Harvard Business Review feature with Tim Noel

Tim Noel, UnitedHealthcare CEO, recently wrote an article in Harvard Business Review, titled “The CEO of UnitedHealthcare on Fixing What Frustrates Customers Most.”

In part, he writes:

A few years ago, the senior leaders at UnitedHealthcare (UHC), the insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group, asked a simple question: What if we proactively identified the customers having the most trouble with their claims and mobilized around them quickly, intentionally, and with real accountability? The best organizations know how to move fast and remove roadblocks when it matters the most. So why couldn’t we do the same for our members in distress — and just as important, use everything we learned from helping them to improve service for others?

That’s how our Consumer Resolution Center (CRC) began. Using a combination of AI algorithms and well-trained, empathetic employees, we’ve since delivered high-touch problem-solving service to 150,000 UHC members, moving their average satisfaction ratings from zero to 8.8 out of 10. We’ve also ferreted out the root causes of their problems and developed and scaled solutions that have reached more than 5 million customers, or roughly 10% of our base. The CRC, now staffed by some 330 people, has recouped the $20 million to $25 million we invested in it — many times over — through reduced inefficiencies, cost savings, and increased customer retention.

My predecessor, the late Brian Thompson, affectionately known to us as BT, was passionate about the CRC project from its inception, because his North Star was serving customers. That’s why his being killed in December 2024 — and the public criticism of UHC and other health insurers that followed the tragedy — was so painful. Yes, there is much room for improvement in the ways our company, our industry, and U.S. healthcare in general are run. But our mission at UHC is to do all we can to make the system work better for everyone by rolling back unnecessary requirements and improving affordability wherever possible — and no one pursued those goals with more heart than BT.

Read the full article.