WebMD, Medsite merge to create greatest doctor reach in industry

WebMD, Medsite merge to create greatest doctor reach in industry       

WebMD significantly expanded its physician reach and offerings by acquiring medical education and physician recruitment giant Medsite, the company said yesterday. The $41 million acquisition marries Medsite's database of more than 400,000 physicians with the WebMD Health Network, which includes Medscape and MedicineNet. According to WebMD, the combined companies will deliver the greatest reach in the industry to physicians in every major specialty. For pharma and biotech companies, the acquisition also provides expanded online tools for sales and marketing efforts. Medsite works with more than 60 pharma, device, and healthcare companies, according to WebMD. The acquisition is expected to close during the third quarter of 2006.

Fox Atomic Unveils Broadband Site

Fox Atomic Unveils Broadband Site

by Mark Walsh, Thursday, Jul 20, 2006 8:14 AM ET

FOX ATOMIC, THE YOUTH-ORIENTED DIVISION of Fox Filmed Entertainment, Wednesday unveiled a new broadband Web site that it hopes will serve as a magnet for its core audience of 17- to-24-year-olds. To keep young users coming back, www.foxatomic.com will offer interactive features, humorous video clips, and other content as well as promotions for the unit's upcoming movie releases. "What we're really doing is trying to create an entertainment destination for our audience," said John Hegeman, chief operating officer of Fox Atomic. By enticing teens and young adults with "fun things to do," the studio seeks to build a closer relationship with its users, which in turn will help create an eager audience for its films. Hegeman, who developed the groundbreaking Internet marketing campaign for "The Blair Witch Project" in 1999, recalled how the 25 million weekly visitors to the movie's site dwindled away over the course of a year. "That we built up to that level and it just went away is something that always bothered me," he said. Since then, marketing movies on the Internet has become a standard part of Hollywood promotional campaigns. Lately, big studios have capitalized on the popularity of social networking sites to reach young moviegoers. Walt Disney Co., for example, recently launched a campaign on YouTube.com for "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," marking the first time a national marketer has advertised on the video-sharing site. To tap into the appeal of social-networking sites, foxatomic.com partnered with Jumpcut.com to develop a feature called The Blender that will allow users to make and edit their own video shorts. The site will also carry material from Stupidvideos.com and clips from Fox TV shows. Hegeman said that he also expects the site will develop cross-promotional initiatives with other News Corp.-owned sites that draw young users such as MySpace.com and IGN. In addition to any cross-promotional content deals foxatomic.com strikes, the site will also be ad-supported. Foxatomic.com is looking to build an audience of 500,000 unique visitors over the summer, to grow ultimately to about 2 million, said Hegeman. Fox Atomic, formed late last year, will debut its first theatrical release "Turistas," a horror flick set in a remote Brazilian beach town, in December. That will be followed by in 2007 by a slate of films including a pair of horror sequels: "The Hills Have Eyes 2," and "28 Days Later."

New health search tool helps users refine search results

New health search tool helps users refine search results

A new health search engine not only produces Web search results; it also helps users refine their searches. The site, www.Medstory.com, uses a "dashboard" of information to help direct users toward more in-depth searches by presenting results that are sorted by topics such as drugs, procedures, or clinical studies. For example, a search for the word "depression" produces results for different drug treatments, personal health information, and conditions such as anxiety. Rolling a mouse over a result produces a pop-up box with more information about the term and links for the user to conduct a more in-depth search about that topic. According to Medstory, the site weeds through search results to provide a wide range of information in an easy-to-digest manner. A study out this week from JupiterResearch shows that although 71% of online consumers use search engines to look for health-related information, only 16% find what they're looking for.   ----   Medstory Provides Breakthrough Search Technology for Consumers and Professionals Seeking in-Depth Health and Medical Information; New Online Service Aims to Simplify the Search for Health and Medical Information Business Wire via NewsEdge Corporation : FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 2006--Medstory, Inc., a provider of leading edge intelligent search technologies for consumers, professionals and organizations, today officially unveiled its newest service focused on health and medicine. The online service can be found at www.medstory.com. Medstory provides users who are performing health-related searches with an instant dashboard of information, summarized from Medstory's real-time analysis of their search. For example, a user searching for information on "lowering cholesterol" is instantly presented with highly relevant information such as drugs (e.g., simvastatin and atorvastatin), nutrition (e.g., olive oil and soybeans) and other interests spanning personal health to clinical research. This dashboard allows users to easily discover relevant information and is also used to locate the most pertinent resources. This is different from other search services that mainly offer lists of web pages ranked largely by link popularity. "Medstory is introducing a breakthrough way to search, driven by knowledge of the field," said Alain Rappaport, founder and CEO of Medstory. "Our search results are a comprehensive and interactive dashboard of information that instantly summarizes the information that matters. Without this, you are left with the very difficult task of doing it yourself." In a complex area like health and medicine, searchers need technology that leverages knowledge of the field to assist them in rapidly discovering high-value information. Medstory addresses this need by helping users weed through the often-confusing volume of health and medical information online and provides them with in-depth and relevant information. "We power intelligent search across a broad spectrum of information, for both consumers and professionals," continued Dr. Rappaport. About Medstory: Medstory's mission is to enable users to search complex fields on the Web intelligently, starting with health and medicine. Medstory's intelligent search technology was developed while delivering highly specialized search platforms for the biotechnology and healthcare sectors. Medstory's goal is to provide highly efficient search solutions for all types of motivated users, consumers and professionals. The company was founded by Dr. Alain Rappaport, who also co-founded Neuron Data (later Blaze Software), a leading global provider of artificial intelligence and business process software. Headquartered in Foster City, California, Medstory is backed by a group of eminent angel investors and advisors from the high-technology, health care and financial industries and academia. For more information, visit www.medstory.com.