UnitedHealth's New Consumer Site: A Work in Progress
UnitedHealth Group plunged into the world of consumer health information on Dec. 1, when its wellness and disease management subsidiary, OptumHealth, unveiled a consumer-oriented web site called myOptumHealth.com. Patterned after similar sites operated by WebMD, Revolution Health, and the Mayo Clinic, myOptumHealth offers a wide array of healthcare information for free to all visitors, whether or not they're members of United plans. Consumers can use the site to get advice on how to stay healthy, read the latest medical news, check out their symptoms, learn how to manage their conditions, use a drug interaction checker, or calculate their body mass index. They can also store their health data in a personal health record.
Like other big insurance companies, United already has a members-only site that helps people view their benefits, find a doctor or a hospital, and look up some health information. But myOptumHealth provides far more resources to consumers than United's own site does.
The new initiative puts United ahead of many of its competitors, but it's still lagging far behind Aetna. Not only does Aetna already supply consumer content through its IntelliHealth site, but it also offers a personalized search engine that mines claims, pharmacy and lab data to guide its members to relevant content. The plan uses the same tailored approach to provide health alerts and feedback on needed services to its members. And members also have access to a PHR that's pre-populated with claims data and can be transferred to Microsoft HealthVault.
According to an OptumHealth representative, United may be making an announcement in a few months about new offerings in some of these areas. Of course, the tailored approach to consumer health information requires data about individuals--data that United has only on its own members. However, OptumHealth manages over 1,000 private health portals for employers, health plans, and public-sector entities, so it's possible that some of its clients' claims data could come into play.
United's decision to make its consumer health information available to the public seems to be based on a calculation that myoptumhealth will help grow its business. One section of the site, dubbed "Marketplace," features pitches for four United subsidiaries, including Golden Rule, an insurer that specializes in consumer driven plans; OptumHealth Bank, which offers health savings accounts; wellness firm OptumHealth Allies; and Prescription Solutions, United's pharmacy benefits manager. The Wall St. Journal has quoted OptumHealth executive Scott Heimes as saying that the company plans to use the site to sell United products, including individual medical, dental and vision plans, as well as care management and health coaching services.
What's fascinating about the United development is the possibility that in the future, either United or some other company will cross-breed the consumer health expertise of a WebMD or a Revolution Health with the health promotion and disease management savvy of an Aetna. Now that would be a real revolution.