Today in Healthcare: UHC and Walgreens Make Digital Advancements, U.K. HC Records at Heart of Lawsuit

Today in healthcare, DeepMind gets hit with class-action lawsuit by U.K. patients. Plus, Walgreens rolls out a healthcare-focused business segment, and UnitedHealth Group reports healthy fiscal growth as it plans to expand.

Walgreens Launches New Business Segment Focused on Healthcare

Walgreens now has a business segment dedicated to healthcare, with executives saying during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Thursday (Oct. 14) that the future of the pharmacy retail chain is dependent on making medical care easier for connected consumers.

“Consumers are embracing retail pharmacy to manage their healthcare more than ever,” Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer told investors and analysts, which is why the company is launching a new business segment, called Walgreens Health, to create a more unified healthcare offering for consumers.

Google’s DeepMind Facing Suit Over UK Health Data

Google-owned artificial intelligence (AI) research firm DeepMind is facing a class-action lawsuit over its use of the health records of 1.6 million U.K. patients. DeepMind was given access to the records to build a health app known as Streams, according to a PC Gamer report.

The lawsuit, which was filed by chief plaintiff Andrew Prismall, a patient at Royal Free Hospital, includes about 1.6 million patients who can opt out if they don’t want to be part of the litigation.

UnitedHealth, Walgreens Play to Digital Strengths in Latest Earnings

UnitedHealth Group and Walgreens both reported fiscal growth and ongoing strategic expansions of their respective connected healthcare ecosystems during quarterly earnings calls on Thursday (Oct. 14).

UnitedHealth Group’s Q3 2021 revenues of $72.3 billion are up 11.1% year over year in what the company called “balanced, double-digit growth at both Optum and UnitedHealthcare.” OptumHealth stole the spotlight with digital efforts, President and Chief Operating Officer Dirk McMahon said.

Walgreens also talked up digital, with CEO Roz Brewer pointing to the creation of “a range of consumer-centric healthcare solutions, which will form the engine for our next phase of growth” during the company’s investor presentation on Thursday (Oct. 14).

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