A bitter pill
The grand ambitions of online health companies have been stymied by offline competition, the New Economy bust, opposition by physicians and daunting technological obstacles.
 Online medical industry tries to cheat death
By Sandeep Junnarkar Led by Netscape Communications founder Jim Clark, online health companies once promised to revolutionize the way patients, doctors, drug manufacturers and insurance carriers do business. In the five or so years since, little has changed. The original grand ambitions have been stymied by a wide range of problems that include offline competition, the New Economy bust, opposition by physicians and daunting technological obstacles. Making matters worse, the entire industry is facing a 2002 government deadline to electronically modernize the way health claims are processed. In the meantime, companies such as WebMD are struggling simply to stay alive. Technology: A beast untamed Business: Old-line companies revolt Culture: Not what the doctor ordered |  | | |
Doctors shun Web as business tool Wall Street questions WebMD's AOL deal Online security key to health care venture WebMD, News Corp. scrap joint ventures Insurers concoct a system to ward off WebMD Analyst reports: Wall Street divided on WebMD's pulse WebMD to lay off 1,100 workers Jim Clark's stock purchase boosts Healtheon/WebMD Editors: Mike Yamamoto, Jon Skillings, Dina Gachman, Jennifer Balderama |
