ZocDoc: Now Taking Appointments for General Practitioners

ZocDoc, a company that launched last September at TechCrunch40, is adding additional services to their site next week on February 14 with the addition of general practitioners to the site, which, up to now, has only serviced dentists in Manhattan. I had the opportunity to speak with ZocDoc CEO and Co-Founder Cyrus Massoumi about the new services as well as plans for expansion in 2008.

Massoumi likens ZocDoc to “an OpenTable for doctors and dentists,” where you can read profiles, view pictures, and see reviews of the practitioners who use the site. Launched in September, ZocDoc currently services 50 dentists in Manhattan (approximately) 3% of the market with 2.5 employees. The recent addition of another 2.5 employees will enable next week's launch with physicians and also allow them to expand to other New York City boroughs as well as the New Jersey area, hopefully at some point next month, with other cities in the U.S. to follow over the next year or so. With 1.1 million practitioners in the U.S., there is a huge potential for growth with their service.

Massoumi says that the idea for ZocDoc came about last January when he flew while ill and ruptured an ear drum. After searching on his insurance company's web site, he was unable to quickly find information he needed to find a physician, and it took four days to get an appointment, which was frustrating considering the number of doctors in the Manhattan area and the 20% cancellation rate most New York City doctors see.

ZocDoc promises to help both patients find practitioners and get appointments easily, as well as help practitioners grow their business as well as maximize revenues; with declining Medicare reimbursements, doctors need to minimize office inefficiencies.

ZocDoc provides a list of practitioners when you enter your insurance information and zip code, and includes a Google Map to help new patients locate the office, as well as reviews limited to ZocDoc users to prevent padding by doctors or disgruntled patients.

So far, ZocDoc has been seen as both an asset for dentists who have seen an increase in patients booking through ZocDoc as feedback accumulates, as well as an increase in overall patients, as well as for patients, who are excited about finding appointments with practitioners who work outside of “normal” business hours that may have been unknown

Based on the amount of time I spend juggling doctor and dentist appointments myself, I did have some questions about the service (as well as a hope that they would expand state-wide before adding in cities elsewhere):

How are HMO patients handled?

Patient can book through their HMO practitioner. There is the same calling that goes back and forth so that the office can make sure it's an assigned practitioner. Massoumi said that they do need to do a better job of communicating how HMO booking works for those patients, as it can often be confusing.

Does ZocDoc have any plans to move into additional services for medical and dental professionals?

While Massoumi and co-founder Oliver Kharraz both have previous experience with patient flow software, they plan on keeping ZocDoc limited to appointment-setting, with some possible enhancements such as providing the ability to complete routine forms online before the appointment, or including a medical history that could be portable from practitioner to practitioner. Another possible feature would involve general health reminders for testing that needs to begin at a certain age (like colonoscopies or mammograms) or routine visits patients may otherwise forget to schedule.

Is the ZocDoc app able to distinguish between appointments that may need an MD vs. a PA (for instance, intial vs. follow-up)?

PAs not currently allowed to use the service. As some point, they will add the ability to schedule with PAs, with a clear directive to patients that describes what types of appointments can be schedule with someone other than an MD, as well as making sure they realize that they are scheduling with a PA.

What if you need to reschedule?

Rescheduling is actually made easier with ZocDoc, and Massoumi points out that it creates a greater incentive for patients to keep their scheduled appointments or reschedule in a timely manner. The site provides a list of your appointments with a button to reschedule. If the appointment is scheduled less 24 hours away, they need to call the practice to make sure that they get word. No-shows are tracked, and are blocked from using the service again. Being able to continue to use the service is the incentive for people to show up, which also helps doctors.

Aside from my concerns regarding HMO issues (as I live in an area that seems to have the majority of patients forced to use them) and dealing with things like referrals, I'd welcome the chance to use a system like this, rather than trying to remember what time each doctor's office opens their appointment line and what time they are gone for lunch. I'll be sending everyone I know here a link to the site for lobbying my area to get added soon.