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OptumHealth Unveils Major New Technology Platform to Improve Health Care Quality for Millions of Americans While Reducing Costs for Their Employers


WEBWIRE

Proprietary eSync Platform Synchronizes Information to Help Health Plan Sponsors, Physicians Identify More Effective Care Opportunities, Provide Patients Personalized Health Management Support

* Beta-tested with 20 Million Individuals
* Operates as Free-standing, Payer-Neutral Application
* Pilot Shows 20 Percent Increase in Member Compliance with Health Management Programs; Consumer Use of These Valuable Programs Doubles

CHICAGO, IL . – After completing a series of successful, large-scale pilot programs, OptumHealth Inc., a UnitedHealth Group [NYSE: UNH] company, today officially unveiled eSync, a first-of-its-kind technology platform that helps organizations significantly improve their health care programs while reducing related costs. eSync collects and synchronizes health data in order to more proactively engage individuals and care providers with appropriate health care opportunities. The new platform was described to attendees of this year’s Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference today in Chicago.

“The eSync Platform ensures everyone involved in an individual’s care has the same holistic picture of that person’s health, and is working toward the same goals,” said Rob Webb, chief executive officer of OptumHealth Care Solutions. “eSync simplifies the health care experience, engages individuals and caregivers earlier, and proactively manages overall wellness before potential issues arise.

“The health care industry has seen many technology solutions that identify ‘gaps in care,’ such as medication errors, but in many of those situations, the damage already occurred by the time the gap was identified,” Webb said. “eSync uniquely identifies situations that are likely to result in poor outcomes and higher costs of care, and shares this information with individuals and their care providers, reinforcing the doctor-patient relationship.”

OptumHealth has refined eSync in beta testing, applying its processes to health management programs serving 20 million people. “We designed eSync to link to and interoperate with payers’ existing systems. Used broadly, eSync technology could significantly improve health system performance across the country,” Webb continued.

eSync Focuses on Proactive Prevention and Wellness, Significantly Increases Patient Engagement

Employers spend significantly on health programs that typically reach only a small percentage of their employees, and most health management programs focus primarily on treating disease. The eSync Platform allows OptumHealth to focus on prevention and more actively engage individuals in managing their health. In eSync pilot programs, more than twice as many employees were reached by such programs. This is particularly significant in light of the fact that up to 70 percent of all health care costs can be prevented or curtailed through lifestyle modifications, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Results of the initial applications of eSync also showed up to a 20 percent increase in continued compliance with health management programs among people with chronic conditions.

eSync Collects, Synchronizes Data to Develop Highly Individualized Health Programs; Sends Personalized Messages Via Email, Phone

Unlike any other platform, eSync collects and synchronizes thousands of pieces of real-time information on each person – including medical claims data, lab results, pharmacy information, self-reported data, and behavioral and life-stage segmentation information. It converts this information into personalized care management recommendations to help address potential health issues and lifestyle risks. These recommendations are then used by OptumHealth’s personal health consultants including nurses, behavioral health specialists and wellness coaches who, together, engage in tens of thousands of individual patient interactions each day.

OptumHealth also communicates recommendations through personalized messages in a variety of ways, including health portals, direct mailings, secure e-mails and telephone calls. eSync offers tools to empower individuals to take charge of their health by seeking the right doctor, care and medication, and to adopt an overall healthier lifestyle. These tools include online health assessment forms, interactive health coaches, online support events and communities, and a personal health record. This information, coupled with proactive health care outreach and support, can help reduce overall health care spending for individuals, employers and the health care system in general.

eSync Helps Clients Measure Value of Health Care Investments, Improve Returns On Investment

eSync also allows organizations to more accurately measure the overall value and performance of their health care investments. eSync’s synchronized reporting allows companies to determine the impact of health initiatives more quickly. As a result, companies receive more timely information than is available through traditional health insurance claims analyses, which often suffer from significant time lags. The more timely information provided by eSync can be used to adjust wellness programs to achieve an even better return on organizations’ health care investments.



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