HealthGrades.com Forms Alliance With OnHealth.com to Offer Free Healthcare Provider ``Report Cards'' to Visitors.LAKEWOOD, Colo.--(BW HealthWire)--Sept. 9, 1999-- Specialty Care Network, Inc.'s (Nasdaq/NM:SCNI SCNI Security of Critical Networked Infrastructures SCNI Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. SCNI Sports Council Northern Ireland ) majority-owned subsidiary majority-owned subsidiary A firm in which more than 50% of outstanding voting stock is owned by the parent company. , HealthGrades.com, Inc., a leading source of free online healthcare provider ratings and information, announced today an alliance to provide original content for OnHealth Network Company (Nasdaq:ONHN), one of the most highly-trafficked independent health content Web sites (www.onhealth.com). Onhealth.com, a leading Internet information and services resource for consumers that provides multiple perspectives and an independent viewpoint on all aspects of health and well-being, will develop co-branded pages where its users can access HealthGrades' proprietary healthcare rating information system. This unique Internet service designates "leading physicians" and issues "report cards" on hospitals and health plans around the country based on objective information from a variety of data sources and impartial selection criteria. "Our alliance with OnHealth creates a new, easily accessible means to provide individuals with quality information that will help them make important choices for their health and medical needs," said Kerry Hicks, chief executive officer of Specialty Care Network and HealthGrades.com. "This partnership brings us one step closer to becoming the industry-recognized leader for providing objective physician, hospital and health plan rating information." HealthGrades.com profiles more than 600,000 physicians, 5,000 hospitals and 400 health plans nationwide. HealthGrades.com enables users to tailor searches of physicians and hospitals by specialties and geographic areas. Users can also seek health plan information on a geographic basis. The HealthGrades.com rating system utilizes proprietary formulas to process information obtained from public and private data sources including the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. Health Care Financing Administration Health Care Financing Administration, n.pr department in the U.S. agency of Health and Human Services responsible for the oversight of the Medicaid and Medicare benefit programs, including guidelines, payment, and coverage policies. , state medical board records and The National Committee for Quality Assurance National Committee for Quality Assurance Medical practice A private, not-for-profit organization which has become the leading accreditor of managed care plans; in site visits, NCQA reviewers evaluate a managed care plan in terms of quality management, physicians' . Commenting on the alliance, Robert Goodman, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of OnHealth said, "HealthGrades.com is a natural fit for OnHealth's offering as an equally independent and unbiased resource of quality online health information. By providing users an objective tool to compare and evaluate physicians, hospitals and health plans with the click of a mouse, HealthGrades shares in our goal to create a safe environment for consumers actively managing their personal and family's health." About www.HealthGrades.com HealthGrades.com is a new, comprehensive web site for the distribution of free physician, hospital and health plan ratings and information. HealthGrades.com is positioning its ratings site as a portal for consumers to locate a wealth of information on hospitals, physicians and health plans to enable them to make better-informed healthcare decisions. HealthGrades.com's content is designed to provide straightforward and objective quality ratings for hospitals and health plans in the form of "report card" information. HealthGrades.com plans to distinguish itself as the principal source of rating information in the healthcare marketplace. About OnHealth Network Company Headquartered in Seattle, Washington  This page is protected from moves until disputes have been resolved on the .The reason for its protection is listed on the protection policy page. , OnHealth Network Company (Nasdaq:ONHN) is a leading Internet information and services resource for consumers that provides multiple perspectives and an independent viewpoint on health, wellness and well-being. OnHealth complies with the Health on the Net Foundation Health On the Net Foundation (HON) is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 and based in Switzerland. The stated mission of the foundation is to help both laypersons and medical practitioners find useful and reliable medical and health information online. Code of Conduct (HONcode), an international initiative established to help unify and standardize the reliability of medical and health information available on the World Wide Web. Onhealth.com consistently ranks among the most highly trafficked independent health content sites on the Web. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the most recent Media Metrix report, OnHealth attracted nearly 1.2 million unique visitors A count of how many different people access a Web site. For example, if a user leaves and comes back to the site five times during the measurement period, that person is counted as one unique visitor, but would count as five "user sessions. in July, a 29 percent increase from June 1999. OnHealth Network's advertisers include Glaxo Wellcome, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble and SmithKline Beecham. The consumer-driven Web site has also attracted non-pharmaceutical advertisers such as Deja News The Deja News Research Service was an archive of messages posted to Usenet discussion groups, started in 1995 by Steve Madere in Austin, Texas. Its powerful search engine capabilities won the service acclaim, generated controversy, and significantly changed the perceived nature of , Dr. Scholl's, Ford, Jamieson Vitamins, Kellogg's, MSN (1) (MicroSoft Network) A family of Internet-based services from Microsoft, which includes a search engine, e-mail (Hotmail), instant messaging (Windows Live Messaging) and a general-purpose portal with news, information and shopping (MSN Directory). Portal Phase and Women.com. More than 950 Web sites drive traffic to onhealth.com through its numerous distribution and content sharing relationships including: AOL's Digital City, Inc., Better Homes and Gardens, Snap.com, Weather.com, WebTV and Yahoo! This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements concerning the development of co-branded pages and the nature of the content to be accessible through the co-branded pages; and the inclusion of HealthGrades.com content on onhealth.com and its affiliated network. Actual results could differ materially from those addressed in the forward-looking statements due to: delays in development of the co-branded pages described above caused by technical difficulties and other problems; technical difficulties relating to the presentation of HealthGrades.com information on onhealth.com and its affiliated network; changes in the arrangements between HealthGrades.com and onhealth.com; and unavailability of certain information intended for inclusion in the sites. Other risks and uncertainties are detailed in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
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