Optum Global Solutions Philippines, in its 10th year of operation in the country, shared how it consistently managed to deliver world-class talent on the health space to fill in specific job requirements overseas while physically working from the Philippines.
Challenged by the pandemic and changes en route to post-pandemic normal, Optum committed its organization to further invest on talents as it prepares for a new environment and a new government, cognizant of the changes that may arise after the national elections.
“We want to make sure that we have the right talent and we’re making the investments ensuring that we are expanding the talent. We continue to look for opportunities to expand,” said Optum Philippines managing director Ivic Mueco.
“Throughout the 10 years that we’ve been operating in the Philippines, the constant factors of our success have been the dedication of our employees and our culture of genuine compassion for the members we serve and our colleagues. These two factors allow us to deliver the best service to those we serve while also improving ourselves,” she said.
Since 2011, Optum Philippines has been providing the best of healthcare with a full suite of consulting, technology and process solutions while maintaining care and compassion at the core of its services. Its sole client is the US-based healthcare organization UnitedHealth Group, which is in the Top 5 of the Fortune 500.
Now with a strong workforce of over 19,000, making its Philippine branch its second-largest operation, and four local sites in the country, Optum is looking to further expand and develop its business, and harness local talent through capability-building and career development programs.
“Hopefully, we might see this happening at the tail end of the pandemic but we are also facing a lot of global concern around what’s happening in Ukraine and alongside that, the pressure that come from the rising prices of oil. These are some of the macroeconomic that directly impacts the United Health Group thinking about growth. But what we can say is, definitely we are committed to the Philippines,” said Optum vice president for external affairs Darwin Mariano.
The company said it is still premature to talk about specific sites or very specific headcount expansion, given the very fluid environment.
“But we want to make sure that the 19,000 people that we already have continue to work in an environment where they get fulfillment, where they feel they would grow,” Mariano said, adding the company continues to evolve as the talent landscape evolves.
“And how that talent landscape evolves is influenced by government policies, but it is also influenced by how people now are thinking about ways of working, where they prefer to work, how they prefer to work. And I guess the differentiator is the compassion that sites under the many programs that we’ve implemented, whether is aimed for our employees or outside audiences,” he said.
Among the milestones Optum delivered was the launch of the Make A Difference campaign, which honors employees for the meaningful work they do as health care providers. It was recognized by the Contact Center Association of the Philippines for the company’s VR-enabled learning program.
Another is the 2020 Outstanding Exporter Award from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority as well as its inclusive initiatives through the Same Gender Partner Benefits for health insurance and retirement.
Caring for its people during the pandemic, Optum organized a vaccination drive for team members and offered time off for employees that suffered from extreme side effect of the vaccination. It also extended COVID care kits to employees and their families who contracted the disease.
Optum provided various forms of assistance to Cebu-based teammates after typhoon Odette hit the area in 2021 including financial assistance, on-site meals and dispatched food kits, water-refilling activities, absence exemption and temporary accommodations.
As part of its talent improvement program, Optum made sure that healthcare advocates and nurses need to continuously brush up on their skills and knowledge based on new developments in the field. Opportunities to continuously hone and upgrade their skills through in-house programs is another benefit that Optum provides for its team members.
One such program is the USRN Academy—an online self-paced training for the company’s nurses that enables them to transition from a Philippine registered nurse to a United States RN in a span of 26 weeks. Through this program, Filipino nurses are prepared to effectively delivery on their tasks in a US clinical setting. To date, the project has upskilled more than 400 PHRNs to USRNs.
It also offers the RN Ready Plus program to deepen the clinical domain knowledge of Philippine nurses and help them comply with the requirements of Republic Act No. 10912, the Continuing Professional Development Act of 2016.
RN Ready Plus is a project of Optum Philippines designed for partner academic/medical institutions so that non-Optum nursing students and working nurses can have access to online, self-paced and on-demand courses relevant to their career development and at par with global standards. Optum’s first partner under the RN Ready Plus Program is the Angeles University Foundation in Angeles City, Pampanga.
Optum is looking forward to partnering with more schools and medical institutions in the country to bring the program to those who need it most.