Doctors share information via locally based network

Roger Cady, MD, founded the Primary Care Network a not-for-profit organization dedicated to continuing education and research information for physicians with a vision of helping primary care doctors gather and share medical information over the Internet.

Cady and other doctors connected with the organization also conduct seminars at no cost to the doctors. These programs, which provide continuing medical education, are offered throughout the United States and in some foreign countries. The programs are funded through unrestricted grants from the health care industry.

Cady started medical practice as a primary care physician and later specialized in pain and headache treatment. He has practiced in that specialty for the past 12 years in Springfield, first with Shealy Institute, until 1995 when he opened his own clinic, The Headache Care Center, at 1230 E. Kingsley.

He later began working on and set up three programs to educate family doctors in the care and treatment of headache pain. He launched the first program in Missouri in 1997 with the participation of 90 doctors throughout the state. The number of physicians signing up for the program grew to 1,600 in 1998, the same year Cady established and became director of Primary Care Network.

Then, the number of physicians benefiting from the programs was 3,500 in 1999. Cady expects 5,000 physicians to take part in the year 2000.

Along with educational sessions, which now demand more travel for Cady than he would like, he and his staff have developed Internet sites with links to a number of health-related sites for both doctors and patients.

Connect2.Health.com, of which Cady is chief executive officer, links users to a "cluster of super niche sites" that provide in-depth medical information. The site is approved by physicians and accessible to the public.

Besides the public site, Primary Care Network provides member physicians with a closed site, accessible by member identification and password, where the doctor can tap into online seminars, interact with peers and review research on timely medical issues. There is no charge for membership.

"We get our piece of the pie from helping physicians," Cady said. "We fund ourselves through grants, primarily from pharmaceutical companies."

Although Cady has been mostly involved with headache treatment in his practice, research carried on through Primary Care Network has been extended to include irritable bowel syndrome and will soon include women's health issues and asthma.

For 2000, PCN set up a chat schedule for the public to ask questions of doctors who are experts in the fields of headache or irritable bowel syndrome treatment.

In the building that houses Cady's Headache Care Center, the offices for Primary Care Network and supporting branches occupy about half the floor space. Brad Hedrick, director of information technology, manages the Web site in a room that looks like an active computer lab filled with the latest equipment.

A total of about 40 employees, including physicians, share the offices. In the clinic, Cady still sees patients on a regular basis. Also involved in patient care is Dale Carter, MD, and Bob Powers, DO. Carter specializes in headache treatment, while Powers is a specialist in irritable bowel syndrome. Neurologist Curt Schreiber, MD, who is not involved with patient care, works with training programs.

The PCN staff is dedicated to providing education and information to physicians. Via the Internet, the concept has spread rapidly beyond the U.S. borders. So far, nine foreign countries, including England, Germany, Finland, Norway and Spain, have tapped into the network, some translating the text to their languages.

Along with information directed to physicians, PCN has endorsed a newly designed electronic aid called PocketScript The hand-held unit is capable of storing prescription drug names and descriptions, information on side effects and drug interactions, and even sending prescriptions, via Internet connection, to pharmacists.

Thaddeus M. Bort, MD, of Cincinnati, Ohio, is the co-creator and a user of the device, now in the hands of more than 1,000 doctors throughout the country.

In a recent news release Bort stated, "PocketScript reduces errors and nearly eliminates callbacks from pharmacists. The net effect of PocketScript has been an increase in quality and safety for my patients."

As a friend and colleague of Bort, Cady endorses the new product on a personal level and through PCN.

"It is very much in line with our mission of improving health care," he said.

Besides the advantage to the doctor as a tool to reduce error, the unit can be attached to a computer terminal so information about a disease or risk factors of a specific drug can be printed and given to the patient.

PCN continues to expand knowledge passed between medical experts through research, and the number of doctors connected with the network continues to grow, Cady said.

He estimates approximately 6,500 physicians are members of the network, and several have expressed an interest in providing research in their fields of expertise to their colleagues.