Sept. 16--No more fretting that work colleagues will overhear you talking about an embarrassing itch or rash when you call to make a doctor's appointment.
ZocDoc is a free online service launching today in Greater Boston that lets you schedule dentist and doctor visits from the privacy of your computer or using an iPhone app at any time of the day.
Participating doctors' pages show what insurance they accept, their credentials and photos, patient reviews and available appointment times -- and whether you would be seen by a physician assistant instead of the doctor.
ZocDoc's integration with doctors' scheduling systems gives it instant access to available appointments, including times that open up after last-minute cancellations. Forty percent of users get appointments within 24 hours, and 60 percent land them within three days.
That speed is particularly helpful in Massachusetts, where health-care reform has resulted in more residents with insurance and an average wait time of nearly 50 days between finding a doctor and seeing one, according to ZocDoc.
"The most important thing in our life is our health, and not being able to get a doctor when you need it is troubling," co-founder and CEO Cyrus Massoumi said.
ZocDoc, which launched in 2007 by offering dental appointments in New York, has expanded to 11 cities and 40 doctor specialties, backed by at least $70 million in funding.
Massoumi wouldn't disclose how many Boston-area docs have signed up, but 40,000 appointments are available in the next three months across five specialties: primary care, obstetrics and gynecology, dermatology, dentistry and optometry. Doctors pay a $250 monthly fee and benefit from more appointments and ease in scheduling, according to Massoumi.
"Doctors' offices have last-minute cancellations 10 to 20 percent of the time, so this inventory of doctors' appointments oftentimes goes unfilled," he said. "We're basically adding supply to the Boston health-care system."
Brookline dermatologist Dr. Alan Rockoff started using ZocDoc last month when it launched a beta site in Boston.
"It's such a good idea, I don't know why nobody thought of it before," said Rockoff, whose Web site and voice mail prompts patients to book online through ZocDoc. "I wouldn't be surprised if more and more people -- instead of wasting time calling doctors' offices and being put on hold or getting voice mail -- switch to this service."
Matt McLoughlin, who recently moved to Boston from Florida, stumbled upon ZocDoc while reading about one of its investors, Salesforce.com chairman and CEO Marc Benioff.
"I was a little under the weather (Tuesday) and came into work and thought I'd go see a doctor," said McLoughlin, who quickly found one with a five-star rating within a mile of his Cambridge office for PollBuzzer, where he's chief technology officer. "I was able to book the appointment without having to talk to anybody. It was really easy."
dgoodison@bostonherald.com
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