Americans are bolting to the Web to research new drug developments, disease treatments and for wellness/prevention advice. It's probably the best PR windfall to hit the healthcare industry in ages.
This is just the beginning of what Web-based marcom has to offer.
Earlier this month, cyber entrepreneur Scott Rifkin (himself a physician) spoke about how he is banking on his ability to bypass the healthcare press, trade brochures and broadcast ad campaigns to promote hospitals directly to the masses at a Public Relations Society of America healthcare-focused conference in Washington, D.C. His concept involves maximizing the Web's awesome draw for consumer-based healthcare information.
Through America's Doctor - an anchor tenant on America Online that costs Rifkin and his private backers more than $1 million a year - Rifkin is giving AOL subscribers a unique opportunity to have real-time, one-on-one cyber conversations with doctors.
Hospitals are among the paid sponsors whose facilities are featured on linked splash pages, though they're not directly involved in conversations between physicians and Web visitors.
Visitors to America's Doctor can inquire about a vast range of medical conditions, treatments and drugs.
Rifkin is confident that his Web business model can work. So far, his instincts have proven to be right. The site is averaging about 3,500 chats every day (up from several hundred in the beginning), and physicians have access to more than 6,500 articles.
Although Rifkin won't name names, his company is in negotiations with a major East Coast healthcare network which would boost its several dozen current sponsors to more than 60. That includes the deep-pocketed Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, the first hospital system to sign up with Rifkin.
In the first eight weeks after it joined last year, the system netted more than 200 referrals from America's Doctor. About 10 percent resulted in admissions.
Another sponsor, Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital (FMLH) in Milwaukee, has been a partner for just over two months and is already seeing referral results with 42 ending up as patients.
(America's Doctor, 410/581-8949; FMLH, 414/259-2618)
M.D. Chat Session
To experience an online chat with an America's Doctor physician, HPRMN editor Ann McMikel pointed-and-clicked her way into a session on http://www.americasdoctor.com. It took about five minutes to be "seen" by the cyber doc. Here's the chat summary:
AmDoc24: Would you like information on a specific medical topic?
AM: Yes, women's health.
AmDoc24: What is the question?
AM: I am a 30-year-old African-American woman with no history of breast cancer. When should I get a mammogram?
AmDoc24: I am passing a library article to you that I have found concerning your subject. Please read, if there are any further questions please do not hesitate to ask.
In a few minutes an article on breast cancer appeared on the screen.