Not all health care is equal, and that can affect the care you receive. According to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine, "adults receive the recommended medical treatment only 55 percent of the time."1 That's why UnitedHealthcare developed the UnitedHealth Premium® program, which recognizes physicians that meet guidelines for providing safe, timely, effective and efficient quality care.
No two doctors are alike, and you probably think about many factors when choosing a physician. We offer tools and information to help you make more confident health care decisions. When you're looking for a doctor, you can consider his or her Premium designation when making your choice. Physicians may also use these designations when referring patients to other physicians.
Premium Care Physicians are featured in our medical care directories (including on www.myuhc.com®) with the following icon and description. All other physicians have no designation display.
Physician designations are determined based on a comparison of current version and previous version evaluation results.
The fact that a physician does not have a Premium Care Physician does not mean that the physician does not provide quality health care services. All physicians in the UnitedHealthcare Network have met certain minimum credentialing requirements (separate from the Premium program).
No designation is given when a physician does not practice in a specialty that is evaluated by the Premium program. There is also no designation given when a physician does not have enough health plan claims data to be evaluated, but it is not an indicator of the total number of patients treated by the physician or the number of procedures performed by the physician. Rather, it reflects the statistical requirements of the Premium program.
In markets where tiered benefit plans are available, employers may choose to offer their employees a tiered benefit plan with a lower member cost share for using select Premium Care Physicians.
The Premium program evaluates nearly 400,000 physicians across most states2 and specialties3.
Access the documents below directly to view frequently asked questions about the program:
Use the links below to view the detailed methodology available to physicians, which includes information about the data, measures and statistical methods used to determine a physician's designation:
If you would like to provide feedback on the program, please send an email to PremiumProgram@uhc.com.
Important Notes about the Program
The UnitedHealth Premium® program is a resource for informational purposes only. Designations are displayed in UnitedHealthcare online physician directories at myuhc.com®. You should always visit myuhc.com for the most current information. Premium designations are a guide to choosing a physician and may be used as one of many factors you consider when choosing a physician. If you already have a physician, you may also wish to confer with him or her for advice on selecting other physicians. Physician evaluations have a risk of error and should not be the sole basis for selecting a physician. Please visit myuhc.com for detailed program information and methodologies.
1Asch, Steven M. et al. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2006 March 16; 354: 1147-1156.
The following program materials may be viewed directly by entering the full web address in your web browser address line:
