Transactional costs associated with providing professional services are reduced by allowing prospective patients / clients (bidders) and professional service providers to negotiate competitively for desired fees for proffered services through an interactive on-line communications network such as
the Internet. In an exemplary arrangement, a transaction
system includes a communications network
server that interfaces and communicates online with
client computer systems belonging to various prospective bidders and personal medical service providers using, for example, an exchange of
HTML documents and / or
JAVA script applets. A transaction
system server handles online communications and procedures for conducting auctions for delivery of proffered services and maintains a registration
database of service providers and bidders. An
authentication / qualifier engine automatically researches and verifies
service provider credentials and
background information upon registration of a
service provider with the
system.
Service provider qualification credentials and medical procedural code information databases as well as one or more search engines for verifying and / or researching the qualifications of a particular
service provider are provided and made available to a bidder via, for example, a web-page menu driven interface. A service feedback interface and
database are provided for handling online feedback information and comments from patients / clients and providers regarding the complexity and quality of services received or provided. The transaction system may also include remote
client system software / hardware facilities for bidders and providers for providing customized
database and computational services for communicating and participating in online bidding activities.