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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BID FOR SURGERY(c) LAUNCHES ONLINEE-exchange for Cosmetic Surgery Links Patients and Doctors LOS ANGELES, CA -- March 6, 2000 - MedicineOnline.com, a full-service Internet healthcare site, today launches Bid For Surgery, 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, dentistry, ophthalmology (LASIK vision correction) and podiatry. "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 David Puffer, Chief Operating Officer of parent company MOL. "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, 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. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General who hosts his own Website, commented on virtual healthcare in a February 2000 interview with "Yahoo! Internet Life" 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 MOL.'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 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, hair replacement, rhinoplasty, 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, 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 MOL.'s COO David Puffer. "We're empowering consumers to make more informed choices about the doctors and the cost of elective surgery 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, dentistry, vision correction, and podiatry will focus on the Southern California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial. MOL. will extend Bid For Surgery nationally after several months of operation in Southern California. MOL. 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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