OptumHealth Expands Access to Portable Personal Health Records for Millions of Americans

OptumHealth Inc . announced it is providing a free personal health record (PHR) that is portable and can be shared with physicians, family member or others. The PHR is available through the Web site www.myOptumHealth.com and provides the same portability and sharing capability that is also now available to individuals with PHRs set up through more than 1,000 employer private health portals managed by OptumHealth, as well as the myUHC.com portal used by 25 million UnitedHealthcare members.

These attractive expanded features are made possible through collaboration between OptumHealth and Microsoft Corporation. Individuals can now transfer their PHR information from an OptumHealth-managed health portal directly into a Microsoft® HealthVault™ account, which is a security-enhanced, Web-based consumer health platform. Information stored in HealthVault will be “portable” in that it will be available to members even if they change jobs or health plans, providing a truly portable record of their health.

The OptumHealth PHR is free and available from www.myOptumHealth.com or accessible from the private health portals OptumHealth manages for employers and health plans, including UnitedHealthcare’s myUHC.com. It enables individuals to store, maintain and retrieve their comprehensive health history in a secure and central location. With the ability to now transfer such information to Microsoft HealthVault, a broad range of health and wellness information such as physician visits, diagnostics and treatments will be pre-populated and combined with the member-generated information into one online location. Individuals transferring information into a HealthVault account can then share it, as desired.

“Connecting myOptumHealth.com and our private health portals with Microsoft HealthVault allows consumers to share their personal health information with health care providers, health plans, loved ones or others to help make more informed decisions about health care,” said Scott Heimes, senior vice president of OptumHealth Consumer Solutions. “Think of a mom whose child has food allergies. She can populate the child’s PHR with prescription information, emergency contact information, lab results or other personalized health content. And now, through HealthVault, she can share this information with her child’s daycare provider.”

“We’re pleased to work with OptumHealth to help individuals become more actively engaged in managing their health, and the health of their family members,” said Peter Neupert, corporate vice president of Health Solutions Group at Microsoft. He added that “myOptumHealth.com and HealthVault represent a new generation of consumer-centric health care services that can empower individuals and their health providers to make optimal decisions about care and wellness.”

The collaboration with Microsoft is the next step in OptumHealth’s plan to provide consumers with the most relevant health and wellness information available online. In December, OptumHealth launched the free consumer health site, www.myOptumHealth.com, which also offers a broad range of evidence-based health and wellness information, video and interactive tools to assist consumers in proactive health management. The OptumHealth PHR is also integrated with other health and wellness resources, including wellness coaching programs and incentive and communications services. The OptumHealth PHR is also available to the millions of UnitedHealthcare members via the myUHC.com member services portal.

OptumHealth is the largest publisher of private health portals and interactive health management solutions in the United States, managing more than 1,000 private health portals for employers, health plans and public sector entities.

About OptumHealth

OptumHealth Inc. helps individuals navigate the health care system, finance their health care needs, and achieve their health and well-being goals. The company’s personalized health advocacy and engagement programs tap a unique combination of capabilities that encompass care solutions, behavioral solutions, specialty benefits and financial services. Serving 60 million people, OptumHealth is one of the nation’s largest health and wellness businesses, and is a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) company. More information about OptumHealth can be found at www.OptumHealth.com .