hit, TigerGraph was mostly hiring in the San Francisco Bay Area, especially within our engineering teams. In the middle of last year, we decided to drop the location requirement, which is the single biggest improvement that has materially changed our business. 8. What are the top challenges you currently face as a professional data scientist and CEO? And how do you go about tackling them? Hiring the right talent is critical to the success of our business. As mentioned earlier, TigerGraph is hiring in many locations now. For example, we’re building an R&D Innovation lab in San Diego and a sales center in Dallas. Another challenge we’ve faced is how to take our successes in the U.S. and UK, and expand our business to more regions. We’re hiring experienced leaders in various regions who can help the company build local teams quickly. 9. Which non-paid activities would you be keen to take part in if the opportunity raised your profile or delivered value to your audience? I would love to volunteer and educational opportunities with student organizations to help students learn how to navigate new tools like graph analytics and UI/BI in data analytics. 10. What are your passions outside of work? I enjoy reading books and listening to music. 11. And the last question, since the series is named “Monday with Entrepreneurs”, What are your Monday Morning rituals? I start my Monday mornings with a cup of coffee! Following that, I get ready for our TigerGraph executive meeting and look forward to sharing what’s been on my mind over the past couple of days with the team and hearing their updates in return. Monday is one of the most exciting days of the week, in my opinion, so I’m pretty psyched in the morning . I'm so glad we had this time together. Thank you for taking a break from your life to share your knowledge with us. I'm sure readers will enjoy and learn. Shahmeer: Thanks, Hackers, for reading :) If you have any suggestions regarding questions to ask in this series or if you want to get featured, I am available on , and you can also reach out to me on ;) slack Linkedin

"Connect, Analyze and Learn from Data" - Dr. Yu Xu

[Photo by on ] freestocks.org Unsplash CVS is offering to pay $66 billion for Aetna — a blending that could turn local drugstores into health insurers. Assessing the impacts of the recent rash of mergers and takeovers in the healthcare field. The mega-marketplace revolution is in full swing across all industries right now. Amazon shelled out $13.7 billion for Whole Foods in an effort to gain a stronger foothold in the grocery industry, AT&T wants to buy Time Warner for $85 billion, UnitedHealth Group is acquiring DaVita Medical Group and the latter’s 300 doctors’ clinics for $4.9 billion, and CVS is offering to pay $66 billion for Aetna — a blending that could turn local drugstores into health insurers. These deals collectively paint a picture of a business environment that’s ripe for consolidation and ready to merge. Of particular interest to the healthcare industry — already grappling with changes and turmoil on many different fronts — the proposed CVS-Aetna deal could find the acquirer creating a unified, seamless benefits offering to customers (such as large employers). “The combined behemoth would also have a large and diversified store of health data, an important asset in today’s competitive environment,” the reports, noting that Amazon’s intention to “move into the pharmacy business helped spur CVS’ move on Aetna.” Wall Street Journal From this recent spate of mega-deals, the entities involved expect benefits like improved economies of scale (the “power of one” versus various, scattered entities), better profits (which, in turn, can fund R&D and other initiatives); and new faces on the newly-combined firm’s management and leadership teams. The disadvantages include, but aren’t limited to, difficulties coordinating and communicating across the combined entity and the length of time it takes to physically “merge” the two companies into a single, efficient organization. The question is, how will these combined superpowers impact their customers and their respective industries as a whole? Here are four ways things could play out: It could spawn a groundswell of mega-mergers and, subsequently, less competition. If the merger goes through, it could trigger another wave of takeovers. In fact, analysts feel it could cause a wave of industry consolidation, with Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) and Rite-Aid (RAD) currently seeking mergers or acquisitions with other major health insurers. This could give a smaller concentration of companies a bigger stronghold on the nation’s healthcare industry. Consumer options could be reduced and customers could be subjected to higher co-pays (i.e., if they select a non-CVS drugstore to fill an Aeta plan prescription). Healthcare is a fundamental service that’s comparable to cable, electricity, and telephones, all of which have been consolidated under mega brands and via mega-mergers. And while healthcare is a highly-regulated industry, the idea of only having one drugstore or one insurance provider to choose from could push prices up while whittling down choices. Better economies of scale could be in sight for healthcare insurers and other providers. Under pressure to address losses suffered from former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, and then navigate the murky waters of Obamacare eradication, major health insurers have been grappling with reductions in program offerings. Health care mergers and acquisitions have been rampant over the last few years, making the savings associated with economies of scale that much more critical as margins tighten. In the CVS-Aetna deal, for example, the combined entity would also have more firepower against a giant e-tailer like Amazon — an advantage that companies across many industries are trying to figure out right now. In fact, the “Amazon Effect” is one of the drivers of healthcare mergers and the quest to provide a single point of service and information for customers. This, in turn, helps to reduce the cost of running the healthcare supply chain, the cost of customer acquisition, and the cost of healthcare delivery. Amazon is already leveraging these advantages in numerous marketplaces, and healthcare firms want to be able to replicate that in their own industry. Premiums may not get any lower. Seeking relief from rising insurance and healthcare bills, consumers are waiting for a miracle to come and lower their bills. The CVS-Aetna deal probably isn’t their knight in shining armor. In fact, there’s been no real impact on lowering premiums among beneficiaries due to health insurance mergers, according to a study. In fact, statistics show that less competition in the health payer market can result in higher monthly premiums for beneficiaries, and particularly for those in employer-sponsored, commercial health plans. But just because you merge an insurance company with the drugstore doesn’t mean consumers will be privy to lower prices. At a basic level, premiums really only go down if fewer people visit the doctor or hospital, and a mega-merger isn’t going to make that happen. Harvard Business Review Organizations may stop innovating. When was the last time your cable company introduced a groundbreaking, innovative product? Or your electric company rolled out a pioneering new service? The answer is probably “never,” and that’s because competition spawns innovation. In the absence of a competitor knocking on your customers’ doors, trying to sell them a newer, better, and more efficient product or service, the drive to innovate dwindles to zero. This could happen if we start to see more healthcare companies merging and creating less competition for themselves. Anytime you have a captive consumer, companies don’t think too hard about innovation. As more companies look to merge with one another in an effort to gain operational savings, reduce overhead, eliminate redundancies, and gain a foothold in new verticals, the underlying tenets of healthcare probably won’t change much — namely because transformation can’t happen unless we take a holistic view of the problem and fix all of the pain points within that larger picture. Because all of the systems that make up the bigger healthcare picture are interdependent, you can’t just fix one part and expect transformation to occur. In the end, preventative medicine is what’s going to reduce the cost of healthcare, and that’s both an individual and a social responsibility. Copyright © 2017 by Faisal Hoque. All rights reserved. I am an . Founder of and other companies. Shadoka enables aspirations to lead, innovate, and transform. Shadoka’s accelerators and solutions bring together the management frameworks, digital platforms, and thought leadership to enable innovation, transformation, entrepreneurship, growth and social impact. entrepreneur and author SHADOKA Author of “ ” (McGraw Hill) and “ ” (Motivational Press). Follow me on Twitter . Everything Connects — How to Transform and Lead in the Age of Creativity, Innovation and Sustainability Survive to Thrive: 27 Practices of Resilient Entrepreneurs, Innovators, and Leaders Faisal Hoque Use the Everything Connects leadership app and Suvvive to Thrive resiliancy app for free.

Stories, News & Mentions about UNITEDHEALTHGROUP

Unitedhealthgroup’s Stories on HackerNoon

Unitedhealthgroup's News & Mentions