HOW IT WORKS
Overview
Bid For Surgery is an electronic forum that streamlines a consumer's search for the right doctor to perform elective, aesthetic medical procedures. These procedures include cosmetic surgery, cosmetic dentistry, LASIK vision correction, and podiatry.
Bid For Surgery's reverse auction Website enables potential patients to anonymously post their requirements online. Doctors specialized in performing the procedure respond by bidding a price and presenting their credentials.
The auction closes after 72 hours, with patients receiving names and contact data of all doctors who responded. The patient contacts any or all responding doctors during the next seven days to schedule a free consultation, leading to a mutually satisfactory agreement to proceed. A patient's identity is not available to the physicians/dentists until they choose to contact a responding doctor. There is a modest fee for our service due at the time the procedure is completed.
Our goal is not only that the patient and doctor agree to proceed, but that the procedure itself is completely successful and cost-effective, utilizing a new paradigm for selecting the right medical care.
Detailed explanation
- Patients post their desired procedure(s)
- 72-hour competitive bidding process
- 7 day patient review and selection period
- Face-to-face consultation
- Please note
A consumer/potential patient logs onto MedicineOnline.com at www.medicineonline.com, clicks through Bid For Surgery, selects the desired medical specialty, and selects the desired procedure within that specialty (for example, cosmetic surgery as the specialty and rhinoplasty as the specific procedure). When the patient selects a desired procedure, a simple procedure-specific personal/medical form is provided. A patient could choose to have more than one procedure performed at the same time (for example, face lift and rhinoplasty) and would fill in multiple forms.
After completing the data form, and clicking on "Submit," the desired procedure and form is posted to a password-protected secure server without revealing the identity of the patient. Again, all identifying information is kept private but accessible to the patient. Doctors see only the anonymous form identified by an auction number and patient number.
MedicineOnline.com then e-mails physicians and dentists who are a) registered with MedicineOnline.com, b) participating in Bid For Surgery, c) specialized in performing the procedure, and d) practicing within the geographic area selected by the patient. The doctors are given 72 hours to view the patient's requirements and personal/medical form, then respond to the patient with a bid price for the procedure and their own credentials. The doctor's identity is anonymous to the patient at this stage.
Doctors do not see identities or bids of competing doctors, either, though they do know the number of bids posted and the geographical area in which the bidders practice. During the 72-hour reverse auction process, doctors may post multiple bids if they choose to lower price.
Patients can view activity at all times-- even amend or delete their requirements and histories-- by logging onto MedicineOnline.com. The auction is dynamic, interactive and anonymous.
72 hours after a patient posts his or her required procedure to Bid For Surgery, the patient receives an e-mail from MedicineOnline.com that the bidding is terminated and the reverse auction is closed.
Names and contact data of all responding doctors are revealed to the patient at this time. Doctors' bids are valid for seven days, so the patient has 7 days to review bids and credentials, and contact any or all doctors to schedule a mandatory, free face-to-face consultation. We recommend these consultations be held within 21 days from the close of the auction.
At the free, face-to-face consultation, both parties can begin to establish the patient/doctor relationship. The doctor will perform a pre-operative or pre-treatment patient evaluation and review the fees for the procedure. Together, the patient and doctor can decide whether to proceed with surgery or treatment, and all logistics of timing, location, etc.
During or after the face-to-face consultation, either the patient or doctor may decline to proceed for any reason whatsoever and without any obligation to the other. While this caveat is obvious, Bid For Surgery relies on the good faith of all parties and professional medical judgment of doctors to complete the transaction. When the patient and doctor agree to proceed, the patient must fulfill any payment obligations to the doctor.
Physicians and dentists specializing in cosmetic procedures and physicians specializing in LASIK vision correction make every effort to offer a global or integrated fee structure. In Bid For Surgery's reverse auction, doctors are requested to bid their best "total procedure fee." Included in the total procedure fee are their own professional fees, fees of any other required provider, facility fees, and any diagnostic exam or test fees associated with the procedure. Bid For Surgery's goal is to present an all-inclusive price to the patient.