OptumHealth's Hispanic Web Site Wins Highest Health Care Honor at 2008 Interactive Media Awards

OptumHealth announced today that its Web site for the Hispanic community, MenteSana-CuerpoSano.com (Healthy Mind-Healthy Body) received the Health Care Best in Class Award at the 2008 Interactive Media Awards. Sponsored by the Interactive Media Council, the Best in Class award is the highest honor bestowed by the non-profit organization. Unlike other Spanish-language wellness Web sites, MenteSana-CuerpoSano.com addresses the fact that Hispanics often rely on community support and an extended family network during times of need. Using a family-focused approach, MenteSana-CuerpoSano.com helps educate and motivate more people in the Hispanic community to seek mental health and substance use treatment. "As a mental health clinician and a member of the Hispanic community, I understand that for some, reaching out for help may be perceived as a stigma or weakness. There also may be language barriers that interfere with our ability to find information or access treatment. OptumHealth and our sister company, UnitedHealthcare, created MenteSana-CuerpoSano.com to address these barriers by providing those in the Hispanic community that might need help, access to behavioral health resources,” says Francisca Azocar, Ph.D., OptumHealth vice president. "Our Interactive Media Award validates the fact that we created a Web site that is easy to use and rich in content to help meet the behavioral health needs of this underserved population.” The Interactive Media Awards recognize the highest standards of excellence in Web design and development, and honors individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievement. Sponsored by the Interactive Media Council Inc., a nonprofit organization of leading Web designers, developers, programmers, advertisers and other Web-related professionals, the competition seeks to elevate the standards of excellence on the Internet. "MenteSana-CuerpoSano.com’s Best in Class Award reflects leadership in the health care industry online,” says Anna Lawrence, Interactive Media Awards spokesperson. "The site is recognized for its excellent effort in reaching out to a diverse audience in an effective and culturally appealing way.” The judging consisted of various criteria including design, usability, innovation in technical features, standards in compliance and content. In order to win an award, Web sites have to meet strict guidelines in each area – an achievement only a fraction of sites in the Interactive Media Awards competition earn each year. The Best in Class Award indicates that a company achieved a perfect or near perfect score in the judging process. MenteSana-CuerpoSano.com provides the general public information, resources and interactive programs to help with mental health conditions, substance use treatment and everyday life challenges, as well as a clinician search tool. The site also has a password-protected section that is the Spanish-language companion to OptumHealth Behavioral Solutions’ member portal, http://www.liveandworkwell.com. About OptumHealth As one of the nation’s largest consumer health services companies, OptumHealth makes health care easier and better for employers, health plans, public sector entities and the 61 million people with access to its services. The Company’s goal is to optimize health and promote recovery, resiliency and financial security, while lowering benefit costs and helping consumers make informed decisions about their health through standalone or integrated services. OptumHealth is a company of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH). More information about OptumHealth can be found at www.optumhealth.com.