Meet a Local Business

UPMC Health Plan

Tell us about your business. What services or products do you offer, where are you located, etc.?

Since our inception almost 25 years ago, UPMC Health Plan has focused on improving the health of the communities we serve, increasing access to high-quality, affordable care and delivering superior, award-winning member service. Choosing the right health care coverage for its employees is one of the most important decisions an employer can make.

Our approach is distinctive. As part of the world-renowned UPMC integrated delivery and finance system, we are responsible for both care quality and cost. This unique combination enables us to work hand-in-hand with our providers to lead the way with innovative, value-driven, quality health plans that deliver broad access, comprehensive choices, award-winning service and lower costs for virtually all segments of society. The successful collaboration among UPMC Health Plan and our physicians, hospitals and other participating providers creates a high-performing, health outcomes-driven network that includes value-based reimbursement and shared accountability.

Based on enrollment, UPMC Health Plan is now one of the largest and fastest-growing provider-owned health plans in the nation, with a suite of commercial and government insurance products that consistently earn high star ratings by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Our commercial HMO/PPO insurance products are currently ranked 4.0 and 4.5 out of 5 stars.

How does your business support local communities?

We believe that healthy communities and healthy businesses go hand-in-hand.  Our goal as UPMC and UPMC Health Plan is to work with our local partners to build resilient, healthy populations that live and work in the communities we serve. 

We also recognize that there are numerous influencers of health in our local communities that are not directly related to health care.  Social and economic conditions, such as housing, food insecurity, employment and education can account for as much as 80 percent of health outcomes and are increasingly being recognized as an important driver of health care costs.

UPMC Health Plan and its unique integrated structure enables us to provide members with the right care, in the right way at the right time. 

In December 2019, the UPMC Center for Social Impact, in collaboration with the UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care, launched to coordinate, evaluate, and expand programming and innovations that address both the social needs and social determinants of the members and communities UPMC serves.

How does the Choose Local campaign fall in line with your business’ mission or values?

We are a regional health care plan that provides affordable access to high-quality coverage to employers of all sizes and part of a system committed to supporting a strong employment base and health communities.   As the state’s largest employer, we also work closely with numerous local businesses – including many small businesses owned by those of diverse backgrounds, to provide goods, services, and expertise that we need to support our operations and serve our members.

We currently contract with 35 Small Diverse Businesses (SDBs), providing technical and educational assistance to help these companies obtain state certifications, access to capital programs and opportunities to compete for state procurement opportunities with UPMC.

Not only do these small businesses support operations but they also partner with us to fulfill our social impact mission and vision for strengthening the communities we serve. Our Pathways to Work program – a community-led workforce development program aimed at helping those who are on Medicaid, unemployed, underemployed or with barriers to work find meaningful careers at UPMC – is only possible through partnerships with local diverse small businesses and non-profit organizations that specialize in recruiting and training our workforce of today and tomorrow.

What inspires your work?

We are fortunate to live in a region with UPMC and its culture of innovation, including renowned Centers of Excellence in transplantation, cancer, hip and knee replacement, neurosurgery, vision, psychiatry, rehabilitation, geriatrics and women’s health.  It is exciting to help connect individual and employers in our region with affordable access to these and other state-of-the-art health care.

I am also inspired to be part of a company where 70 percent of its management team is women.

When you see women at the top of their game professionally, and they are involved in the community and mentoring others, it challenges you to think about what else you can do!

What is the best way for consumers to connect with your business and your services or initiatives?

Visit www.UPMCHealthPlan.com!

Please provide any other information you want to share that these questions did not cover!

Thank you for creating and advancing the Choose Local initiative!  UPMC Health Plan believes the best way to serve our members is to be an active part of their communities.  “Choose Local” reflects our values of supporting local companies in our supply chain, by investing in communities to address social influences of public health through our Center for Social Impact and by providing them with access to innovative, value-driven health care.

We are pleased to support CEOs for Sustainability and to join them in “Buying Local!”