Mostly hype. . .but some thought provoking facts. . . .
e-commerce to be added to medcareonline.com; Hambrecht & Quist estimates healthcare e-commerce to be worth in the hundreds of billions'
OAK BROOK, IL, Feb. 16 /CNW-PRN/ - As part of the ongoing development of www.medcareonline.com, a healthcare portal offering comprehensive medical information, MedCare Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCAR) today announced its plan to add e-commerce, which will eventually include a wide range of health related products and services. ''At $1 trillion or 14% of GDP, healthcare is the single largest, and one of the most important components of our economy,'' states Mr. Jeff Aronin, President & CEO of MedCare Technologies. ''And since healthcare is such an integral part of our daily living, the online sale of various products and services from a variety of vendors is a natural extension of the wide ranging content, features and information available on our healthcare portal.''
THE HEALTH.NET INDUSTRY
In a January 8th, 1999, 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.''
Commenting on the revenue opportunities, they state, ''The three largest health.net revenue opportunities, in our opinion, are e-commerce, connectivity, and advertising/sponsorship. E-commerce, estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars, represents the largest and most immediate opportunity. The connectivity market, estimated to be $10+ billion, will be penetrated more gradually. We estimate the current advertising/sponsorship opportunity to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, although with huge potential upside.''
The companies mentioned in this report include Eclipsys (NASDAQ: ECLP), HBO & Co., now part of McKesson (NYSE: MCK), IDX Systems (NASDAQ: IDXC), mediconsult.com (NASDAQ: MCNS), OnHealth Network (NASDAQ: ONHN), Healthoen (NASDAQ: HLTH), Yahoo ! (NASDAQ: YHOO), AOL (NASDAQ: AOL) and WebMD.
ABOUT MEDCARE
MedCare Technologies, through its wholly owned subsidiary medcareonline, Inc, has developed www.medcareonline.com as a comprehensive healthcare portal offering comprehensive medical information. medcareonline.com offers wide ranging direct-to-consumer health specific information, such as health travel advisory, health news, symposiums, medical journals and publications, and extensive research and web based services for the some 750,000 US physicians.
MedCare Technologies is also the developer of The MedCare Program, a non-drug, non-surgical system for the care and treatment of patients suffering from urinary incontinence (UI). Despite being more prevalent than diabetes, and costing $26 billion annually, more than what is spent on dialysis and heart bypass surgery combined according to USA Today, incontinence remains one of the least talked about conditions in healthcare today. Unlike traditional treatment options, which are costly and often unsuccessful or inadequate, MedCare's treatment program is completely risk free and has a proven national success rate in excess of 85%. In association with over 300 physicians, MedCare has the largest network of offices treating UI in the US.
This news release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements which are other than statements of historical facts. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, product and service demand and acceptance, changes in technology, changes in insurance reimbursement, economic conditions, the impact of competition and pricing, government regulation, and other risks defined in this document and in statements filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All such forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, and whether made by or on behalf of the Company are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and any other cautionary statements which may accompany the forward-looking statements. In addition, the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.
SOURCE: MedCare Technologies, Inc.
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