Zocdoc Review

Affording regular doctor visits can be a hassle in and of itself; according to a March 2022 report published by West Health and Gallup, approximately 112 million Americans struggle to afford routine healthcare on a consistent basis. Furthermore, another issue that often prevents people from routinely accessing the healthcare they need is time. 

Beyond affording appointments, scheduling appointments can be a whole other hassle in and of itself. With approximately 1/3rd of our lives spent asleep (Handbook of Clinical Neurology), and the other 1/3rd spent preoccupied with working (Gettysburg College), it can be tough to find or carve out that extra time to actually schedule doctor’s visits in the first place. 

Fortunately, as telemedicine’s popularity has continued to flourish, it’s continued to offer patients new ways to conveniently connect with their healthcare providers. Telemedicine has been around as far back as the late 1990s, according to McGraw-Hill Medical, or as far back as arguably the 1920s, if you count radios being used as comms systems to relay medical advice to clinics on ships (see this NIH-published paper for more info on the history of telemedicine).

Even so, while telemedicine has arguably been around for around 100 years, it’s only really become in vogue throughout the last two or three. As the COVID-19 pandemic entered the forefront, it necessitated the need for more virtual, home-based care services, which in turn, necessitated the need for remote scheduling services for in-person care.

One of the most popular virtual scheduling services to come out of the burgeoning telehealth boom as of late has been Zocdoc. Zocdoc has come out on top as one of the healthcare industry’s most popular online appointment scheduling systems, and for very good reason. Without further ado, let's explore some of those reasons.

How Zocdoc Works: What Is Zocdoc Used For?

Zocdoc excels on a number of fronts, but the primary reason it has excelled is by fostering a more transparent and mutual online relationship between the patient and their primary care provider. It enables and conveniently expedites key processes like:

• Finding health care providers and practices local to your area
• Connecting with those practices/practitioners to book appointments
• Reviewing doctors and providers regarding your overall experience
• Cancel appointments as fast as scheduling them, should conflicts arise

Zocdoc has been around since 2007, but for obvious reasons, its use has recently skyrocketed as a resource to schedule appointments on the go, across all hours of the day. According to Zocdoc, roughly 45% of their appointments are booked outside of the practice’s office hours. 

Practices and healthcare providers that use Zocdoc will be able to be found and evaluated through detailed profiles, often listing reviews for said provider if they’re available. These profiles often link to their practice’s respective websites, allowing patients to quickly obtain info on the doctors or care providers they’re considering.

The platform is also extremely convenient for the providers themselves to use, enabling them to:

• Quickly connect and correspond with patients
• Manually adjust your practice’s availability
• Attract more local patients to their health practice
• Fill last-minute appointment openings if vacancies arise
• Optimize their productivity, as well as their web presence

Healthy relationships are never one-sided. The healthiest relationships require a mutual two-way street to flourish, and in that regard, Zocdoc functions superbly as a digital two-way street. In addition to helping patients find health providers to efficiently schedule appointments with, Zocdoc also allows patients the ability to check into appointments early, and digitally upload or fill out any necessary paperwork prior to checking in.

Can Zocdoc Prescribe Medication?

Zocdoc is not an online pharmacy platform, so if you’re looking to have your prescriptions filled through the platform, you might be disappointed. However, if you’re looking to connect to local pharmacists in your area, Zocdoc offers you the means of doing precisely that. 

Moreover, beyond doctors and pharmacists, Zocdoc enables patients to find, contact, and connect with therapists, dentists, and other healthcare providers in their area, at relatively affordable price points. But if you’re specifically looking for online-based pharmacy platforms or providers, we’d recommend that you visit our provider portal to learn more. 

How Much Is A Zocdoc Appointment?

Appointment costs will be dependent on a number of factors, including insurance or the provider’s out-of-pocket costs. But Zocdoc functions as a great intermediary to help both patients and providers save time and money; likewise, as a patient, you will probably be happy to know that their service is completely free to use!

But if you’re a healthcare provider, you’ll be happy to know that Zocdoc has relatively affordable pricing! It operates in all 50 states, and Zocdoc has uniquely changed its pricing in the following states:

• Pennsylvania
• Connecticut
• New Jersey
• Colorado
• Washington
• Georgia

To learn more about Zocdoc’s specific provider price points in these six states and others, sign up through the link on their website’s pricing page.

Zocdoc: Pros And Cons

We feel that Zocdoc is an excellent resource for both patients and healthcare providers to connect with one another. But like any telemedicine provider platform, it’s not without its flaws, and carries its own distinct set of pros and cons. To help better inform you of your decision to use the platform or not, we’ll cover each of them below.

Pros

• Makes it easier for providers to promote and publicize their practice
• Allows patients to leave honest, transparent reviews about providers
• Helps patients speedily schedule, reschedule, and check in with providers
• Allows providers to build their web reputation with positive reviews
• Enables convenient scheduling and booking through all hours of the day
• Broad patient/user satisfaction (79% report rebooking with the same provider)

Cons

• Makes last-minute cancellations faster, potentially inconveniencing providers
• It can be difficult to compete with other popular local providers on the platform
• Must manually confirm appointments, a possibly inefficient process for providers

Is Zocdoc Trustworthy?

All in all, we think so. We think Zocdoc is a superb appointment scheduling tool, and serves as a great virtual intermediary tool for both providers and healthcare patients to connect with one another and have their conditions promptly treated.

Although some of the user interface choices could use some slight improvements for providers using the platform, we ultimately feel that Zocdoc offers a great two-way street for both provider and patient; it’s affordable for practices to make profiles on the platform, and it’s great for helping patients find accessible, affordable care from doctors in their area. 

If you'd like help finding more accessible, affordable telehealth options, refer to our provider page!