New online discount health plan includes dental

A group of U.S. doctors has developed a Web-based discount health plan with no monthly fees for services ranging from eye care to dental exams and cosmetic procedures.

HealthSouk is designed to provide Americans with access to healthcare providers who are offering various treatments and procedures at a discounted price, the company explained. Patients can receive even greater discounts for going to the doctor's office when the doctor isn't busy.

Patients have the option to sign up for a membership online at healthsouk.com, which is free. Patients can also add multiple family members to their plan as a part of their free membership package.

HealthSouk also offers the option of prescreening patients prior to choosing a particular treatment. In addition, patients have free access to healthcare providers in a question and answer style format. This process ensures doctors that only qualified candidates can sign up for a certain procedure.

Signing up is also free for practitioners, who can set their discounted price according to their preference and update their settings as they prefer.

HealthSouk's patent-pending model is designed to help doctors control the flow of their practice throughout the day and fill unused appointment slots and appointment cancellations with patients seeking discounted care. Doctors can log in to their account and configure their schedule from slow to very busy in real-time, which allows them to keep a full schedule and still accommodate their patients.

Since there are no monthly fees, HealthSouk will only generate revenue from advertising and other adjunctive services, the company noted.