Effective July 1, United Healthcare (UHC) will expand its Clinical Data Submission Protocol to include Medicaid and commercial benefit plans. UHC’s Clinical Data Submission Protocol, introduced in 2015, originally targeted only Medicare benefit plans and required physicians to submit all laboratory test results for UHC Medicare patients. The immediate impact on California physicians was negligible, as the UHC Medicare patient population resides only in the Medicare Advantage product, where reporting was required only at the medical group level.

While UHC lauds the sharing of clinical patient data as an opportunity to support quality and cost-effective patient care, the California Medical Association has expressed concerns about the administrative burden and impact on physician practices.

For more information about the protocol and requirements for submitting data to United Healthcare, physicians should refer to the updated Clinical Data Submission Protocol Frequently Asked Questions and Methods of Clinical Data Exchange.

In support of this initiative, UHC has volunteered to assist practices establish the transmission method that works best with the current capabilities of the practice. For more information or to speak to the UHC clinical data team, contact the UHC Provider Call Center at (877) 842-3210 or your local Network Account Manager or Provider Advocate.