1800 HomeCare Launches Web- & Phone-Based Services

1800HomeCare.com, an e-business network serving the in-home care industry, launched its Web-based and toll-free phone-based operations on Nov. 21. According to a company press release, the site's consumer search engine, CareRequest, will cross-reference a database including more than 4,500 home care providers, in order to direct "qualified referrals" to "participating home care agencies." Home care providers will also be able to update their listing "directly online," providing consumers with up-to-date information on available services (1800HomeCare.com release, 11/21).

Colorado's Health Facilities Division's nursing homes website, which provides "thousands of pages" of inspection reports on facilities, fails to provide "much of the most negative information" about nursing homes, the Denver Rocky Mountain News alleges. Of the 26 homes that were cited for violations between January and October, the website only "accurately" reported nine. Since September, both the director and deputy director of the Facilities Division have been suspended due to an ongoing FBI investigation into "possible bribery in exchange for lenient inspection reports." Sue Rehak, interim deputy director of the division, indicated that staff generally recommended that interested parties "come in and look at the actual records" (Imse, Denver Rocky Mountain News, 11/27).

Amid "hefty financial losses" and considerable management changes, WebMD has decided to discontinue its professional relationship with the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports. When WebMD became an Ogilvy client in summer 1999, WebMD projected spending $200 million on advertising over five years, but spent almost $32 million on advertising in the first eight months of 2000. "Bigger-than-expected" losses for November's third quarter, and the resignation of several top clients in October, have been accompanied by a decrease in spending, particularly on advertising. Toni Lee, a spokesperson for Ogilvy & Mather, said "Their marketing needs have changed" (Leith, Atlanta-Journal Constitution, 11/28).