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Health care industry glimpses online future SAN FRANCISCO (October 28, 1998 09:14 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) = - What the Internet has done to picking stocks and buying flowers, it's also going to do to health care. That was the message that Andy Grove, Chairman of semiconductor giant Inte= l Corp., and former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop delivered Tuesday a= t a conference that addressed the Internet revolution about to sweep the $1 trillion U.S. healthcare industry. Grove, who drew on the power of the Internet in his successful bout with prostate cancer several years ago, warned that U.S. healthcare companies f= aced what he called a "strategic inflection point" -- a time to either embrace = the Internet and apply its benefits or scramble to catch up with those who do. "We are in a period of major change that is dictated by the fact that consumers of healthcare services are ahead of the profession in their embr= ace of electronic means of getting information, participating in supportive groups, handling transactions and communicating," Grove said. Koop, who spoke at the conference hosted by Intel, said the Internet would allow online users do something he had been urging Americans to do for mos= t of his career as a physician, namely, take charge of their health. "We have an opportunity now to change the way that medicine is practiced, = and it comes down to a power shift," Koop said. "Now that the Internet can inf= orm the patient, that patient is empowered to work with the physician in order= to make decisions that they together can do." Grove and healthcare professionals rattled off a string of statistics to b= ack up claims that the healthcare industry was set to experience major change. Currently, the roughly 60 million Internet users in the United States can select from more than 15,000 Web sites to access information about their health. Some 18 million Americans sought health and medical information online, roughly the same number that looked for answers to questions about financi= al investments, according to a study published by Cyber Dialogue Inc. Moreover, data cited in a recent research report from ING Baring Furman Se= lz LLC suggest that these so-called "HealthMed" users are also among the most avid online purchasers. The report said HealthMed users purchased an avera= ge of $2,250 worth of goods online in the year ended July 1998. In addition to showcasing online retailers like BabyCenter.Com, which sell= s breast pumps, diapers and other infant care products via the Internet, the conference also highlighted Internet health information and disease manage= ment services. America's Doctor Online, an online service that provides subscribers of America Online round-the-clock access to physicians, announced Tuesday at = the conference that it will expand its service to the Internet by January, 199= 9. Conference participants were also shown a demonstration of a program devel= oped at the University of Wisconsin that makes use of the Internet to provide support, information and help for patients suffering from serious diseases= . The Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System, or CHESS, places a personal computer in the home of a patient, who then can use it to obtain brief answers to many standard health questions, as well as detailed artic= les and descriptions of services they may need. The patient can also anonymously ask questions of experts and communicate = with and read personal stories about people with similar problems. By GREG FROST, Reuters Copyright =A9 1998 Nando.net Copyright =A9 1998 Reuters News Service janet paterson - 51 now / 41 dx / 37 onset - almonte/ontario/canada http://www.newcountry.nu/pd/members/janet/ [log in to unmask]