Dr George Lundberg
and Peter Frishauf
MEDSCAPE

October 5, 2000

Medscape.com

Medscape merged with MedicaLogic (www.medicalogic.com) in May 2000. What were the impacts of this merger on both companies ?

George Lundberg : Expansion, economies of scale, an enlarged scope and a heightened visibility.

P.M. Frishauf : Medscape now is the only eHealth company that combines the MedicaLogic Digital Health Record (DHR) created by Dr. Mark Leavitt in 1985 with trusted information that medscape.com has pioneered since 1995. In the United States some 20 Million patient records now exist on our DHR systems; and medscape.com membership is approaching 3 Million people worldwide. The potential for the future is enormous, as we will be able to use the logic contained in the DHR to exquisitely personalize information for clinicians and consumers. For example, currently we ask clinicians on medscape.com for their specialty, and use that information to customize an experience for them -- the cardiologist gets Medscape Cardiology, the radiologist, Medscape Radiology, etc.

In the future, if we know from a clinician's Medscape DHR that they have seen a number of patients with pulmonary edema secondary to congestive heart failure and they are using 20 different drugs in these settings, we can suggest specific articles of interest to that physician. Similarly, on our consumer sites cbshealthwatch.com and aboutmyhealth.com, if we know that a mother has a child with exercise -induced asthma and what therapies are being employed, we will have the ability to supply information that is very specific to that concern.

cbshealthwatch.com

MedicaLogic brought powerful and important applications, smart management, and financial resources to the table. We're very excited about the combination.

How many people does Medscape employ?

George Lundberg : 1,300.

P.M. Frishauf : About 500 or these are part-time medical transcriptionists that support our Web-based Medscape Transcription DHR product.

What differentiates Medscape from its competitors ?

George Lundberg : We are a unique combination of health information elements to be used by physicians pharmacists, nurses and patients at the point of care. We have stood a substantial test of time, having had our main elements founded in 1989 and 1995.

When do think Medscape will make profits ?

George Lundberg : Late in 2001.

What are Medscape's main sources of revenues ?

George Lundberg : The New-York operation generates advertising and sponsorships. The Portland component licenses users of the online health record and the Nashville medical transcription product is sold for monthly fees. Additional revenue sources are under development.

According to you, what are the key applications of the site ?

George Lundberg : The on-line health record collecting all the health information that matters at the point of care. It provides the most reliable information and world-class continuing medical education to as many people of all kinds as possible in all countries of the world, free of charge to the user.

What type of applications do you wish to develop in the future ?

George Lundberg : Additional elements of e-commerce, connectivity and e-care.

What next challenges Medscape will have to face ?

George Lundberg : Operating as a successful business in a rapidly changing environment, as they say in hockey 'skating to where the puck is going to be'.

What is your development strategy for the next 5 years ?

George Lundberg : Aggressively encompassing content, commerce, connectivity and e-care at a pace that can be done without compromising quality or ethics.

Medscape recently launched CBShealthWatch, a consumer health site. Many competitors (for example, Dr Koop) are struggling to "stay alive". According to you, what type of errors did they make ?

George Lundberg : We believe it is critical to provide information that can be trusted by all in a form and at a level of complexity that matches the users self-perceived needs. Thus, physicians, other health professionals and consumers alike can come to the same site and choose. In addition, adherence to tough ethical rules is critical.

Dr Lundberg, you delivered a call to action for the establishment of the new eHealth Code of Ethics. Do you think the U.S. legislation is currently sufficient or should legal measures be taken or reinforced to protect privacy ?

George Lundberg : The essence of professionalism is self-governance. The medical Internet derives from and represents elements of medicine, journalism, business, medical journals and medical education. All have great traditions of self governance and self regulation. The internet itself cannot be regulated. It is a medium not the message. Human behavior on the Internet can be regulated. In general, the laws and regulations that already exist are sufficient to do the job in most developed countries including the United States.

Do you think that the WAP tools (palm pilots, mobile phones) will be used more and more frequently by physicians ?

George Lundberg : Many young doctors already use these devices. Many more will follow.

Do you think electronic prescriptions will develop rapidly ?

George Lundberg : Yes, the convenience will be irresistible and electronic prescribing can sharply decrease the potential of errors.

What type of changes would be induced for Medscape in terms of services ?

George Lundberg : These will be among our key offerings in e-commerce.

P.M. Frishauf : Doctors are nomadic -- they move around to do their jobs -- and our tools and information need to be accessible to them at the point of care. Medscape Mobile tools make this possible and they have enormous appeal. In the first 2 weeks we made our Medscape Mobile Palm tools available in September, 2000, more than 10,000 Medscape Members downloaded them. Your readers who are Medscape members (which is free) can download them from medscape.com.

Do you intend to launch a French version of Medscape ?

George Lundberg : Yes, probably in early 2001.

Give your opinion.