New Market Intelligence from InterStudy and Health Forum: Hospitals and the Managed Care Marketplace

For Immediate Release, Contact: Richard Hamer, InterStudy Publications, 800-844-3351.

St. Paul, MN -- InterStudy and Health Forum have released a new version of their jointly produced CD-ROM, The Duet Database TM. The database contains HMO data from January 1999 and hospital industry data from the year-ending in 1998. Users of The Duet Database, 1.2 are able to support several health care business functions ranging from strategic planning and market analysis, to product development and contract evaluation. Its Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) level HMO and hospital data make it a unique source of information for those seeking to understand the dynamics of local markets.

In this era of uncertainty, no planning process should proceed without reliable data to inform it," said Richard Hamer, Director of InterStudy. The Duet Database is a high-value product allowing its users to produce a variety of market profiles. Its particular strength lies in the analysis of several regional market places at once. The analysts using these data will reach sharper conclusions about their market environment which will lead to superior forward-looking decisions."

The Duet Database contains 14 data tables provided in both Microsoft Access and ASCII formats. The tables contain accurate and reliable data on HMO penetration, hospital utilization, physician supply, Medicare and Medicaid populations, and hospital financials -- all arrayed for 329 MSAs.

The Duet Databases integrated structure allows an analyst to quickly pull data that might otherwise take several hours to collect. Analysts may use these data to suggest such things as where the supply of hospital beds may have greater impact on future industry consolidation. In an actual analysis, beginning data such as these would point an analyst toward further investigation using The Duet Database and other resources.

The Duet Database is available from either InterStudy or Health Forum. For more information, please call InterStudy at 800/844-3351, or Health Forum at 800/AHA-2626. Additional information for The Duet Database may be found at InterStudys web site, www.hmodata.com/ and Health Forums web site, www.healthforum.com/.

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