The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services joined OptumLabs, a Cambridge, Mass.-based collaborative healthcare research and innovation center. Optum, a technology-enable health services business, and Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic founded OptumLabs in 2013.
Here are five notes:
1. HHS joined the organization as a research partner, and will lead research using OptumLab's big data resources. The department can use de-identified medical claims and clinical data to offer a broader understanding of populations and patient care.
2. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality will conduct the first project in this partnership, in which scientists will compare healthcare trends in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey with those in real-world administrative healthcare claims records in OptumLabs' databases.
3. Other research projects involve population health and healthcare economics.
4. OptumLabs is conducting more than 100 research projects, and its members and partner organizations have published more than 20 articles in journals.
5. More than 20 collaborating organizations currently work with OptumLabs.
"As HHS and its affiliates seek opportunities to improve the health, safety and well-being of all Americans, we believe that partnering with private-sector organizations such as OptumLabs will help accelerate the discovery of new healthcare models and practices," said Susannah Fox, chief technology officer, HHS.
