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`‘afismtfiumdump
`IISIIIBSS IIIIES
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`SAN FRANCISCO - EAST BAY - PENINSULA 0 NORTH BAY
`
`November 9. 1998
`
`Health Care
`
`Internet health-care companies
`target seniors, newborns
`
`Kristen Bole
`
`The flurry of Internet health—care companies is shaking out
`to two key sectors that insiders say are the only ones who
`really care: the chronically ill and parents with newborns.
`
`On opposite ends of the cradle-to—grave timeline are the
`Health Hero Network Inc., in Mountain View, which is
`creating online monitoring for seniors, and
`BabyCenter.com, in San Francisco, founded a year ago by
`some new dads who found out exactly how hard it was to
`figure out which stroller or car seat was the best value, and
`decided to offer parents a midnight shopping entree to the
`$18 billion baby-products industry. The site allows parents
`to compare various brands, with buying guides and points
`on what to look for and what to avoid, plus gift wrapping
`services. It also offers a chat line to doctors to answer basic
`
`baby-care questions.
`
`The site is getting about 550,000 hits per month, according
`to co-founder and CEO Matt Glickman, who said the
`information site finally had the critical mass to launch a
`products store in late October. That, he hopes, will lure a
`good chunk of the $7,100 that the average family spends on
`its newborn during the first year.
`
`Meanwhile, Health Hero Network Inc. has grown from 5
`people a year ago to 45 now, targeting the nurses and care
`providers who monitor the huge numbers of chronically ill
`patients now who are choosing to live at home.
`
`"What we're creating is the communications platform for
`the senior community that needs ongoing health care," said
`Health Hero CEO Steve Brown, noting that the company
`chose to reach the care community because the patients who
`are most likely to have chronic diseases are least likely to
`use computers. "(Targeting the patients) misses the fact that
`the first people to need it are the last people to want all this
`
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`Bosch Ex. 2016
`Cardiocom v. Bosch IPR2013-00468
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`technology to get in the way."
`
`The company created a simple, bedside monitor that seniors
`can plug into a phone line for ongoing contact with a nurse.
`That gives nurses the ability to keep an eye on their entire
`caseload throughout the day, answer simple questions
`online and check in with those who need it. The product,
`for which Health Hero landed $8 million in new financing
`this summer, is still in its beta testing phase at 15 sites.
`Brown said he expects it to be fully commercial by the end
`of 1999.
`
`Health care freedom of choice, or not
`
`If the free market doesn't seem to affect health care, there
`could be good reason: Most people don't really have a
`choice. While many employers offer plans that give their
`staff a wider range of doctors now, only 1-in-6 employers
`with health coverage gives its staff a choice of plans,
`according to the Washington-based Center for Studying
`Health System Change. Even in large companies, with more
`than 100 employees, only 1-in-3 offers more than one
`option.
`
`Even worse, only 1-in-4 employers who do provide options
`offer more than the basic plan descriptions to help their
`employees choose the best plan for their families.
`
`Medical group FPA requests an extension
`
`FPA Medical Management has asked for a 90-day
`extension from the bankruptcy court to give it more time to
`develop a reorganization plan that would reimburse
`physicians and other unsecured creditors. The medical
`group went belly-up in California this summer, leaving
`physicians in the lurch for care they had already delivered.
`
`Now, the California Medical Association is reminding its
`doctors to file their claims by Nov. 16, while it files an
`objection to FPA's financing scheme.
`
`Alameda County reopens health center
`
`Alameda County Medical Center has opened its new
`outpatient health-care facility in Alameda. The 2,000-
`square-foot facility near the South Shore Mall replaces the
`1,500 square-foot center on Santa Clara Ave. that closed in
`April because of weather damage. It is one of five such
`centers operated by the county’sAmbulatory Health Care
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`Services.
`
`Hither & Yon: Finally, some profits
`
`o Chiron Corp. announced a key discovery in Hepatitis C
`research Oct. 30, which is expected to dramatically advance
`the development of new vaccines for the disease. Two days
`before, the Emeryville biotech had announced nine-month
`income of $164 million, up from $18 million at the same
`time last year.
`
`a Perkin-Elmer Corp., in Norwalk, Conn., announced an 8
`percent rise in revenues to $348.3 million for its just-ended
`first quarter of 1999, largely due to a 35 percent rise in its
`order rate through its life sciences division, PE Biosystems.
`That division, in Foster City, showed a 16 percent year-on-
`year revenue rise this quarter, to $222 million.
`
`Reach Kristen Bole at kbole@sfbt.com or (415) 989-2522
`ext. 251.
`
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