Access to healthcare news will be as close as your PC when MODERN HEALTHCARE launches its home page on the World Wide Web Jan. 29.
The site will feature daily news updates, posted by 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
And by noon on Wednesdays, MODERN HEALTHCARE will post the top 10 news stories and a commentary or editorial cartoon from that week's issue.
Visitors also will be able to search the last four issues of MODERN HEALTHCARE for free. Search privileges for archives dating back to Jan. 1, 1995, will be available for a fee. Check the site for details.
Also on line will be a Professional Exchange Classified similar to the section in the magazine, the Meetings 1996 guide, Charles S. Lauer's Publisher's Letter, staff biographies, subscription and advertising information, and a feedback page where readers can send letters to the editor or leave anonymous news tips.
The primary aim is to provide quick access to data with a lively, easy-to-use presentation.
The home page is MODERN HEALTHCARE's response to the increasing use of the Internet by healthcare executives and their hunger for breaking news.
Of 315 recipients of MODERN HEALTHCARE's Daily Fax who responded to a survey last fall, 37% said they have an Internet e-mail address and 39% have access to the World Wide Web.
In addition, 36% were using an on-line service to receive information and 27% planned to in the future.
The MODERN HEALTHCARE home page will be an adjunct to the weekly magazine, Lauer said.
"It's another way for us to connect with our audience-the people who are in the field making decisions," Lauer said.
"I don't think anything will replace the magazine itself, but we as an organization have to explore any and all ways of communicating with our audience."