News in brief - Sept. 25, 2000

Drkoop.com reining in spending - Healtheon set to close deals - MGMA offers data analysis services - Consentsys raises $1.3 million - Teamsters target McKesson HBOC

Sept. 25, 2000.

Drkoop.com reining in spending

In a bid to conserve cash and cut costs, struggling drkoop.com laid off a third of its employees and issued common stock in lieu of a cash payment to a company from which it licenses medical content.

Austin, Texas-based drkoop.com, which remained in business last month after an injection of $27.5 million from venture capitalists, issued 1.93 million shares of stock worth $3.7 million to Adam.com on Sept. 6.

The month before, drkooop.com laid off 42 people.

Healtheon set to close deals

Healtheon/WebMD Corp. has received antitrust clearance to acquire Medical Manager Corp., a physician practice management company, and CareInsite Inc., a medical transactions company. Shareholders of Medical Manager and CareInsite are expected to approve the deals this month.

MGMA offers data analysis services

MGMA Services Inc. and South Carolina-based Enterprise Health-Links have formed an Internet start-up, Physcape Inc., to sell data analysis services and software over the Internet to doctor groups and other health care entities.

Physcape's first product, PracticeProfiler, will enable physician groups to obtain a detailed analysis of their practice and compare themselves with other groups of similar size and specialty. The product is expected to be available in early 2001.

Consentsys raises $1.3 million

Consentsys, a new online medical record startup in North Carolina, has raised $1.3 million from private individuals. The company's product, which is being tested by an orthopedic group, allows patients to register and store their medical histories on their physicians' Web sites. In turn, this enables doctors to maintain their patients' records online and gives them and their patients each secure access to the data and physician-patient communication.

In a news release, the company said further tests with other medical groups were planned. Consentsys will use the funding it received to further develop its software and infrastructure and hire additional staff.

Teamsters target McKesson HBOC

McKesson HBOC Inc., which distributes pharmaceuticals and sells health care information systems, is being targeted by the Teamsters union.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is attacking the company as an investor, not as an organizer. The Teamsters' Web site (http://www.teamster.org/) now includes an online survey in which employees, former employees and shareholders can give information for what the union calls its "ongoing investigation into mismanagement at McKesson."

McKesson HBOC has been under fire from investors since last year, when it disclosed it had made inaccurate earnings statements. The stock dropped quickly from $90 to below $20, and it presently sits at about $25 per share.