SAN DIEGO -- Through Solana Beach-based website Pricedoc.com, people can bid on and pay cash for a wide range of medical procedures, from brain surgery to breast augmentation.

La Jolla plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Pollack has performed hundreds of cosmetic surgeries throughout his 15-year career.

“I do everything from head to toe,” he said.

Pollack is one of 3,000 board certified physicians nationwide who subscribe to Pricedoc.com, which works much like Priceline.com, where users can bid for lights and hotel rooms. The major difference with Pricedoc is that everything users can bid on is related to healthcare.

“I can generate patients and generate revenue from a source of patients that otherwise wouldn’t be available to me,” he said.

On Pricedoc, patients and doctors can negotiate a cash price on more than 50,000 medical and dental procedures, including everything from doctor’s visits to brain surgery to breast augmentation, which Dr. Pollack offers at a discounted rate on the website.

“For example, the standard price [for breast augmentation] is about $5,200 dollars and on Pricedoc.com it’s $4,900,” said Pollack.

When asked if he could do the procedure for $4,500, Pollack responded, “it’s hard to say for sure that that would be accepted…it’s possible.”

Offers like that are very probable, especially if his operating room is not occupied.

“If I have free time in my operating room that’s not being used for anything else…I can get a patient to fill in that spot,” said Pollack. “It’s a win-win for both of us.”

Through Pricedoc, Dr. Pollack said he has saved himself a huge headache by cutting out insurance companies which he said can take anywhere from three to five months to reimburse him.

“By avoiding the insurance payment, we save money and we can pass that savings onto the patient,” said Pollack.

Dr. Pollack also said Pricedoc screens every physician on its website to ensure that patients who are paying less are not getting lower quality care.

“They’re not going to be some fly by night,” he said. “By having the doctors pre-screened and knowing who the doctors are that are willing to negotiate pricing, the patients have a much better chance of someone who will do it at that price they can afford.”