Internet Healthcare Coalition Launches TeleSeminar Series with Focus on Keys to Consumer Trust and Credibility in e-Health

October 30 e-Health Quality Roundtable Features Mark Bard, President of Manhattan Research, with Exclusive Trended Cybercitizen® Health Data on Health Consumers

Washington, D.C., October 1, 2002 -- The Internet Healthcare Coalition (the Coalition," www.ihealthcoalition.org) announced today the first event in its e-Health Quality Roundtable (e-HQR) TeleSeminar Series. What Drives Consumer Trust and Credibility on the Web?" will take place on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 at 1:30 P.M. Eastern Time (10:30 A.M. Pacific Time).

The e-HQR TeleSeminar Series is a bi-monthly series of educational teleconferences focused on important issues in e-health business and dedicated to promoting quality e-health practices, the exchange of information and the discussion of best practices.

The featured speaker of the October 30 TeleSeminar is Mark Bard, President of Manhattan Research (www.manhattanresearch.com), who will present data and insights drawn from the Cybercitizen® Health v2.0 consumer marketing research study, the longest trended series of data sets focused on health consumers.
Trust can be difficult to sustain on the Internet, especially when products and services are offered for sale or personal information is collected from visitors to websites. The data presented in this TeleSeminar will offer insights into what trade-offs health consumers are willing to make or not make when sharing personal health information online with pharmaceutical companies, healthcare providers, hospitals, insurers, HMOs, and other healthcare organizations.

The roundtable will include three expert panelists: Sam Karp, CIO of the California Healthcare Foundation; Kate T. Christensen, MD, FACP, Medical Director, Kaiser Permanente Internet Services Group, and Internet Healthcare Coalition Board Member; and Lois C. Ambash, PhD, President, Metaforix Incorporated, and Internet Healthcare Coalition Board Member. The panelists will discuss the implications of the survey results and will participate in an interactive Q&A session with members of the audience.
We are particularly pleased to begin the e-HQR TeleSeminar Series with a discussion of current attitudes and concerns of Internet health seekers about issues of trust and credibility," said John Mack, President of the Coalition. We are hopeful that the convenience, cost-effectiveness, and security of teleconferencing technology will allow the Coalition to share its expertise and expand its network beyond its already considerable circle within the healthcare community."

The registration fee is $160.00 per site for members of the Coalition and $185.00 per site for nonmembers. No limit to number of attendees per site. For registration details and additional information, please visit the Coalition web site at www.ihealthcoalition.org/ehqr.html.

About the Internet Healthcare Coaltion
The Internet Healthcare Coalition is an international, non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to educating healthcare consumers and professionals about the evolving issues relating to the quality of Internet health resources and information. Founded in 1997 and based in Washington, D.C., the Coalition's membership represents every sector of the Internet health space, including consumers, commercial developers of health information, medical libraries, special-interest societies, and manufacturers of regulated drugs and medical devices.

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