TreeHouse Health and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of MinnesotaAnnounce Collaboration to SupportHealthcare Innovation and Transformation

Minneapolis – May 14th, 2015 – TreeHouse Health™ (www.TreeHouse-Health.com), an innovation center for companies in healthcare, today announced an agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) to collaborate and support healthcare startup innovation in Minnesota. This agreement provides a platform for companies across the healthcare industry to work together to help forward the commitment of Blue Cross to lead the transformation of healthcare.

“We’re excited to partner with the largest Minnesota health plan and have them join us as an ‘anchor tenant’,” said John Blank, M.D., chairman, TreeHouse Health. “We know Blue Cross will help our startups understand the issues facing healthcare payers and assist in their path to commercialization.”

Blue Cross will have a regular presence at the TreeHouse Health facility in downtown Minneapolis, allowing the organization to engage and collaborate with the early-stage startup and emerging firms that are incubated at the facility. These TreeHouse Health “portfolio companies” bring a broad range of healthcare technology advancements to the market.

“The healthcare industry is moving into an era of game-changing transformation,” said Rochelle Myers, chief strategy officer at Blue Cross. “Blue Cross believes that a new health ecosystem is emerging; one that will be shaped by disruptive innovation, strategic partnerships and entrepreneurialism. We’re excited to provide TreeHouse with access to our knowledge and strategic insight, based on Blue Cross’ 80-plus years of innovation and experience. Fostering new ideas and supporting new voices is an important part of creating a more consumer-centered healthcare market that is easier to access, understand and navigate for everyone.”

“TreeHouse Health is dedicated to helping emerging healthcare companies grow successfully. To do that, they must understand the needs of their customers,” Blank said. “We’re confident that Blue Cross’ participation in the TreeHouse Health ecosystem will not only accomplish that, but also help them advance their own internal innovation initiatives. The expertise and guidance Blue Cross provides will undoubtedly influence our selection of additional startups in which we invest going forward. All TreeHouse Health constituents will benefit from this agreement.”

The 13,000-square foot TreeHouse Health facility in downtown Minneapolis’ Loring Park neighborhood is home to a growing group of early-stage healthcare technology startups, currently numbering eight.

These portfolio companies each receive support from TreeHouse and its associates in the form of a cash investment, expertise, office space, network connections and professional services.

TreeHouse now has two “anchor tenants” spanning both the payer and provider markets. TreeHouse Health is seeking additional “anchor tenant” relationships with other leading healthcare organizations

Contact:

Holly Janiszewski

TreeHouse Health LLC

info@treehouse-health.com

612-486-5934

About TreeHouse Health LLC

Launched in October 2013, TreeHouse Health is a Minneapolis-based innovation center supporting entrepreneurial growth for both large and emerging healthcare companies. Its aim is to support the growth of emerging companies while also making it easier for large organizations to innovate. Key to its success is the understanding that every organization, large and small, has its own unique set of goals, challenges, and needs relating to innovation. TreeHouse has invested in eight early-stage healthcare startups to date and, in December 2014, signed its first anchor tenant agreement with Hennepin County Medical

Center (HCMC). For more information on TreeHouse, visit TreeHouse-Health.com. Interested in joining TreeHouse Health? Visit http://treehouse-health.com/join-us or email a business plan to info@treehouse-health.com. Stay connected by following TreeHouse on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota

For more than 90 years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (bluecrossmn.com) has supported the health, wellbeing and peace of mind of our members by striving to ensure equitable access to high quality care at an affordable price. We are on a mission to inspire change, transform care and improve health for the people and communities we serve by reinventing both ourselves and the broader system. Our more than 2.5 million members can be found in every Minnesota county, all 50 states and on four continents. As a proud nonprofit organization, we believe working to advance wellness for all Minnesotans is the greatest investment we can make. Our goal is nothing less than for everyone to be able to achieve their full health potential, regardless of race or other socially defined circumstances. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, which serves more than 107 million members across the U.S.