March 5, 2026

Optum Real expands with Microsoft to improve the provider experience across claims and reimbursement

March 5, 2026 — Optum is working with Microsoft to make it easier for clinicians and care teams to do their jobs by reducing administrative friction and simplifying claims and reimbursement processes. This collaboration introduces new provider-focused capabilities within Optum Real, a real-time claims system that instantly connects payers and providers to deliver transparency, operational efficiency, and improved patient experiences.

Across the health system, providers shoulder growing administrative demands that pull attention away from people during important moments of care. Optum Real pilot programs have shown how quickly this burden can be lifted, cutting avoidable denials by up to 80%, reducing call volume by 25%, and eliminating as much as 75% of reimbursement errors.

New provider-focused capabilities in Optum Real

By combining Optum’s health care and AI expertise with Microsoft’s trusted cloud and AI technologies, including Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Dragon Copilot, and Microsoft Foundry, Optum Real delivers new capabilities that help providers work more efficiently and focus more on patients, including:

• Unified clinical and operational data, giving providers an actionable view across the care and reimbursement journey.
• Smarter coverage predictions that reduce manual work for coders and help clinicians reach recommendations faster.
• AI-powered documentation and chart intelligence, allowing providers to spend more time with patients and less time on paperwork.
• AI-assisted support for prior authorization that surfaces potential coverage and payment issues earlier, helping teams resolve them faster and reduce unnecessary escalations.

Supporting providers as they modernize operation

Owensboro Health, a leading regional health system serving western Kentucky, is among the first to pilot Optum Real. Its leaders see the solution as a way to reduce friction and help improve care delivery.

“Innovation has always guided how we care for our community,” said Russ Ranallo, chief financial officer of Owensboro Health. “Modernizing our processes allows us to make the patient experience more seamless during the moments that matter most."

Optum leaders emphasize the need to ease operational pressures on clinicians.

“Providers are overwhelmed by disconnected systems and manual processes that take time away from patients,” said Kristie Richardson, chief product and services officer at Optum Insight. “Optum Real, and our collaboration with Microsoft, is about solving these pain points at scale, bringing together deep subject matter expertise, trusted cloud and AI technology, and an ecosystem perspective to deliver real, measurable impact.”

Microsoft echoed the importance of real-time clarity and reducing waste across the system.

“Optum Real turns fragmented, disconnected claims data into actionable insights that help payers and providers get it right the first time,” said Larry Jones, CVP, health and life sciences, Microsoft. “By creating a powerful, real-time engine for coverage validation, documentation, and prior authorization, it is more than modernizing claims--it’s about building a more transparent, efficient, and trusted health care experience for everyone.”

Bringing transparency and trust to patients

For patients, real-time transparency can replace uncertainty with confidence. With immediate visibility into coverage and clearer billing before they leave the doctor’s office, people spend less time tracking down answers and more time focusing on their health.

As global health care spending approaches $10 trillion by 2026, modernizing claims and reducing administrative waste is essential to improving affordability. By making core processes faster and more transparent through the use of real-time data and AI, Optum Real helps patients, providers, and payers move through care with clarity, predictability, and trust.

Further updates will be provided as the initiative progresses.