Optum.ai and Labcorp Announce Strategic Collaboration to Advance Laboratory Operations and Patient Experience Through AI

April 14, 2026 | 2-minute read

April 14, 2026 — When patients are waiting for test results or next steps in care, delays and administrative complexity can add unnecessary stress at an already critical moment. Optum.ai and Labcorp, a global leader of innovative and comprehensive laboratory services, announced today a strategic collaboration to address these challenges by applying AI to simplify laboratory operations, improve efficiency and enhance the patient and provider experience.

Across health care systems, manual processes and operational complexity continue to slow care delivery, strain staff and create friction for patients. Through this collaboration, Optum.ai and Labcorp will bring together their complementary AI capabilities and diagnostic expertise to streamline lab operations and support timelier, patient-centered decision-making.

“Optum.ai and Labcorp share a commitment to improving outcomes and experiences for patients and providers,” said Ed Bowen, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and head of Optum.ai. “By combining our AI capabilities and deep expertise in diagnostics and health care operations, we can simplify how laboratory services are delivered and create a meaningful impact across the care journey.”

Initial efforts will focus on high value, practical use cases across Labcorp, including:

• Intelligent patient service center (PSC) scheduling and staffing management to improve appointment availability, balance workforce demand and reduce wait times.
• Enhanced patient engagement and personalized communication to provide patients with clearer insights about their health, test progress and next steps in care.
• AI-enabled prior authorization and appeals management to help physicians order clinically appropriate tests upfront, reduce administrative delays and speed patient access to results.
• Advanced laboratory workflow automation to optimize lab operations and support more timely, accurate delivery of test results to patients and providers.

The collaboration will adhere to strong standards for data governance, security, regulatory compliance and responsible AI use, with a shared commitment to patient privacy, trust and transparency.

This work builds on a more than 20-year relationship between Optum and Labcorp. The organizations have previously supported electronic laboratory ordering and results delivery through Optum.ai Clinical Exchange, as well as automation of coverage identification and verification to reduce manual effort and improve billing efficiency.

“We look forward to our continued collaboration with Optum.ai as we work to advance AI across Labcorp,” said Bola Oyegunwa, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Information and Technology Officer at Labcorp. “By focusing on practical, integrated solutions, we are applying AI in meaningful ways to simplify operations, support our workforce and translate innovation into real-world impact that improves the patient and provider experience across laboratory services.”

Optum.ai is the AI products and services business of Optum, simplifying health care with AI.