The Optum AI Marketplace works as a storefront and a developer portal working together. You find a product on marketplace.optum.com, test it in a sandbox through Optum\u2019s developer portal, then subscribe or contract to get production access. For API products, the integration itself happens in your own software, using documented REST APIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This article walks through that process using Optum\u2019s public marketplace pages and developer documentation. It covers the solutions listed, what the APIs do, how authentication and data formats work, which integration paths are documented, and what to evaluate before committing. Where Optum\u2019s public materials stop, such as rate limits or contract terms, the article says so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Optum, part of UnitedHealth Group, launched the marketplace on June 25, 2025<\/a>. The About page<\/a> describes it as a place to explore, test, and purchase software, APIs, and services built with AI. UnitedHealth Group also owns UnitedHealthcare, but the marketplace is an Optum product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The marketplace is a commercial channel, not a catalog of everything Optum does with AI. Optum\u2019s CEO has said in an NEJM Catalyst interview<\/a> that the company has more than 1,000 AI use cases across its operations. That figure describes Optum\u2019s internal and enterprise work, and it does not tell you how many products you can buy through the marketplace. Treat each listing as its own product with its own documentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The flow below comes from the marketplace pages and the developer portal\u2019s getting-started guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Discover.<\/strong> You can browse by category or describe your use case to the site\u2019s AI assistant (labeled beta), which warns users not to enter personally identifiable information or protected health information. Product pages show a description, the product type (API, software, or partner offering), and often a purchase option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Test in the sandbox.<\/strong> For API products, you request sandbox access through a form, and an Optum team member follows up with a sandbox client ID and secret. Optum\u2019s docs describe sandbox access as a free trial with no financial obligation. The sandbox returns canned responses based on preloaded values, so it shows what a response looks like but does not prove your integration will work against live payer data. Optum\u2019s docs also say not to run load tests or production data tests there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Subscribe or contract.<\/strong> Optum\u2019s documentation says you can buy API products directly in the marketplace. The Optum Real for Dental docs describe subscribing and enrolling in an API product and selecting a contract term there. The path is not identical across products, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The documentation for the Prior Authorization API says to contact your Optum representative to contract for production, and the marketplace also offers quotes and a Contact sales option. For third-party products, the site says your information may be shared with the third-party seller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Go live.<\/strong> Production credentials arrive after contract signing or once a subscription is processed. Sandbox and production use separate credentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One operational detail from the Optum Real product page<\/a> shows how practical this gets: your marketplace account must use the company name that appears in box 1 of your organization\u2019s W-9, with an exact match, or orders may hit processing problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The catalog is organized into categories: patient and member engagement, eligibility and claims, care operations and management, payment and reimbursement, analytics and insights, pharmacy solutions, data access and interoperability, and two Optum Real groupings for medical and dental. Listings fall into three rough types.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The name \u201cAI Marketplace\u201d can suggest every listing is an AI model. In practice the catalog mixes AI-enabled products with APIs and conventional software, so read each listing for what the product actually does. The Optum Real API pages, for example, describe real-time data exchange between providers and payers and do not spell out which AI methods, if any, sit behind each endpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, and they are well documented. Optum\u2019s developer portal (branded API & Services Connection) hosts guides and API references organized by category, including Optum Real, Eligibility and Claims, Payment and Reimbursement, Pharmacy Solutions, Patient and Member Engagement, Analytics and Insights, and Interoperability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Optum Real for Medical lists seven modules:<\/p>\n\n\n\n An Optum Real dental product<\/a> covers eligibility, benefits, prior authorization, and pre-care estimates for dental providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The separate Eligibility and Claims portal documents a broader set. Its Eligibility API<\/a> takes the standard X12 270 eligibility transaction and formats it as JSON for an HTTP request. It also converts the X12 271 response into JSON, with details like copays, coinsurance, and deductibles. The portal\u2019s documentation index also lists claim status (276\/277), claims, attachments, and authorization inquiry and submission, plus JSON-to-EDI mapping references.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Optum Real page says the APIs are currently live with UnitedHealthcare, with additional payers planned. \u201cMultiple payers through a single integration\u201d describes the design, but your actual coverage depends on the supported payer IDs for each API<\/a>. Fierce Healthcare reported<\/a> that Optum Real was piloted with UnitedHealthcare and Allina Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The portal provides guides, an API reference with a Try It interface, downloadable OpenAPI specs, and an interactive developer community. Optum says Postman collections and environment files are available for most of its APIs. Some pages and older URLs still carry the Change Healthcare name, which reflects where parts of the API portfolio originated. One onboarding page warns that an old Change Healthcare domain is no longer supported, a small reminder that you should confirm current endpoints in the docs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Optum\u2019s onboarding documentation says its APIs are private and accessible only over HTTPS, protected with OAuth 2.0 bearer tokens. You use a client ID and client secret to request a short-lived token via Optum\u2019s Security and Authorization API. New customers must use version 3; version 2 is for existing legacy consumers, and moving between them involves a migration process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Prior Authorization API documentation adds that its calls use TLS 1.2 or later, that its tokens last one hour, and that Optum Enterprise APIs on that platform are secured with JSON Web Tokens. Those specifics are documented for that API, so confirm them for any other product you plan to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The documented APIs are REST APIs that consume and return JSON. X12 sits underneath for several of them: the Eligibility API accepts JSON built from a 270 request, and a separate raw X12 endpoint accepts a native 270 string wrapped in a JSON field. Before using that raw endpoint, the docs say to contact your Optum implementation analyst, because it needs custom headers and customer-specific payer list arrangements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The extensive JSON-to-EDI mapping documentation suggests that familiarity with X12 transactions will help your developers, even where Optum handles the translation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Public documentation does not replace your contract. Rate limits, uptime commitments, support terms, and exact pricing are typically negotiated or product-specific, so ask Optum before you sign. The Optum Real medical page includes a pricing view with starting packages, but check current figures rather than relying on any secondhand number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The documentation supports a straightforward model: Optum exposes APIs, and your software calls them. The Optum Real page describes accessing eligibility data \u201cwithin your existing EHR system\u201d through a centralized API. Some practice management or EHR vendors will do that integration for you; others leave it to your IT team or a contractor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Optum Real page also confirms that software vendors can subscribe on behalf of their provider clients, with each client\u2019s billing TIN associated with the vendor\u2019s active subscription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Four common integration approaches show where Optum\u2019s documentation is explicit and where it is not:<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow the Marketplace Works, Step by Step<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What Solutions Are Available<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Does the Optum AI Marketplace Provide APIs?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What the APIs do<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n
Documentation and tooling<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Authentication and security<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Data formats and prerequisites<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What to confirm directly<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
How Integrations Work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n