NEWS
News article received, Friday, July 16, 1999 9:56:53 AM EST
Medcareonline launches "Virtual Office" portal for Physician Marketplace, targets market controlling $800 Billion in Healthcare Spending
OAK BROOK, IL, Jul 16, 1999 (BUSINESS WIRE via COMTEX) -- Medcareonline,Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of MedCare Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCAR), today announced the August launch of their "physician virtual office" for the physician marketplace.
For the physician marketplace - who make decisions that account for some $800 billion in annual healthcare spending - Medcareonline is integrating multiple administrative, transaction, communication and research functions into a single, easy-to-use Web-based solution. Services and resources to be provided include: communication amongst Managed Care groups and within participating networking physicians, work with existing Practice Management Software tools through the portal, access research/purchasing vehicles for medical equipment and supplies from multiple manufacturers and vendors at lowest prices, and the ability to participate in research studies, discussions and forums from the comfort of their own office or home.
"We have, and continue, to partner with industry leading companies and professional services to provide physicians with a valuable tool that they can utilize on a daily basis," states Marc Menendez, President and CEO of MedcareOnline. "Because of MedCare's 'hands on' experience in the physician marketplace, we are able to provide the features that physicians actually need and will use. Despite tremendous sums being expended by various companies on the Internet for physicians, only a tiny fraction of physicians are actually using an online service on a regular basis. This only confirms what doctors are looking for is not currently being offered. We aim to dramatically change this situation with the upcoming launch of our new physician virtual office that will evolve and grow with the physician market."
Mr. Menendez continues, "Medcareonline's sole competitor, WebMD, recently merged with Healtheon (NASDAQ: HLTH) to create a subscription based community of physicians. Medcareonline is very different in that it focuses on what physicians and the industries need - flexibility - rather than pre-set tools and services.
"Despite tremendous sums being expended by various companies, only a tiny fraction of physicians actually use an online service on a regular basis. This only confirms that what the doctors are looking for is not currently being offered. "Current Internet healthcare sites are either consumer focused, or web-publishing sites for physicians. We are a physician portal like no other that brings key players who focus on healthcare together to build a "virtual tool" for the physicians." THE HEALTH.NET INDUSTRY
In a July 14th special report on the online healthcare industry, USA Today reported that an ever increasing consumer base is turning to the Internet for healthcare information, with more than 22 million US adults searching for information on healthcare online. This figure is expected to increase 50% to more than 33 million adults next year, making healthcare one of the most sought after topics on the Internet.
The report states, "Good medical information is getting easier to find on the Internet almost daily. Consumer health Web sites are proliferating, boosted by investments and deals, in the past few weeks alone, such giants as Microsoft, America Online (NYSE: AOL), Fox Entertainment, Readers Digest and CBS (NYSE: CBS)."
In a recent institutional research report entitled "The health.net Industry", Hambrecht & Quist analysts Stephen Fitzgibbons and Richard Lee state, "We believe the Internet will dramatically change how information flows and how people and organizations interact in healthcare. As an inexpensive, ubiquitous, and flexible technology, the Internet will be used to streamline current processes, enhance the quality of care, and create entirely new ways of conducting business. Individual participants, such as patients and physicians, will benefit from the Internet's strength as an information source and a communications medium. Companies that successfully deploy Internet-based strategies will grow revenues and decrease costs at the expense of their less advanced competitors....Health.net companies, in our opinion, will be a driving force behind this change and reap the rewards of progress." ABOUT MEDCARE
MedCare Technologies, Inc. is a healthcare technology service company offering services that improve the way physicians operate in today's changing environment. Medcare has a successful record of identifying and filling lucrative, untapped commercial voids, including the development of the MedCare Program, a non-drug, non-surgical treatment for patients suffering from Urinary Incontinence (UI). In association with hundreds of physicians nationally, Medcare is now the largest and fastest growing network of offices treating UI in the United States.
In addition, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Medcareonline.com. Inc., Medcare is providing an Internet Healthcare Portal for physicians. The portal will simplify healthcare practices by integrating multiple administrative, communication and research functions into a single, easy-to-use Web-based solution. Medcareonline has joined together with industry leaders to create a Medical Informatics solution for physicians where they can address their information and services needs through the Internet.
In addition, Medcareonline is also targeting the healthcare consumer and patient markets through the integration of multiple healthcare resources to provide a single 'Medseek' vehicle that will organize and facilitate access to the Internet through a single access point. Each target market represents an opportunity for revenue, as well as potential partnerships with leading healthcare providers.
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