ISL Case Studies

Drugfacts.com

www.drugfacts.com

Conceptualizing, Designing and Implementing a Complex E-Commerce Site for a Leading Medical Publisher

"We have an ambitious goal this year to launch an Internet-based resource for the pharmacy community that offers the same comprehensive, unbiased, timely drug information that our professional customers have relied on in our print references for more than fifty years. ISL helped us to coherently pursue our online goals in ways that compliment our successful traditional publishing workflows. The result is a dynamic new pharmacy destination on the Internet that provides mission-critical references and tools for health care professionals."

Sofia Dorsano - Director, New Media - Facts and Comparisons

THE CLIENT

Facts and Comparisons, a St. Louis, Missouri operating company of Dutch publishing giant Wolters Kluwer, has been the leading publisher of professional drug information in the United States for over 50 years. Most U.S. pharmacists use at least one of the many Facts and Comparisons publications in their daily workflow. Today, through partnerships with companies such as Comtex, CE City, ContinuingEducation.com, J.A. Majors Co., NewsRx.com, RxCentric.com, TSCentral, and its sister companies in health and science publishing, Facts and Comparisons is quickly gaining recognition as the leading provider of online health care content and services to professionals and students world wide.

THE SITUATION

Facts and Comparisons began working with ISL in 1999 on a strategy for expanding its online business to focus on providing drug information content in real time to its core audience of professional pharmacists. The company had certain key interests:

• Customers of Facts and Comparisons were beginning to request electronic delivery of information that had long been distributed through traditional print publications in the form of bound volumes, quarterly updates, CD-ROMs, and fax alerts;
• The company wanted to tie together various digital publishing initiatives for segments of its market under one customer-focused and easily marketed web site;
• The company was not willing to abandon its tradition of profitability; senior managers wanted realistic ways to achieve rapid and long-term returns on whatever investments they would make in the Internet channel;
• The company wanted a flexible and scalable solution that could be adapted to new devices and applications that were bound to appear in the future.

With its impressive market share and an unparalleled reservoir of preferred content, Facts and Comparisons seized the opportunity to answer the demands of customers for online versions of its trusted publications. The company in turn relied on ISL's expertise in developing successful business solutions for the Internet.

THE SOLUTION

Working closely with Facts and Comparisons, ISL Consulting conducted a thorough strategic assessment of the company's options within the Internet arena. ISL interviewed U.S. pharmacists and health care executives to determine the needs of potential online consumers of Facts and Comparisons content. ISL also carefully examined the company's current business model within the context of competitive and industry trends.

The resulting e-business strategy included the following:

• Detailed breakdown of potential user groups and traffic patterns: most importantly, ISL recommended that Facts and Comparisons prepare to extend its target audience to include the patient audience, among whom there is great demand for current, unbiased drug-related information;
• Mixed, integrated revenue models that diversify the sources of income for online initiatives;
• Proposed web site features that focus on dynamic delivery of content and a high degree of personalization;
• Technology recommendations that would enable Facts and Comparisons to execute its plans efficiently and rapidly.

Once Facts and Comparisons decided to move forward, ISL crafted a tactical plan. At the heart of the plan were key technology choices. The ATG Dynamo suite was selected as the software package to quickly deliver highly personalized content to users based on professional demographics. ISL recommended Interwoven TeamSite as the content management solution to integrate with current editorial processes. A Verity search engine was chosen to A key recommendation was also to move source data into the XML format to facilitate both easy licensing of data and maximize future delivery options once wireless devices, for example, became more prevalent among target health care professionals. Finally, ISL also worked with the client to research a hosting provider for the application. NaviSite was selected to assist with the complex integration, security and legacy system requirements of the new site.

A dedicated team of ISL personnel worked to integrate and customize these and other technologies, developing a site that includes over 30 separate custom applications and involves at least a dozen integration points with partner sites.

THE RESULTS

DRUGFACTS.com was launched on October 20, 2000 following the completion of comprehensive testing that was meticulously planned by ISL in collaboration with the client. ISL now is working on a set of new features and enhancements to what is already the most resourceful and convenient health care destination on the Internet.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

DRUGFACTS.com is one of the many Internet-based health care projects undertaken by ISL Consulting. We have built other health portals and have undertaken strategic consulting for a number of professional healthcare information companies. For further information on how we can help plan and execute your healthcare e-business strategy, please Contact Us.