Medibid is transforming how medical patients find their doctors

With Medibid, patients have control over their healthcare through a competitively priced, global marketplace. With access to a world of board certified, accredited practitioners, patients can find quality healthcare while saving hundreds or thousands of dollars in the process.

How does Medibid work?

Patients benefit from Medibid’s marketplace in the following ways:

• Self-pay patients or people using self-funded employer plans.
• Individuals with high deductible plans.
• Individuals searching for care that is not covered by their plan.
• Members of a medical cost sharing group or cost sharing ministry.

Anyone who wants a direct relationship with their physician without the middlemen will find what they are looking for with Medibid. How does it work? The process is simple:

1. Create a profile and a request – Once users have created a profile, which involves a few basic health-related questions, they can put together and submit a request, like for a knee replacement. If the user doesn’t have a specific need, but is instead looking for a consultation, they can request one with a specialist.Once a user submits a bid, Medibid refers to them as the “seeker.” The patient is seeking providers that can perform the needed procedure at a competitive price.To ensure bidding physicians understand the seeker’s needs, the seeker may upload several images and documents for review. Seekers also provide additional information with a detailed medical history, ensuring physicians have all of the specifics they need before bidding.
2. Review and choose a bid – Once a request is made, physicians have an opportunity to bid on it. Seekers may also send an alert to particular physicians or facilities, encouraging them to bid on the request.Before long, bids will start appearing in the healthcare auction. Each one represents a physician willing and ready to provide the desired treatment and includes its cash price. Bids also provide valuable information to seekers for review, such as the physician’s location, their board certifications, specialties, training, experience and outcome history. Bidding facilities also provide quality measures and images, in addition to their physicians and their credentials.When a bid meets the seeker’s price and quality expectations, they can accept it with a single click. Once the bid is accepted, both the seeker and physician receive contact information to facilitate quick communication. This is done privately and securely, so only the patient and physician have access to this information.Quality care is Medibid’s top priority, so when a bid is accepted, the seeker can also review the physician’s medical license number.
3. Set up an appointment – With contact information in hand, patients can call the physician or facility and promptly set up an appointment. Because payment and treatment details have already been established, this call should be brief and to the point.In many cases, the surgeon or physician will contact the patient for additional medical history and information. This ensures the provider knows all potential risks and challenges before beginning the procedure.If any changes need to be made to the bid specifics, the patient may discuss them with the physician, as communication is now direct between patient and provider.

Why should patients consider Medibid?

Medibid is a response to the confusing state of modern healthcare, and it offers several benefits over the traditional patient-provider-payer approach. Those benefits include:

1. Superior quality – Quality measures in medicine are difficult to find and assess, but Medibid presents them in an easy to understand format. Further, Medibid vets all physicians before they are allowed to bid, verifying that they are in good standing with the licensing board.
2. Lower costs – Because middlemen are removed from the patient-provider equation, Medibid can keep costs down for providers, and by extension, their patients. Further, Medibid is a competitive marketplace, where physicians from around the world are able to outbid each other on price. This means providers must approach patients with a fair bid, and patients have several to choose from.Patients may wonder how Medibid can promise high quality care and lower costs. In medicine, higher treatment costs often point to inferior quality of care, as the most experienced physicians tend to be more efficient with their time. This means the treatment facility, the anesthesiologist, and any supporting staff are needed for less time. That also keeps costs down, while securing an experienced, knowledgeable physician.
3. Better transparency – The patient-provider-payer relationship is one that keeps a lot of critical information away from the patient, and Medibid corrects this. Everything, including the course of treatment and price, is agreed upon upfront, so no billing surprises await. As a result, patients are able to make better decisions about their healthcare without investing much time into the process.
4. Comprehensive access – Physicians from around the world are able to bid on Medibid, making it a true global marketplace. International physicians and facilities are also vetted for quality, and they must be accredited through the Joint Commission International, or JCI. JCI is the gold standard in achieving patient safety and quality of care, and it has a presence in more than 100 nations.International facilities and physicians are often able to provide similar, or better, quality of care at a lower cost than U.S. providers. Medibid ensures these facilities and physicians are brought into the patient’s decision-making process.

Medibid is bringing competition to medicine, and both patients and physicians enjoy the benefits. With a direct line of communication between patient and provider, the patient has the final say on how they and their family receive medical care.