• by March 31, 2005

Keynote Systems yesterday announced the launch of its "Keynote Health Care Services Web Transaction Performance Index." The index, which includes sites that collectively attract the bulk of related Web traffic, measures the speed and reliability of standard consumer tasks at selected health care sites such as searching for a specialist, checking coverage status, or filling out a prescription.

Keynote currently provides 10 industry-specific Web transaction performance indices, covering e-commerce, banking, and travel, among others. Included in the health care index are the Web sites of Aetna, Cigna, Kaiser, Oxford, Principal Financial, Wellcare, and Wellpoint.

"This will provide a competitive benchmark for health care provider Web sites that are helping to alleviate some of the burden of an overwhelmed system," said Roopak Patel, senior Internet analyst in Keynote's public services division.

Keynote referred to a report issued last month by Health2 Resources, a network of "alternative" health care providers, which found that since 2001, the number of employers using information technology for health plan enrollment has risen from 40 percent to 69 percent.

A recent BURST! Media survey of some 6,800 online users found that two out of three of these conduct health-related research online. And among respondents who said they do use the Internet as a health resource, 26.1 percent visited their health care providers' Web sites. The ad network BURST! also found that women are far more likely than men to conduct health research online. On average, 73.9 percent of women will research health topics online, compared to just 62.1 percent of men, BURST! reported.