New site lets employers put health care out to bid

Self-insured businesses looking to cut out the middleman when it comes to health care might want to check out Open Health Market, an online system designed to connect them directly with medical providers eager to compete for more patients.

The website, created by a New Hampshire lawyer and several other partners, works something like a confidential matchmaking service: employers submit requests for proposals on various medical services and procedures. Health care providers then submit competing bids. The site's creators don't get involved in structuring any deals; they just get the two sides together.

Nearly 60 percent of insured workers in the United States are covered by employer-funded plans. Lawyer Don Crandlemire says those companies represent an enormous, untapped power to change a health care system that rewards volume over value.