OptumHealth Web (United Healthcare) Partners with Microsoft HealthVault

Well if you can’t beat them, join in, seems to be the direction today of personal health records. On the first of December, United announced their Optum Health website for members to use for personal health records and to find and review medical information.

As mentioned before, the site will also be used to help sell and market their health insurance plans as well. As time is marching on, Google and Microsoft HealthVault seem to be the 2 plans to align with, and this makes sense as more medical device companies and other healthcare vendors are jumping on the bandwagon. Why these 2, because they are not related to an employer provided service and records can be taken with you anywhere. My own thoughts here, why get 2 or 3 plans unless you need the additional PHRs for the sake of importing information into Google Health or Microsoft HealthVault. BD

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OptumHealth Inc. today 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.