House CallsThe prognosis is good for mail order health-care companies.

In the average U.S. household's mail, you can count anaverage of 87 mail order catalogs per year. Yes, mail order hasbecome a way of life for Americans--191.5 million shopped by mailin 1995, according to the Direct Marketing Association, buyingeverything from lingerie to gardening supplies. And now, becausethe much-needed service exists, more and more mail order shoppersare buying prescription drugs, vitamins, fitness gear, diet aidsand other health-care products from the comfort of their homes andoffices.

According to John Schulte, chair of the National Mail OrderAssociation (NMOA), the mail order health-care industry'sannual growth rate of 10 percent to 12 percent helped push sales to$6.1 billion in 1996. And that growth rate is expected to remainsteady. That's a good prognosis for the 560-plus mail ordercompanies--many of which are small businesses--that currentlyspecialize in the health-care sector, as well as for entrepreneurswho are entering the field.