AmericasDoctor.com Inc., an Owings Mills company that allows computer users to communicate with physicians online, has announced plans to go public.

In its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said proceeds from the offering will be used in part "to fund operating losses."

The company, incorporated in August 1997, had an accumulated deficit of $8.1 million as of March 31.

The filing said AmericasDoctor.com may use some of the money from the offering "for strategic alliances and acquisitions."

The company declined to comment on its filing.

Stephen Lacey, managing editor of the IPO Reporter in New York, said online health care companies face an increasingly crowded market.

For example, Healtheon Corp., a publicly traded electronic-commerce company specializing in medical services, agreed May 20 to merge with online health care information firm WebMD, a company that has garnered investments from such titans as Microsoft Corp.

Even former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop has gotten into the game.

Koop is the chairman of drkoop.com Inc., an online health care information service based in Austin, Texas. Koop's company went public June 8.

"It's an extremely hot area right now, in terms of companies going public," Lacey said.

Lacey added that, while the going may be rough for some companies, there is plenty of money to be made in online medical sites.

"This is an ideal advertising platform for any number of providers of health care services," he said.

"It just becomes a question of whether you have the content to drive people to your site."

Pub Date: 6/15/99