UnitedHealthcare (UHC) recently released its latest Premium Designation assessment results to California physicians on July 20. The Premium Program Version 11 results, based on claims data from January 1, 2015, through February 28, 2018, will be released publicly via the payor's online physician directory beginning September 2018.

Physicians within 16 specialty categories, encompassing 47 subspecialties including pediatric internal medicine (new for 2018), will again be ranked by UHC on both national and specialty-specific measures for quality and various cost-efficiency benchmarks. Physicians meeting or exceeding these benchmarks will receive a Premium Designation notation on their physician profiles, marketed to UHC enrollees through the payor’s online physician directory. In addition, employers may choose to offer health benefit programs (e.g., reduced cost-sharing or tiered benefit programs) that offer benefit incentives, such as lower copays or coinsurance, for members that use physicians with the UHC Premium Designation.

In conjunction with the release of the latest Premium Designation results, UHC will launch a new website, UnitedHealthPremium.UHC.com, which will house all program materials, including methodology.