Optum, Mayo Clinic Partner to Launch Optum Labs: An Open, Collaborative Research and Innovation Facility Focused on Better Care for Patients

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Other participants from health care, science and academia expected to share
insights and pursue solutions that improve health outcomes for people

Optum and Mayo Clinic to combine extensive, de-identified clinical and claims
data to help care providers create the most effective approaches to care
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & ROCHESTER, Minn.--(Business Wire)--
Optum and Mayo Clinic today jointly launched Optum Labs, an open, collaborative
research and development facility with a singular goal: improving patient care.
Based in Cambridge, Mass., Optum Labs provides an environment where the health
care industry can come together to combine information and ideas that benefit
patients today while also driving long-term improvements in the delivery and
quality of care.

Optum and Mayo Clinic will make their information assets, technologies,
knowledge tools and scientific expertise available to organizations interested
in pursuing practical new solutions to patient care challenges. As the first and
largest integrated, not-for-profit medical group practice in the world, Mayo
Clinic will also contribute valuable insights directly from patient experiences.
Mayo Clinic`s extensive clinical expertise will be instrumental in guiding Optum
Labs` research agenda and applying research results and insights directly to the
patient care environment. Combining Mayo Clinic`s extensive clinical insights
with Optum`s health care claims information will help doctors better understand
all aspects of the patient care experience and refine approaches to care that
consistently help patients achieve the best outcomes. Other Optum Labs
participants will include academic institutions, life sciences companies,
commercial and government payers, and other care providers.

"As a founding partner of Optum Labs, Mayo Clinic is excited to work with Optum
and other organizations to address the challenges and issues facing health care
in order to help us provide better care to our patients, and help lead
improvements to the delivery of care," said John Noseworthy, M.D., president and
chief executive officer of Mayo Clinic. "Our strategic research alliance with
Optum Labs will leverage what we believe to be the largest combined source of
clinical and claims information, providing a more comprehensive picture of
patients` diagnoses, progression of diseases, comparative treatments and
outcomes."

"We are privileged to introduce Optum Labs in partnership with Mayo Clinic,
which has been improving health outcomes for 150 years by continually
researching, discovering and doing what`s best for the patient," said Larry
Renfro, chief executive officer of Optum. "Mayo Clinic and Optum are bringing
together the best clinical insight, health information and research expertise to
drive innovation that works for care providers and the patients they serve. We
also welcome and look forward to the perspectives, ideas and contributions of
future participants from across the health care system who share the goal of
creating a better future for patient care."

Making a difference in the lives of patients

With the combined insights of Optum, Mayo and other partners, Optum Labs will be
able to support patient care improvements in many areas, such as:

* finding optimal treatments for conditions in a given setting;
* understanding variations in care; and
* examining the effectiveness of patient care programs and approaches

Using the rich data and other resources of Optum Labs, scientists will address a
broad range of opportunities to improve care for patients. Examples of the work
of Optum Labs scientists include measuring the best treatments for the serious
blood cancer chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), developing applications that
measure the relative cost effectiveness of medical devices, analyzing how to
improve the diagnosis of Hepatitis C and increasing the understanding of health
disparities among the elderly.

"By combining the Mayo Clinic's robust clinical insight with Optum`s extensive
claims information, we will be able to better understand health care delivery
over time, compare the effectiveness of care we provide today, and analyze the
total cost of care for specific procedures or diseases," said Veronique Roger,
M.D., M.P.H., director of the Mayo Clinic Center for the Science of Health Care
Delivery. "This will help provide better care to patients, and help the health
care industry better define value through outcomes instead of volumes."

"Bringing together in one location health information and insights from many
contributors can provide a deeper understanding of important trends and patient
care issues that no single organization could achieve on its own," said Andy
Slavitt, group executive vice president of Optum. "At Optum Labs, we have the
opportunity to generate insights and develop practical innovations that care
providers, life sciences companies and government agencies can begin using today
to improve patient care."

About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and
education for people from all walks of life. The organization focuses a team of
experts on one patient at a time, as it has for nearly 150 years. Its proven
model of care makes Mayo Clinic a trusted leader in advancing medicine and
solving complex problems.

About Optum
Optum (www.optum.com) is a leading information and technology-enabled health
services business dedicated to helping make the health system work better for
everyone. Optum comprises three companies - OptumHealth, OptumInsight and
OptumRx - representing over 35,000 employees worldwide who collaborate to
deliver integrated, intelligent solutions that work to modernize the health
system and improve overall population health.

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Mayo Clinic
Karl Oestreich, 507-284-5005
newsbureau@mayo.edu
or
Optum
Jeffrey Smith, 773-907-0860
jeffrey.p.smith@optum.com

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