Sustainable Procurement

• Our Sustainable Procurement / Supplier ESG program goals and performance are reviewed by our board of directors throughout the year on an as needed basis and reviewed monthly by the executive leaders that comprise our Sustainable Procurement Council. Our sustainable procurement strategy is informed by a supply chain ESG risk assessment, which includes broad-based ESG and human rights criteria. The assessment, conducted by a third party, strengthens collaboration with key suppliers and helps us manage sustainability risks.
  
• Annually, we review the sustainability practices of critical suppliers to identify ESG policies, practices and goals. Through these reviews we gather supplier GHG data and feedback on how we can improve collaboration to reduce our environmental impact. This provides a more informed understanding of our suppliers’ efforts to promote human rights and supplier diversity within their own networks.
• ESG progress is used in supplier selection and part of award criteria consideration for select suppliers. For every RFP (Request for Proposal), we target inclusion of at least one diverse supplier. We evaluate RFPs through a balanced score card, which considers diversity and sustainability progress alongside other key factors, including cost, quality, and service delivery.
•  We provide in-depth technical support programs to build capacity and improve supplier ESG performance in areas such as climate disclosure. We also support capacity building with our diverse suppliers through our Supplier Diversity Accelerator program. Corrective actions and improvement opportunities are identified and shared with select suppliers through our Supplier Performance Management scorecards.
• Our procurement departments are informed throughout the year on program enhancements, including ESG training provisions.
• Our procurement departments collaborate with our business segments to identify, engage and manage our supplier base to meet business objectives, enable growth and mitigate risk for UnitedHealth Group and the individuals we serve.

• Greenhouse gas emissions mitigation represents a key component of our ongoing sustainable procurement strategy.  In June 2022, we publicly committed to set near and long-term company-wide emission reductions in line with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) Net-Zero Standard, a set of criteria based on the need to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
  
• Annually, we complete a comprehensive scope 3 emissions assessment, which identifies the most significant categories of emissions from both upstream and downstream sources in our value chain. With this scope 3 assessment, we are better able to prioritize opportunities for action and work towards an approved science-based target.
• We have facilitated engagement with our suppliers through the CDP Supply Chain Program since 2022. CDP is the leading global non-profit organization that allows investors, companies, cities, states and regions to measure, manage and disclose their environmental impacts. We request CDP Climate Change Assessments from our highest-emitting suppliers to improve and accelerate their climate disclosure and ambition, improve the quality of our own Scope 3 emissions inventory and assess supplier performance when making procurement decisions. Please visit the CDP Supply Chain website to learn more.

• UHG is committed to developing a supply base that reflects the full diversity of our customers and communities.  Our diverse suppliers play an integral role in developing new and innovative ways to meet the increasing demands of our customers and to help people live healthier lives and help make the healthcare system work better for everyone. We recognize the importance of diverse suppliers and are committed to ensuring diversity is an integral part of our strategic sourcing and procurement processes.
  
• In 2022, in addition to growing our Tier 1 (direct) spend with diverse suppliers, we increased our engagement with prime suppliers participating in our Tier 2 program. Key suppliers are expected to incorporate supplier diversity into their own sourcing practices and provide diverse vendors with opportunities to participate in subcontracts awarded in connection with UnitedHealth Group.
• We offer live and recorded training sessions annually for suppliers enrolled in our Tier 2 program. In addition, our supplier diversity team is available by request for one-on-one training with suppliers requiring additional support to understand program requirements.
• To ensure awareness of the importance of supplier diversity and ways to seamlessly integrate it into our business and procurement processes, we also facilitate employee training throughout the year via road shows and/or online training resources.
• Our Supplier Diversity program continues to deliver significant progress in supporting the economic development of the communities we serve. In 2022 our program supported over seven thousand local community jobs and over $500 million in employee wages. Our cumulative spend with diverse suppliers over the last decade reached $4.8 billion USD.

Please visit our Supplier Diversity page for further details.

• UnitedHealth Group’s enterprise-wide Supplier Risk Management Program is governed by an Enterprise Vendor Risk Council. This group oversees the Supplier Risk Management Program with common standards, including regulatory and compliance requirements, applicable to suppliers participating in the health care value chain.
  
• To mitigate supply chain disruptions, we engage in resiliency planning, including the identification of suppliers critical to our business functions, specifically in patient care and customer commitments. We maintain a process for coordinating critical supplier assessments, which are integrated into a comprehensive supplier profile and status report and can be shared across the organization, further helping us mitigate risks.

• To help ensure key suppliers meet our performance expectations, we utilize a systematic Supplier Performance Management Program to monitor compliance with our Code of Conduct and monthly performance of contractual Service Level Agreements related to service delivery, quality and value delivery. Suppliers are asked to self-report performance against contractual service level agreements and key risk indicators on a monthly basis to allow business leaders to make informed decisions regarding sourcing initiatives.
  
• Data-driven supplier performance score cards are shared quarterly with business leaders, risk colleagues and category managers to identify performance trends and areas of opportunity to drive improvement plans for underperforming suppliers. Suppliers are evaluated on criteria such as financial stability, cybersecurity and regulatory compliance, organization resiliency, diversity participation, sustainability progress and Net Promoter Score.