MEDI-CALL TO INTRODUCE TELEPHONE MEDICAL SERVICE
By Adnews Staff
Toronto-based Medi-Call will launch a medical information telephone service next month, but it is still working out how it plans to promote the service. The 1-800 service allows patient-authoized medical professionals to access a patient's personal health records by phoning the number. Services will be available across North America, 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. The service works similarly to Medic-Alert. Subscribers carry a wallet card which, in an emergency, a physician can use to call the 1-800 number to receive a subscriber's medical history. Caller authorization will be determined using personal passwords and identification numbers. Medi-Call spokesperson Nancy Kelleher-Odea told Adnews yesterday that the company hasn't "hammered out" how it will promote the service, but it does plan to use a "number of different avenues." The company plans to target large groups such as auto clubs and the Heart & Stroke Foundation. Currently, Veritas Communications of Toronto is doing PR. LBJ of Toronto is also working with Medi-Call, but Kelleher-Odea said neither agency has been hired on a permanent basis. What agencies the company will use is still "up in the air."