Jill Bloom
410-601-5025
[email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 19, 1999
LIFEBRIDGE HEALTH TEAMS UP WITH AMERICA'S DOCTOR ONLINE TO PROVIDE "HOUSE CALLS" THROUGH NEW INTERNET SERVICE
Residents of the Baltimore Metropolitan area and the Eastern Shore can ask questions and get expert medical information from physicians without leaving their homes, thanks to a new exclusive regional Internet partnership between LifeBridge Health and America's Doctor Online, an Owings Mills, Maryland-based company.
America's Doctor's Online (ADOL) allows users to engage in private, one-on-one interactions with primary care physicians 24 hours a day, 7-days week. The on-line physicians offer health information and direct consumers to other resources, but do not practice medicine on line.
Within the ADOL site, consumers can access such LifeBridge information as: addresses and phone numbers for Sinai Hospital, Northwest Hospital Center, and Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital; a map to each LifeBridge hospital; a list of services and areas of expertise for each hospital; a link to LifeBridge's website, www.lifebridgehealth.org, which features LifeBridge On-Call, a health information resource that includes access to nurse consultants, a 1,200-topic audio and on-line library, a physician referral service, and information about LifeBridge's health and wellness programs.
As of February 22, the ADOL service will be at www.americasdoctor.com. on the Internet. America's Doctor Online is also available to subscribers of America Online, where it began operation last fall, through AOL keyword AMDOC.
When consumers within the LifeBridge Health region connect with ADOL and indicate that they wish to "chat" with a doctor, the LifeBridge logo will appear on screen. Those subscribers in the LifeBridge Health region who want additional information or are seeking a personal physician are directed via e-mail to LifeBridge On-Call. LifeBridge On-Call nurse consultants contact those consumers to provide more information.
"By teaming with America's Doctor Online, LifeBridge is offering consumers one of the most comprehensive and accessible consumer health-information services on-line," said Warren A. Green, president and CEO of LifeBridge Health "By providing the region's broadest and most comprehensive access to consumer health information, LifeBridge is demonstrating its commitment to connecting the communities it serves to resources necessary for better health."
LifeBridge Health is a regional health care organization based in Northwest Baltimore City and County. LifeBridge consists of Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Northwest Hospital Center, Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital and their subsidiaries and affiliated units.
Since ADOL went on-line through AOL on September 19, 1998, more than 1,000,000 consumers have sought health information. Because the service augments the traditional office visit, approximately 960 patients have been referred to sponsor health care organizations for further evaluation or more advice.
To date, questions have ranged from diet and nutrition to brain surgery The goals of the on-line service include: offering patients more information on their current health problems; offering health care resources to the consumer; and establishing a list of questions to ask the physician at the follow-up visit.
"Our sponsors have shown a tremendous willingness to bring first class medical information to consumers," said Scott Rifkin, M.D., C.E.O. of America's Doctor Online. "These health care organizations are providing convenient, quality care to their communities -- and they are using innovative means to achieve that."
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