HCPlexus and Healthline Networks Partner to Enhance Patient-Physician Dialog With Point-of-Care Health Information

PHILADELPHIA, PA–(Marketwire – October 20, 2010) –  At Digital Pharma East, HCPlexus, publishers of The Little Blue Book™ (TLBB), a trusted resource for 300,000 doctors, announced a partnership with Healthline Networks, a leading provider of intelligent health information services reaching more than 100 million consumers each month, to provide pharmaceutical companies with a solution to inform physicians and patients on modes of treatment and care choices. As part of the strategic relationship, the companies will extend their current advertising networks, as well as the new point-of-care information platform, to provide contextual and direct marketing program offerings to Direct to Physician (DTP) and Direct to Consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical marketers.

The joint offering will support and deliver physician-mediated patient education at the point of care. Through the alliance, physicians will continue to receive high-quality, medically credible content delivered from a reliable resource, The Little Blue Book, augmented with patient education resources from Healthline. Sponsorship opportunities will be made available to pharmaceutical manufacturers, allowing them to benefit from increased consumer engagement and brand presence.

“As consumers embrace the HealthWeb, physicians need to play a central role in providing their patients with the highest quality, most contextually relevant health information,” said West Shell III, Chairman and CEO, Healthline Networks. “Our partnership with HCPlexus will enable physicians and patients to engage in shared decision-making around health care treatment options, thereby elevating health literacy and compliance.”

Adds HCPlexus CEO David L. Shrier, “Our pharmaceutical and payor clients have been demanding one stop shopping for marketing solutions aimed at both HCP and consumer audiences. Healthline is an innovative partner with scope and depth in the online consumer health market and the largest condition-specific DTC advertising network. We look forward to offering pharmaceutical companies more opportunities to help physicians and consumers make informed healthcare decisions.”

In a survey conducted by HCPlexus last December of more than five hundred physicians, 42% said they were looking for patient education from The Little Blue Book.

About HCPlexus
HCPlexus provides physicians with personalized, timesaving and multi-platform products so they can focus on healing patients. At the heart of the company’s physician-focused offerings is The Little Blue Book (TLBB), a referral directory, which for more than 20 years has been a trusted and high usage resource for healthcare providers. The Little Blue Book data is now available on-line and in a mobile phone application. Leveraging the deep insights gleaned from more than 400,000 TLBB physicians, HCPlexus delivers high ROI marketing programs to pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, pharmacies, hospitals, health plans and independent practice associations. For more information, visit http://www.hcplexus.com.

About Healthline
Healthline Networks is a leading provider of intelligent health information services, enabling 100 million consumers a month to make more confident, informed healthcare decisions. The company’s proprietary consumer healthcare taxonomy, the largest of its kind, powers a suite of intelligent health search, content and advertising services. Combining advanced search technology with deep medical expertise, Healthline partners with a network of over 40 trusted destination sites that include publishers, portals, search engines, employers and health plans. Headquartered in San Francisco, Healthline is backed by Aetna, GE/NBC Peacock Fund, Investor Growth Capital, Kaiser Permanente, Reed Elsevier, U.S. News & World Report, and VantagePoint Venture Partners. For more information, visit http://www.healthline.com.