Optum Labs, the collaborative research and innovation center co-founded by Optum and Mayo Clinic, announced the addition of four new partners committed to improving the quality and value of patient care.

These new partner organizations, which represent a cross-section of health care stakeholders, are:

  • Harvard Medical School Department of Health Care Policy
  • Medica Research Institute
  • Merck (NYSE:MRK)
  • University of Maryland, Baltimore

“Our growing base of partners enables Optum Labs to expand into additional areas of health care research, paving the way for new initiatives that can be directly translated to improvements in patient care,” said Paul Bleicher, M.D., Ph.D., CEO of Optum Labs. “We are excited by the diverse perspectives our partners are bringing to a growing number of research studies under way."

Optum Labs, with the largest, de-identified patient database in health care, is the first open, collaborative research and innovation center designed to accelerate health care innovation, leading to improved patient care and patient value. Optum Labs brings together a community of health care stakeholders dedicated to improving patient care by sharing information assets, technologies, knowledge, tools and scientific expertise. Research is linked to the clinical environment through prototyping and testing in Optum and partners’ care settings, with a goal of achieving knowledge that improves health care delivery and patient outcomes. Optum Labs participants have access to information resources, proprietary analytical tools and scientific expertise to help drive the discovery of new applications, testing of new care pathways and other opportunities to drive innovation in wellness and care delivery.

In addition to these newly announced partners, Optum Labs previously announced relationships with founding consumer advocate organization AARP, the American Medical Group Association (AMGA), Boston Scientific, Boston University School of Public Health, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Pfizer Inc., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Tufts Medical Center, and the University of Minnesota School of Nursing.

Leaders from Optum Labs and its partner organizations are presenting research findings and other developments at a variety of industry forums throughout the rest of this year and into 2015. A regularly updated calendar of presentations and publications can be found online at www.optum.com/optumlabs/news.html.

About Optum Labs

Optum Labs was established through a partnership between Optum, a leading information and technology-enabled health services business, and Mayo Clinic, a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research, and education, as an open center for research and innovation. AARP, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership of more than 37 million individuals, joined the collaborative as Founding Consumer Advocate Organization in late 2013. Optum Labs brings together a community of partners dedicated to improving patient care by sharing information assets, technologies, knowledge tools, and scientific expertise. Research partners bring diverse perspectives to shared problems, and address questions that reflect patient care needs. Partners have access to in-depth and expansive de-identified clinical and claims data in an environment of innovative thinking and collaboration. Optum Labs is based in Cambridge, Mass. For more information, visit www.optum.com/optumlabs

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