Bid for Surgery Launches Online; E-exchange for Cosmetic Surgery Links Patients and Doctors.Entertainment Editors LOS ANGELES--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--March 6, 2000 MedicineOnline.com, a full-service Internet healthcare site, today launches Bid For Surgery(c), a patent-pending Web-based "reverse auction" that empowers consumers to take charge of their own healthcare when seeking elective, aesthetic medical procedures -- cosmetic surgery cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery for cosmetic purposes, such as the improvement of the appearance of the face by removing wrinkles or reshaping the nose. , dentistry, ophthalmology (LASIK LASIK laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis. LA·SIK n. Eye surgery in which the surface of the cornea is reshaped using a laser, performed to correct certain refractive disorders such as myopia. vision correction) and podiatry podiatry (pōdī`ətrē, pə–), science concerned with disorders, diseases, and deformities of the feet, also called chiropody. Podiatrists treat such common conditions as bunions, corns and calluses, and ingrown toenails. . "Bid For Surgery allows potential patients to connect with surgeons and dentists by logging onto MedicineOnline.com, clicking on Bid For Surgery and posting an anonymous, procedure-specific request that is offered electronically to qualified doctors," explains Michael Sussman, Chief Operating Officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. of parent company Medicine Online Inc. "Doctors respond within 72 hours by quoting their total fee for the requested procedure along with a list of required background information." MedicineOnline.com adds key doctor information to the response, including licensure, board certification board certification n. The process by which a person is tested and approved to practice in a specialty field, especially medicine, after successfully completing the requirements of a board of specialists in that field. , residency training, years in practice, academic appointments, and recent surgical experience in the specific procedure. Doctors' bids are valid for seven days, during which the potential patient may evaluate any number of the responding doctors. If the patient selects one or more doctors for evaluation, they meet one-on-one in a free consultation. The doctor/patient relationship is established and pre-operative patient evaluation and screening is performed. Each side determines whether to proceed with no obligation to either party. During the entire process, patient data is maintained as private and confidential on a secure server, accessible by password 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Patients make their identities known to each doctor only after electing to proceed with him or her. Patients will save money and time, and make more educated decisions about their healthcare provider via MedicineOnline.com's Bid For Surgery. Dr. C was a fictional scientist from the TV series Cro. She and her companion, Mike, went to the Arctic and thawed out a mammoth, who could talk. That mammoth now tells stories of life in the stone age with his friend, Cro, and his fellow mammoths. . Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General The U.S. Surgeon General is charged with the protection and advancement of health in the United States. Since the 1960s the surgeon general has become a highly visible federal public health official, speaking out against known health risks such as tobacco use, and promoting disease who hosts his own Website, commented on virtual healthcare in a February 2000 interview with "Yahoo! Internet Life Yahoo! Internet Life was a monthly magazine published by Ziff-Davis, which licensed the name from Yahoo!, a well known search engine website. It was created and launched by Barry Golson, the former executive editor of Playboy and TV guide. " magazine, "There will be a new relationship between doctors and patients, with the Internet as an intermediary and educator. It has the potential to help people take charge of their own health by providing a wealth of knowledge." "Bid For Surgery simulates the physical marketplace by bringing together consumers and medical providers, but in a more efficient and convenient way," notes Richard Van Meter MD, a member of Medicine Online Inc.'s medical board. "We provide a virtual environment that maintains the highest ethical, medical, privacy and regulatory standards. It's not just a matter of choosing the surgeon or dentist who submits the lowest bid. For the consumer, investigating the doctor's credentials should be a key component of the decision-making process and we make that information readily available. Our reverse auction retains the important face-to-face doctor-patient relationship doctor-patient relationship, n in-teraction between a physician and a patient. and allows either party to opt out for any reason after meeting." There are 36 procedures offered among cosmetic surgery, dentistry, vision correction and podiatry on MedicineOnline.com's Bid For Surgery site. Procedures include breast augmentation, face lift, liposuction Liposuction Definition Liposuction, also known as lipoplasty or suction-assisted lipectomy, is cosmetic surgery performed to remove unwanted deposits of fat from under the skin. , hair replacement, rhinoplasty Rhinoplasty Definition The term rhinoplasty means "nose molding" or "nose forming." It refers to a procedure in plastic surgery in which the structure of the nose is changed. , dental implants, bonding and veneers, LASIK vision correction, bunionectomy, and others. MedicineOnline.com adds to consumer knowledge with detailed information on each procedure including an overview of the surgery itself, risk factors, side effects Side effects Effects of a proposed project on other parts of the firm. , recovery period and more. Research shows that as many as half of today's patients want to communicate with doctors online. Doctors are Internet savvy, too: according to Healtheon's ongoing Internet Survey of Medicine, the number of physicians and clinical practices with their own Web sites is expected to increase from 30 percent today to 42 percent within the year. As patients and doctors communicate more comfortably over the World Wide Web, Bid For Surgery fits right into that equation. "It's win-win for patients and doctors," says Medicine Online Inc.'s COO Mike Sussman. "We're empowering consumers to make more informed choices about the doctors and the cost of elective surgery elective surgery Surgery Any operation that can be performed with advanced planning–eg, cholecystectomy, hernia repair, colonic resection, coronary artery bypass while offering doctors the opportunity, at no cost, to expand their patient base." While global consumers have the opportunity to explore Bid For Surgery at www.medicineonline.com beginning today (March 6), requests for elective, aesthetic surgery aesthetic surgery n. Plastic or cosmetic surgery. , dentistry, vision correction, and podiatry will focus exclusively on the Southern California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial. Medicine Online Inc. will extend Bid For Surgery nationally after several months of operation in Southern California. Medicine Online Inc. is a privately held California corporation and developer of two online healthcare sites, www.medicineonline.com for consumers and www.mol.net for physicians and healthcare professionals. The sites offer healthcare information exchange, original and linked clinical content, Internet connectivity services and solutions, community services and e-commerce transactions that currently attract over one million page views per month. MedicineOnline.com's newest addition to its extensive information and services is Bid For Surgery, the copyrighted name for electronic exchange by reverse auction for elective, aesthetic medical procedures. |
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