Southland

Dialing for Doctors: From retailers to pornographers, the Internet is getting worked by a motley bunch. Now phone companies are hooking up with medical practitioners to use the info highway for a somewhat higher purpose. Two examples of “telemedicine” will make their debuts this week. The Long Beach Community Medical Center and GTE will begin rolling out a computer network that will link physicians, medical specialists and health insurance firms across the country. X-rays and lab test results will be zipped over high-speed phone lines, and patients will be able to tap information on medical services by checking out the center’s home page on the World Wide Web at https://www.lbcommunity.com. And attendees of the American Heart Assn. Conference from Monday through Wednesday can view the cutting edge of medicine when live ultrasound images of open-heart surgery at the UCLA Medical Center will be sent through a high-speed fiber-optic network to a booth at the Anaheim Convention Center. Demonstrations will take place four times daily in a cooperative effort by GTE, Pacific Bell, AT&T; and Acuson Corp.