What are patients looking for in a health care provider?

Zocdoc has been in business for 17 years, and in that time, the platform has collected a significant amount of data regarding what patients want from their health care. And you may be surprised to learn what matters most to consumers in the process of choosing a provider, be it a primary care doctor or specialist. 

On this episode of The Beat, Dr. Kharraz joins host Dr. Gautam Gulati to discuss the latest research and insights on patient and physician engagement from Zocdoc’s 2023 Report: What Patients Want. Dr. Kharraz discusses the pros and cons of offering patients a suite of choices for access to care and shares Zocdoc’s guided search experience for selecting the right provider.

Listen in to understand how Zocdoc uses machine learning and AI to serve consumers and clinicians and learn the top three things patients consider as they choose a health care provider.

About Dr. Oliver Kharraz:

Dr. Oliver Kharraz is Founder and CEO of Zocdoc, the leading healthcare marketplace in the US. Millions of patients visit Zocdoc monthly to find quality, in-network doctors and book appointments for in-person or virtual care.

In his wide-ranging career, Dr. Kharraz has gained comprehensive experience in building efficiency and affecting change in large scale health organizations using information technology.

Topics Covered:

• The pros and cons of offering a suite of choices for patients to access care
• How often Zocdoc patients go back to the same provider (once the initial choice is made)
• How Zocdoc functions as the interoperability layer for logistics in the healthcare system
• Categorizing the different types of access to care from a patient’s perspective
• Healthcare technologies that the consumer isn’t ready for vs. healthcare technologies that haven’t figured out their business model
• Zocdoc’s guided search experience for choosing between telehealth and in-person visits
• The challenges Zocdoc faces in publishing prices for different care options
• How Zodoc uses machine learning and AI to serve consumers and clinicians
• Dr. Kharraz’s vision for using the blockchain to solve for trust in healthcare information
• Dr. Kharraz’s top 3 key takeaways from Zocdoc’s What Patients Want Report
• Why the needle hasn’t moved on the primary issues in healthcare despite significant advancements in technology

Resources

• Zocdoc Practice Solutions
• Zocdoc 2023 Report on What Patients Want
• Atul Gawande’s 2017 Piece on Incremental Care
• Dr. Kharraz at Zocdoc
• Dr. Kharraz on LinkedIn