Healtheon/WebMD and the American College of Cardiology Team Up to DeliverEnhanced Information and Services for Physicians and Consumers
ACC Broadens Reach for Healtheon/WebMD Practice(TM), Provides Expert Content
ATLANTA, March 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Healtheon/WebMD, (Nasdaq: HLTH) the first end-to-end Internet healthcare company connecting physicians and consumers to the entire healthcare industry, today announced its intent to form a strategic, three-year relationship with the American College of Cardiology (ACC). The partnership will enable Healtheon/WebMD to offer cardiologists and their patients cardiology-related enhanced information and services on its physician portal, WebMD Practice(SM), and consumer portal, WebMD Health(SM) (www.webmd.com).
As part of the relationship, the ACC will become the exclusive cardiology physician society on WebMD Practice in the United States, and will utilize Healtheon/WebMD as its strategic Internet partner for new and ongoing initiatives including enhancement of the ACC site (www.acc.org) and e-commerce.
The ACC provides credible medical content, access to recognized cardiovascular experts and physician education and communication focused on cardiovascular disease. "The ACC's mission is to foster optimal cardiovascular care and disease prevention through education, research and leadership. The Internet is a critical component to our outreach," said George A. Beller, MD, president-elect of the ACC. "Working with Healtheon/WebMD allows us to expand our reach, execute a consolidated online strategy, and, ultimately improve our effectiveness in addressing cardiovascular diseases, one of the leading causes of death."
This partnership builds upon ACC's existing relationship with Healtheon/WebMD for technology and content delivery. Over the past year, ACC has worked with Healtheon/WebMD for the engineering and maintenance of its Web site, as well as, delivering daily on-line cardiology news and information. Now ACC will utilize Healtheon/WebMD's Internet platform, e-commerce capabilities and Internet expertise to reach health care professionals.
"We know that leading professional medical organizations, like the ACC, are quick to grasp the value of the Internet but struggle with branding and mass distribution. Healtheon/WebMD is the one comprehensive source to address their needs and long-term strategy," said Jeff Arnold, chief executive officer of Healtheon/WebMD. "Our focus is to improve health and wellness around the world. Through working with medical organizations, we will connect consumers and medical professionals, reduce inefficiencies in the system and enable a more effective and efficient healthcare delivery system."
Healtheon/WebMD and ACC Bring Trusted Information to Patients, Physicians
Healtheon/WebMD will create a dedicated ACC section on WebMD Practice under the cardiology specialty area containing daily news, press releases, news archives, views and commentaries on cardiology news, legislative and regulatory issues of relevance to cardiologists, and an Insider's Guide to the ACC website. The ACC will retain editorial control of the co-branded section. All programs will be designed to provide in-depth, robust information and services of interest to cardiovascular specialists and other medical personnel with an interest in cardiovascular care.
"Working with the ACC, which is a highly respected source of credible information, puts us in a position to strengthen the doctor patient relationship by providing them with the latest, most trusted cardiovascular health information," said Ricardo Martinez, M.D., senior vice president of Health Affairs for Healtheon/WebMD. "We are pleased to work with the ACC to accelerate its ability to achieve their mission."
The two organizations will also collaborate on enhancing and extending the cardiology information and resources on WebMD Health, the leading online consumer healthcare site. Soon, WebMD Health will be augmented with a myriad of consumer-focused publications on heart disease, news and updates from The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, as well as descriptions of the roles of different types of cardiovascular physicians for heart patients in an ACC-branded Resource Directory. Healtheon/WebMD and the ACC will also produce special community programs for people interested in heart health and cardiovascular patients including special guest chats, surveys and opinion polls, online discussion forums and expert Q&A events.
About Healtheon/WebMD
Healtheon/WebMD is the first end-to-end Internet healthcare company connecting physicians and consumers to the entire healthcare industry. Healtheon/WebMD is using the Internet to facilitate a new system for the delivery of healthcare, resulting in a single, secure environment for all communications and transactions that will enable a more efficient and cost effective healthcare system. With corporate headquarters in Atlanta and technology headquarters in Silicon Valley, the company was formed in November 1999 as a result of the merger of Healtheon Corporation, WebMD, Inc., MEDE America and Medcast. For more information, visit webmd.com.
About the American College of Cardiology
The American College of Cardiology, a 25,000-member nonprofit professional medical society and teaching institution, is dedicated to fostering optimal cardiovascular care and disease prevention through professional education, promotion of research, leadership in the development of standards and guidelines, and the formulation of health care policy.
Other than historical information set forth herein, this announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the ability of Healtheon/WebMD's services to decrease costs and improve patient care. Actual results could be materially different from those discussed in this announcement. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, among others: Healtheon/WebMD's limited operating history, continued growth in the use of the Internet and acceptance of the Internet as a secure medium over which to conduct transactions. Additional risks associated with Healtheon/WebMD's business can be found in its recent Registration Statement on Form S-4 and other periodic filings with the SEC.
SOURCE Healtheon/WebMD
CO: Healtheon/WebMD; American College of Cardiology
ST: Georgia
IN: MLM HEA
SU: PDT JVN
03/13/2000 08:03 EST prnewswire.com |
