I, I, Captain
Will keep and eye on KOOP,,,
some basic info.......to early
to tell direction before QP ends..
Single digits would be nice....
Glad to hear that you are relaxing..
Enjoy,enjoy..
quote.yahoo.com
March 5, 1999
DRKOOP.COM INC (EMPOWER HEALTH CORP) (KOOP)
S-1 Filing (SEC form S1)
Our company operates drkoop.com, an Internet-based consumer healthcare network. Our network consists of a
consumer-focused interactive website which provides users with comprehensive healthcare information and services, as well as
affiliate relationships with Internet portals, other websites, healthcare organizations and traditional media outlets. Our website,
www.drkoop.com, is a healthcare portal which integrates dynamic healthcare content on a wide variety of subjects, interactive
communities and tools, as well as opportunities to purchase healthcare-related products and services on-line. Our company's
founders, including former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop, created drkoop.com to empower consumers to better
manage their personal health with comprehensive, relevant and timely information. Our objective is to establish the drkoop.com
network as the most trusted source of consumer healthcare information and services on the Internet.
We launched our website in July 1998. By February 28, 1999, www.drkoop.com had attracted over 2.6 million unique users
and enrolled over 83,000 registered users. Our network is designed to provide consumers with a variety of healthcare content,
including information on acute ailments, chronic illnesses, nutrition, fitness and wellness, and access to medical databases,
publications, and real-time medical news. In addition, we offer eight interactive communities consisting of over 100 hosted chat
support groups. Our support groups allow users to share experiences with others who face, or have faced, similar health
conditions, leveraging the aggregate community to benefit each member. We also provide interactive tools that permit users to
personalize their drkoop.com experience and are developing additional features to expand the functionality of our website.
Currently, our affiliates consist of Internet portals and other websites, healthcare organizations and traditional media outlets.
Each affiliate provides to its customers easy access to the information and services offered on drkoop.com. Through these
relationships, we believe that we will gain broad exposure of our brand, drive high volumes of traffic to the drkoop.com
website, and acquire and distribute relevant local content. We intend to expand our network by continuing to establish
relationships with affiliates that have the ability to direct additional users to our website.
Our belief is that health-concerned consumers are highly motivated in their need to find accurate information and to act on it.
Our strategy is to create a trusted brand that consumers will rely on for that information and for related e-commerce
opportunities. Our business model is primarily to earn advertising, subscription and e-commerce transaction revenues from
advertisers, merchants, manufacturers and healthcare organizations who desire to reach a highly targeted community of
healthcare consumers on the Internet. For example, advertisers can target very specific audiences such as persons interested in
a particular disease or individuals who desire to address a particular health condition. We also earn revenues by facilitating
e-commerce transactions, such as prescription refills and health insurance sales, offered by outside parties.
Business Strategy
Our objective is to establish the drkoop.com network as the most trusted and comprehensive source of consumer healthcare
information and services on the Internet. Our business strategy incorporates the following key elements:
Establish the drkoop.com Brand. Our strategy is to create a strong brand with which consumers associate the trustworthiness
and credibility of Dr. C. Everett Koop and which will enable us to implement his vision of empowering individuals to better
manage their personal health. We also intend to enhance our brand through association with other notable leaders in the
consumer healthcare field, such as ABC News Medical Correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman, a director of our company.
Our company is currently engaged in a major campaign to increase awareness of the drkoop.com brand among consumers,
healthcare organizations, Internet portals and other websites. We intend to allocate significant resources to further develop and
build brand recognition through on-line advertising, general advertising, strategic alliances and other marketing initiatives.
Provide Consumers with Healthcare Content of High Quality. We currently provide our users with high quality healthcare
content, including information on acute ailments, chronic illnesses, nutrition, fitness and wellness, and access to medical
databases, publications, and real-time medical news. This information is provided by established sources such as Dartmouth
Medical School, Reuters, the National Institute of Health, Multum Interactive Services, Inc. and the American Cancer Society.
We also offer a directory which compares and rates over 650 other health-oriented websites. Our strategy is to integrate
dynamic healthcare information on a wide variety of subjects with relevant interactive communities and tools and opportunities
to purchase healthcare- related products and services on-line. We believe that the quality of our health information is a
competitive advantage that will enable us to attract users to our website, promote user loyalty and increase page views per visit.
Syndicate Content Through Affiliates to Promote Traffic Growth. We have entered into relationships with Internet portals and
other websites which position drkoop.com as their primary source for consumer healthcare content. In addition, we have
entered into relationships with local hospitals, payor entities and local media outlets such as television stations. These
relationships include the creation of co-branded websites and the distribution of branded healthcare information to affiliated
entities. We intend to expand our network by continuing to establish relationships with affiliates that have the ability to direct
additional users to our website.
Develop and Expand On-line Healthcare Communities. We currently offer our registered users free access to eight on-line
communities consisting of over 100 hosted chat support groups. Our eight communities are organized by the following general
health topics: Addiction & Recovery, Aging Healthy, General Health, Men's Health, Mental Health, Parenting & Children's
Health, Physical Conditions and Women's Health. Our support groups cover topics including hepatitis C, child development,
stress management and relaxation skills, and anxiety disorders. Our communities and support groups allow users with similar
health-related experiences to exchange information and gather news and knowledge in a secure, anonymous, on-line
environment. Communities and support groups are hosted by selected moderators with experience both in the relevant topic
and on-line forum moderating. We believe that our communities and support groups are an effective way to attract users to our
website and strengthen their loyalty to the drkoop.com network. In addition, by aggregating users interested in a particular
health topic, we believe we can sell advertising in a highly targeted manner, thereby commanding higher advertising rates.
Similarly, we offer merchants and others who engage in e-commerce the ability to market products and services to our
community members.
Provide Consumers with Unique Features and Tools. Our website is designed to provide easy access to innovative features
and tools. Currently, our most popular tool educates consumers on the interaction among various drugs and other substances.
In addition, we recently acquired the right to deploy a comprehensive personal medical record which will allow users to
establish and maintain a lifelong record of their health and medical information in a secure portion of our database. We intend to
continue to add useful tools to enable our users to personalize their on-line experience. We believe that our tools and features
will continue to encourage users to visit our website frequently and increase the likelihood of users selecting drkoop.com as
their preferred website for health-related issues.
Provide an Attractive Advertising Site. We believe our ability to target specific users, the interactive nature of our website and
the demographic characteristics of our users will be attractive to pharmaceutical, healthcare and other companies that advertise
on the Internet. By identifying users interested in a particular health-related topic or who desire to address a particular health
condition, we believe we can sell advertising in a highly targeted manner, thereby commanding higher advertising rates.
Enable High Value E-commerce Offerings. We enable e-commerce transactions offered by third parties. Our strategy involves
permitting merchants, manufacturers and service providers access to a highly targeted community of health conscious
consumers through our website. We presently enable sales of prescription refills and insurance services. Although we do not
provide these products or services, we do provide a link to the websites of third parties that provide these products or
services. Some of these third parties have entered into preferred provider arrangements with us and pay us a transaction fee for
sales attributable to users from our website. We believe that contextual merchandising of e-commerce transactions will attract
users to our website and promote user loyalty. |
