Founded in 2007, New York City, New York-based Zocdoc is a physician finder and scheduling service. Patients can use its platform to find in-network physicians, book appointments and read physician reviews.
But how is Zocdoc ensuring it gives all patients access, regardless of location or age? And what is the company doing to keep patients engaged?
In a phone interview with MedCity, Zocdoc founder and CEO Dr. Oliver Kharraz weighed in.
This exchange has been lightly edited.
Zocdoc’s platform lets patients search for physicians in major cities. But how does the company address the gap in care for patients in rural areas?
Zocdoc CEO Dr. Oliver Kharraz
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
In fact, it’s getting harder. It now takes an average of 24 days to see a primary care doctor nationally. That’s up from 18 days in the previous [Merritt Hawkins] study from 2014.
Interestingly, some of the places where access is the hardest are cities like Boston.
Regarding rural areas, there’s a couple of ways how we facilitate that. We have started to bring a broader footprint to areas by partnering with clients who have both an urban and a rural footprint. We are working with clients like Geisinger who have a large footprint in rural Pennsylvania.
How do you engage with all patient populations, from millennials to senior citizens? Or do you find that a specific age group is more likely to use Zocdoc’s services?
We see several interesting trends here. One is obviously that the base appeal of this is very, very broad. We have patients who are in their early 20s and we have patients who are in their 80s.
What we do find is that a lot of folks in their late 30s, 40s and early 50s are taking care of their parents and their children and this is how we reach a broader population. This is essentially taking an activity that my generation is doing for loved ones and empowers the patient to do that online.
Zocdoc recently launched Patient-Powered Search, which bridges the gap between healthcare jargon and colloquial language. Patients can search for one word (like “heartburn”) to be connected to the right provider. Why did Zocdoc launch this, and what results are you seeing thus far?
Patient-Powered Search has been one of the things that is near and dear to our hearts. It’s very difficult for patients to know which doctor they should be seeing for a specific condition. It’s non-intuitive.
In the past, too many times the medical profession sort of made patients think the way they think. Now you don’t have to be a doctor to find a doctor.
The other thing we’ve found is that as part of it, patient populations are able to connect with the right specialty a lot better.
Using Patient-Powered Search, patients can even search using emojis, right?
That is right. It’s a direct outflow of how the technology works.
We had put a team together from places like Google and Amazon to make this search very smart. But it goes beyond that. It utilizes years of data from previous searches and is guided by actual physicians — it also has humans’ input. We married all these approaches together into a solution that actually works.
How is Zocdoc ensuring patients stay engaged and use its technology more than just once?
We’ve seen this actually happening very naturally from day one.
Calling the practice is playing what we call scheduling Tetris. Instead of that, you can have a completely empowered experience where you select the time that works for you from the get-go.
That’s 90 percent of it. The other 10 percent is we do things to make sure patients remain engaged with their health. We also have a Well Guide that will tell you what recommended screenings you should go to.
What is Zocdoc doing to differentiate itself from competitors in the space?
Zocdoc has been, from day one, a company that really puts the patient in the center of everything.
Our take from day one is that it’s been built from the patient to the provider. This is how we’ve been rewarded — with a marketplace that’s used by millions of patients every month. That only happens when you put the patients first.
The average Net Promoter Score for healthcare incumbents is negative 20. We are very blessed to be peers to companies like Amazon and Apple. Our Net Promoter Score is 72. It’s the one metric I send out to the entire company every morning. Ultimately it’s about the patient and the patient’s experience.
Photo: diego_cervo, Getty Images
