HOW WIRED IS THE HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY?

Proximity has released the first report in a series called "EXCHANGE 2 The Communication Era," on how New Media is changing industries and consumer behavior. The first report covers the health-care industry. The health-care industry is fundamentally informational. The amount of actual matter being distributed can be compared to the contents of a small drug bottle. Scientists working on the Human Genome project were among the very early adapters of the Internet, sharing research data over the Internet.

The majority of pharmaceutical and biotech companies have not embraced this new technology as a means of communication with their main stakeholders. The use of the Internet within the health-care sector has grown with a slower pace than for other sectors. The pharmaceuticals industry, used to operating in a highly regulated environment, may be hesitating because of the lack of regulation on the Internet.

The FDA is expected to come up with some guidelines for the health-care industry use of the Internet by the end of 1998. In the meantime, corporate officials are trying to withstand the pressure from their marketing departments.

The Internet has already dramatically changed the nature of the U.S. financial markets. "Most companies have failed to recognize the potential of the Internet to communicate and connect with potential investors," says a VP of Health Care Research at a major bank.

43% of physicians asked in an AMA survey were online. Health Information is ranked six out of ten for top content preferences by Internet users.

Currently, most doctors and nurses rely on handwritten notes that are inputted or transcribed later to a PC system or a larger paper-based record. The complexity of health insurance and reimbursement systems is one of the parameters that drives up the cost of health care. Information, which needs to be distributed among physicians, hospitals, insurance companies and patients, is still done by paper or FAX. U.S. health-care organizations are making slow progress toward implementing computer-based patient records. Research on how the health-care industry is adapting to life via the Internet was done by interviewing key people in the industry, as well as contacting industry organizations.

Case studies included in the report describe how health-care information can be successfully transferred to web-based technologies, and examples of sites providing health information are listed. This information is matched with a bold futuristic outlook on how various sectors of the health-care industry can apply Information Technology to deliver better care.

Some of the survey results can be accessed at www.proximity.dk

For more information, contact Gitte Pedersen 212 280 4223 [e-mail] http://www.proximity.dk

Proximity is an international business consulting company with offices in Denmark and New York, focusing on High Tech companies within Information Technology and Health Care. Proximity publishes a monthly Newsletter (EXCHANGE 1), and a series of reports (EXCHANGE 2).